New-York tribune., 1920-03-08
John Barrymore
Reaches Topin
ssRichard HI''
Marvellous Performance by
Star in Beautiful Produc-
tion at Plymouth Holds
Audience Past Midnight
By Haywood Broun

axpeet to pick up The Tribune one
morning and find him remarking. with
all due Difference to the venerable Mr..
Alexander woollcott. his article on tho
decadence Of modern acting carries no
conviction. Elsie Janis and the others
whom hs mentions may be all that he
says they were, but at the Henry l.
sehwarts Theater, last night. Schuyler
snickslfritz gave m astounding per-
formancs in the Leading role Of 'Miss
Cadets Eldest Son. There may have
been better actors in the dear dead
days as the oldsters tsll Us, but We for
ono don't believe it.
And when We have read that we will
leavs tho chimney corner and thump
our stick upon thV door a. We shout
ouerulously, "Snickelfritz indeedl
Why, you young whippersnapper, you
should have seen Jolsu Barrymore play
Richard the ThirdI'"
And it is a performance we'll worth
the humping. We rather think it il
going to give as something to mutter
about in the chimney corner whenever
the acting Of the Woodrovian period In
the American thsater comes into the
conversation. John Barrymore has
other good performances to his credit,
but none which so completely disarms
the reviewer Of the varieus reserva-
tons which become q dramatic critic.
His Richard has all the fire and life Of
Giannetto, but with none Of the waste
motion and occasional false emphasis
which marked his work in that role.
OF course, when we try to tell 81,
third, why Schuyler Snickelfritz cannot
possibly be as good as John Barrymore
was, the task will be just as difficult
as it is now. We can say that he makes
the role as sure-footed as an income
tax, as consistent as Euclid, and as
magnificent as Lucifer and still leave
most Of it unsaid. Specifically, the
most amazing growth in the art Of Mr..
Barrymore is the unexpected vocal
he said to his army, "a thousand
hearts are great within my bosom!" it
was like trumpet call. And he could
sneer and cajole and rage, Ms well as
swell note Of great defiance. Not
only is the voice greater in range than
ever before, but it has become one of
the enchanting sounds Of our theater,
and it was not always so.
Pictorially, it is always an enthral-
ling performance. There is no excess
Of gesture for which Mr. Barrymore
can be taxed. There is q wealth of
detail in movement and posture, but it
Is all reasonable and effective. There
is no leaping for the sake Of doing
something. And it is we'll to add that
there is some magnificent listening.
Il Richard is to be anything he
must give to US a sense of largeness.
Unless he is a great hater he is little
more than the conventional villain of
sAmelodrama. John Barrymore makes
him more than that. In his hands he
seemed to be one of those mighty
fallen rebels who were expelled from
heaven because they demanded a right
= break the fetters Of good and evil.
yut even such a superman might grow
hresome if he were static. Barry
more gives US something Of the growth
of.Richard. of his somewhat hesitating
but deliberate choice to make power
his goal and villany his method In the
version used at the Plymouth Theater
Saturday night the first Ave scenes are
from the third part Of King Henry
vi. 1t is a helpful fusion which
serves to clarity the story and the
character Of Richard.
In particular, the soliloquy Of Rich
ard, In which he contemplates his course
in life, serves to give John Barrymore
evening. At that time he presents US
with an intense, ambitious but still
hesitant man who has as yet no fixed
goal. In the speech he lays before
himself his various inhibitions-th
word is not hakespeare's-and ex-
amlnes them critically.
NY eyes too quick, my heart
oerweens too much, unless my hand
and strength could equal them." Barry
more makes this contemplative. Rich
ara Is not making a sophistical case
1or himself, according to Barrymore's
reading, but is actually taking stock
o. what possibilities life affords him.
IL 70 when he has seen the hopeless
ness OF everything for such a marred
ana misshapen one that ne decides that
ne must have supreme power by what
ever means come to his hand. We
noss admit that for all his villatnies
M'casrd remained q winning figure to
We were never quite able to recon
.lle our conception Of the part with
.1e brief scene in which he Is pic
p 1ursd as conscience-racked In sleep.
reshaps Shakespeare put that in TO
saI's1y the Mr.. Sumner Of his day. For
p;, p;.t rom beginning to the end, when
Mieaare went crashing down in an
amazing stage fall, we remained the
ss ssanch partisan Of his crimes. Indeed,
mere were times when We wished that
ns would treat some Of the chronic
sleslms OF bronchitis who were in the
MS;Na aISalence with the same swift justice
W WWn'ca ne visited upon. Buckingham
We have always doubted that the JUDI
ment Day will be anything like az
oppressive as certain preachers prom
csi- :s VI course, the trumpet call Of
ali d10siei n Will be amazing. but when we
81 Use and wait to hear the dread
small voice some one will cough. We
W not suggest that the analogy is
somplete and perfect, but we do be-