New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-08-25
By Haywood Broun

We have forgotten what Aristotle or
Clayton Hamilton or any of the others
have set down as the first rule for
playwrights, but it seems to US that
it ought to be: Get O. P. Hegge. 1t
makes no difference what the part may
be, court dandy, early Christian or
conjuror, Heggie is your man. The
only disturbing factor is that into
every role this actor brings a sort of
spiritual animation. If you chance to
call upon him to fall down stairs he
will do it splenddly, missing not
single bump, and the audience will
laugh it's bellyful, but it will also
have the feeling that in some curious
way the thing has become exalted, that
after all it may be the heart instead
of the gizzard which is breaking under
the emotion of the moment. Giving
sawdust to this man is dangerous bust
ness, for the first thing you know he
has changed it into blood.
Heggie was by all odds the outstand-
ing figure in Ian Hays pleasant farce
comedy, Happy Co. Lucky" which was
produced at the Booth Theater last
night. He was cast as Samuel Still
bottle, bailiff's man, made up like
Fields, the tramp juggler, and called
to perform all the antics dear to low
comedy. He did them with gusto, but
there was something more. Heggis is
amost the only actor we know who can
trip over a door sill and keep his per-
Torrance in two dimensions. The play
wright may spread him into as broad
a character as you please, but he can
not fatten him. Depth remains. When
Heggie sets all the dishes to crashing
or guzzles stage whisky till he chokes
we laugh first and then pause to won
der whether or not the soul of man is
INN ortal
All this should be part Of the best
Glowing. The great clown is for US
al 1.-The symbol of mans defiance to the
great spaces and the wide darkness.
Perhaps we die tomorrow, but to-day
we are fellows infinite jest. No mat
ter what happens, We have laughted.
But though Heggie, in his own right,
makes us think little of all the clowns
that have ever been and are to come,
the eternal succession Of brave and
brazen fun, the compass of the play is
not so great. Happy Go-Lucky" was
on until after II o'clock last night, and
yet it must be set down as an agree
able little play. 1t tells pleasantly and
not unfamiliarly of the love of Richard
Mainwaring for little-there it pops
in again--Tilly Welwyn, of Bloomsbury.
She was afraid she would lose him, be-
cause her mother kept dodgers in Rus
sell Square, and SO the Welwyns pre-,
tended to be great folk and induced
the bailif's man to play at being the
old family butler. But everything went
wrong. Mrs. Welwyn could not make
the grade in spite of her long practice
with Has Herbert hit Henry? No. but
Hilderbrand has hurt Harold, and it
was Intentional" Invariably the catch
was too much for her, and after getting
all the necessary chs" in there would
come another. "Hintentional" stuck to
her.
AS a matter of fact, even the smash
up Of Tilly's plans for deception made
io ullleIcIlCe Ill Ine enQ DICK didn't
give d bob whether her mother took
boarders, or whether. brother Percy
was counter jumper He wanted
lilly and he got her. At any rate we
suppose he did although we had to
leave five minutes before the end.
Barry Baxter was exceedingly like
able as the young hero, Miss Muriel
Martin Harvey was a pleasing lilly,
J. II. Brewer, last seen as the curious
Puck-like creature in Dear Brutus.u
was gorgeously successful in a brief
low comedy scene as an embarrassed
curate, who could not hold his crumpet
and his hate at the same time. The
cast throughout is more than usually
good. There should be special men
ton in addition to the list already
given Of George Giddens, Frank Hector,
Alice Esden, Nellie Hodson and OSWALD