New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-08-01
Helen Ferguson in THE Muffin,
of the Elsinore"

seen the miracle Man" and John Bar
rymore In CDR. Jekyll and Mr.. Hide"
He had seen "Blind Husbands" and all
the Fairbanks, Ray, Pickford, DeMille
and other big photo play attractions of
the last year. He could understand
their success for week or two on
Broadway not in the hot summer
months-but this miracle Of success
was beyond him. So he went to the
only authority known on the subject
the public itself.
For ten successive nights he asked
ten people who were leaving the per-
Torrance what they thought of it, and
why. The interrogation was at random.
The questions were asked Of Jews
men and Observation-Disclosures in general,
two Catholic priests, one motion pic
ture actress, one Chinese student at
Columbia, two army officers and one
sailor Their answers. put into compos-
ite form, make up the summary here
offered:
eve like the picture because it is
Z story of struggle to success told
without recourse to the usual tricks
of the dramatst The hero is not all
good and the villain-there is no viii
lain in the piece. The acting Of the
leading character is such that the
story unfolds itself on the screen with
little need for the titles, although
these, when they appear at all, are
more in keeping with the characters
than is usual even in the best of mo-
ton pictures. Even when Yiddish
words are used, as they are In several
places, the audience understands be-
cause the acting, not the reading mat
ter. really does the explaining.
at is the mother character we love.
Vera Gordon plays it, and, although
many believe that beautiful girl is
needed for a heroine in the movies,
she is the greatest heroine we have
ever seen. We cry with her and we
because Jewish mother Is suffering
and toiling that way for her son? She
is no more a Jewish mother than she is
Christian, or Mahometan, or Bud
dhist She is mother the world over,
and that's why we all love her. Her
acting is real. her characterization IS
superb, and the more Jewish she makes
Mamma Kantor the more universal be-
comes the mother love she portrays.
That part OF the picture alone makes
it stand out as one of the great at
tainments of the film art.
"But even more tnan a picture Of
mother love, it is vision of race. and
as such a vision dear to all mankind.
Its locale is the Ghetto, its characters
the poor who strive to md q better
place in the world for their offspring.
and in striving sacrifice everything; its
theme. their success, not by overthrow
ing some villain, 50 foadly presented on
our stage, but by overcoming the only
villains of real life-poverty, ignorance
and lack of opportunity. What greater
subject could q dramatist want?
'IIumoresque' violates the rules of
the small dramatic game and walks
into the field of real achievement. Of
course, every theme to be dramatized
must be CARRIED in the clothes of hu
man beings. if we overlook Rostand's
famous rooster production and some of
tho Greek efforts. And the more specific
the characters the more clearly is the
lesson brought home or the point made.
'Humoresque' with ordinary citizens Of
this country might have been { sue
cess; with its characters CARRIED in
Jewish clothing and with the Ameri-
can-Jewish dialect and the Jewish
peculiarities it becomes intensely spe-
cific, its impressions become stronger
and success is achieved. But its appeal
is none the less TO all. There is moth
iag IN the story to offend one Of any
race or creed. And Catholic priest,
Protestant minister, rabbi. movie
actor and sweatshop worker all shed
their tears and laugh their laughs to-
gether at this strange photo-play pro-
duction."
Is it tragedy. ordinary drama or
comedy? Or is it something that might
be classified under one of the many
subheadings that we have found in the
field of dramatic art of late? That part
could not be gotten very clearly from
the persons questioned by the inquirer,
so he went into the theater and hap