The Washington herald., 1920-07-26
By EARLE DORSEY.
Garrick Irving Cummings in "A
Prince There wus."


For number of seasons the
stage has walled dolorously over the
scarcity of capable juvenile actors
/ fitted for leading romantic roles.
The late Shelley Hull. in the opin-
| ion of Broadway, was the leading
man par excellence, and since his
1 passing there has been a horde OF
1 Juveniles who have extended will
ing. but frequently unqualified.
shoulders for Mr.. Hull's discarded
mantle.
/ Now. IL one listens to the plant
+ of the stage and it's people, the mo-
, tion pictures are responsible for a
good s5 per cent of all the ills that
fret the drama in this day and gem
Grafton, and II you'll take our word
/ for it, the pictures are probably
responsible. in a large measure, for
/ this scarcity of stage leading men,
This Idea grew and grew at the
I Garrick last night. where Irving
] Cummings, the celebrated photo
! player, made an extremely auspi-
cious bow as the new leading man
of the Garrick Players. Cummings
has come from the pictures, and for
I five weeks alone tie stage gains a
capable, full-chested, magnetic lead
ing man. but 1t is a fact that Mr..
Cummings will return TO the pic
lures just as soon as his Garrick
engagement is over
All this. of course. leads up to tie
statement that Cummings revealed
an aptitude and a personality Cor
leading romantic roles that were
very manifest. indeed. He has a rich.
M.
and he swaggers and one needs but
/ half a glance to see that he learned
/ to act before he thought Of q picture
career. Couple up this big OF ldEd-
alton with the statement that he had
George NJ. Cphan's role in "a PRINCE
/ There Was" and you grasp at once
j working idea of the dramatic i'm
portance Of last evening at Mr.. Bells
little theater.
There is no good comparing Cum-
mings. with COhan- Primarily. so
per cent of Washington never saw
COhan in "a Prince There Was
and more than 80 p@, cent of Wash
ington now has the opportunity to
/ see Cummings in the same play
Sccondarily. the mer are entirely
opposite stage types Cummings is
not wise-cracking kid. in the argot
OF the profession" or. in other
words. smart aleck. He interprcts,
just as he finds il. the role of u rich
young man upon whom life has
palled and who wins back to happi-
ness through love. adventure, ard
more than his share of riches. And
lit is only common fairness to say
that his Interpretation helps mate
rally in the passing o. 4 pleasant
evening in the theater.
The play itself is one of those
! COhanized accretiOEs D. everyday
plot and plenty of stage trickery.
synthetizsd by the Cohan touch into
a stage story that draws its chief
lure from the old hOkum properties
of a hero with oceans Of money.
struggling authoress who turns out
to be a fiction favorite and a collec-
tiOn of Rachel Crothers' boarding
house types TO interlard the whole
whit Cohanesque comedy.
As the GarriCkers reveal a
Prince There Was" this week, there
IS more to the manner than there
Is to the subject, and the manner,
barring a number of opening might
asperities, left no regrets for three
hours away from the old oaken re-
lfrigeratOr. II is essentially the
best. most timely and most preten-
tious offering the Garrickers have
done this season. One marvels at
the initiative that obtained for
stock a play so fresh in the an
mails of the drama.
High praise must be accorded to
Clarke H. SilYernail. who supported
Sir. Cummings in the part of a mag
aZine owner who takes the latter
into partnership and makes posi-
/ Bile the Pollyannish note of hap
piHess. good fortune and optimism
Throughout. SilvernaiI was genu-
inely. Unmistakably funny in a part
that was almost sterile of inher-
/ ent humorous possibilities. Nell
! Barnes. the GarriCk ingenue, scored
| delightfully."- as the heroine Of the
story. Particularly delightful was
she in the final episode. Little Mar
! jOry Bell has an eXacting part thai
she stumbled in but once. and to-
night she will not stumble at all.
Monte Bell and Helen Goodhue fur
nished a rich vein of drollery as i
/ pair of misguided but Jealous board
|ing-house sleuths. Others who did
well with parts assigned them were
John Ellis. Suzanne Jackson, Anne
/ Theodore Hardy. John Hewitt, Viz
gInia Allen and Ingham Mack
! CrandaIIs Metropolitan Mabel
. Normand in The slim Princess"