Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-09-24
THE CHAMPION WINS
PLAYHOUSE CROWD.
Grant Mitchell Makes Big Per-
sonal Success. and Play and
Company Hit.

Not for many moons has comedy
offering made MS quick and rs hard q
hit here ns did sThc Champion with
Grant Mitchell in the title role AT The
Playhouse last night.
While not strictly premiere, NJ there
have been two weeks Of "tryout' per
formanccs elsewhere, last nights rcnd'-
ton is considered the first "honesf TO
goodness" one, in which the results OF
preliminary pruninps have reached the
final form which will be shown in making
its metropolitan debut. !.
The play is one OF the perennial class %
international farces, revolving around the
contrasting characters and habits of cifi-
zens Of countries more or less foreign 10
one another, in this case Engla9d and
the II. s. A. "Our American Cousin
of two generations ago, in which the elder
Sothern made his bit rs Lord Dundreary
was of this type and the same mine has
furnished forth the pages Of Punch and
Life" and their ilk, and will continue
TO do so.
As the drawings in these representa-
tive Journals are clean cut and artistic,
so this Offering. the work Of Thornas
Louden and A. T.. Thomas, is a well
rounded entity and not merely huddic
Of character people They are there, IN
prodigal quantity and unusual quality,
but as an ensemble rather than as IN
dividuals
Grant Mitchell is the returning prodi-
gal Of middle class English family, after
an absence Of fifteen years in the States.
where he has taken sturdy root, after.
career as boxer in which he attains the
championship Of his class under an as
sumed name The revelation Of the lden-
tity Of "Gunboat Williams" with the con
of the house nearly causes the ultimate
explosion Of the overbearing father, adj
mirably done by Arthur Elliott.
His attitude suffers a complete re-
versal, however, when he is chidcd by the
gentry, whose support Of another son for
q political office he has vainly sought
for concealing a cause of. glory for the
neighborhood and the fatted cali IS
promptly sacrificed. somewhat belatodly
The br,isque sincerity Of the hero
captivates the poor but bluc-bloodod
heroine. whose Torture is restored through
the discontinue Of the gentlomanly vii
lain, and oil ends happily with the TN
say So reply of Lady Elizabeth 20 Gun
boats" question Of will your"
Ann Andrews lends the charm Of
radiant youth, supported by unusual poise
and real dramatic powers and wardrobe
Of distinction 10 the part Of Lady Eliza
beth Caution, the wronged heroine, who
heroically coins her rank into liveli-
hood as q social secretary.
Lydia Bernard, AZ the romping young
sister, Jetta Goudal, as her French govern
oss, and Lucy Beaumont as the bully
ragged mother gave excellent pcrsonihca-
tfons,
Local characters were represented by
a typical Harris collection Of types,
and the settings were so we'll chosen that
they were not obtrl1sive
The lires and the situations are such
as TO bring forth continuous current Of
laughter, punctuated by paroxysms.
Curtain calls followed each act and
elected modcst speech from ,dr. Mitch
ell
Sam Fl. Harris. the producer, came on
from New York to witrese tho perform
ance, and his bcarning eountenancc was
an indication of his satisfaction with It's
success.
The engagement covers the weekend.