The Washington times., 1920-10-18

We once knew . young city editor
who came close to running several
prospective reporters by his siipshod
methods OF advice. instruction and
ordering. He seemed to have received
his own ideas out of book and then
to have fallen down as q transfer
man. As q result of his methods, he
had a staff OF young hyenas, rushing
around. KhriekinR at the top of their
lungs. strainins the poor old English
language In their search for -peppy
leads" making confiagrations out Of
So fires in back rooms Of Chinese
laundries, and scsntinG deep. dark
motives" behind each and every ten
der morsel OF gossip drifting over
his telephone.
In our brief span OF life ws have
seen many stage reporters. They have
usually been large mon, too well
dressed, struttinE around with long
stenographers' note books and nice
yellow pencils. feverishly taking
notes. They have always been ex-
cruiciatingly funny TO US. So was
that young city editor. Harmless
yes and funny.
Joe Conway, as played BY william
Harrigan in "The Acauittal." comes
closest to resembling . really high
have ever seen on any stage. He
lacks the "dandrufY on his collar" but
ne also lacks dandifed clothes.
Unabashed by his surroundings. nc
matter what they may be. he talks
like . human being. No. he talks
rather like a reporter looking for In
formation. come to think of It. And
he gets II. And when the need arises
he has no notebook. He has no copy
paper. He has to dig into his pocket
and scribbIe a note on the back of ar
envelope. That is . master touch.
It is sincerely to be hoped thai
somewhere on its journeys trough
this broad land '"The Acquittar will
ne seen by the aforesaid young city
editor and by all those poor youns
men who sat and worshipped at his
feet They all might learn many
things by watching what Joe Conway
does not do.
But Joe Conway. the reporter from
.he Pacific coast where we roll our
own" is the central cog in . thrill
'ng drama that, starting slowly and
carefully. rises to majestic heights
md sinks back to q weil-ordered and
Doetic fnish. At no time 10 the audi
nnce able to guess ahead It must
content itself with going aieng with
Toe Conway, tho quiet-voiced young
mon bent on finding the murderer Of
his benefactor.
"The Acauittal" shows in every de-
all the hand OF George Cohan. Con-
way, for instance. Is a real Cohan pic
ture. It's entire action extends
through only some four or nve hours.
In that time Kenneth Winthrop re-
turns home after being acquitted on
charge Of murder, meets the gen
.lemen of the press" with a speech
flled with tears Of agony, faces the
awful crisis OF his life when his
yife rises in the wrath of her out
ragged womanhood and exposes him.
surrenders abjectly to Joe Conway's
most persuasive methods and departs
from his house q beaten cur. And
George Cohan's grip upon tho action
Is never relaxed. driving 1t on and
on until the hnai curtain permits .
pleased audience to rise and. taking q
long breath, say. "Gee, that's great"
Chrystal Herne, as the outraged
wife, handles her role with intelli-
gent skill. HarborinH her husbands
paramour for eighteen months and
-oing through the grilling of-two
trials might well have left her with
nerves raw and bleeding, II nerves
may bleed. she Is quite superb when
she tells her husband the truth, and
the whole truth, and orders him away.
George Parsons is a convincing pic
ture of . man acquitted Of q murder
charge. He Is better yet as he thinks
he gets hold of the reins. He is per-
feet as the beaten man, leaving his
mousse forever. Indeed, fearful folks
might sympathixe with him in his
punishment.
A drama written about the after
math OF a trial on q capital charge.
The Acquittal" has no nreworks no
bombast. On the other hand, It moves
uong rapidly, but almost on rubber
heels. The interest never lags. each
little action combining to make a
complete picture of modern life. 1t
is well worth seeing. New York
Watched IL for eight months and
here 10 no reason for thinking the
rest of the country will not welcome
t for as many more