The Washington herald., 1920-10-18
.rhe Acquittal"-N.tionaI.

The cogs of legal Justice may slip.
chance may smile saccharinely on
the wicked, and Fortune perch her
self upon his knee. But this dread
full state of things will never en-
dure-not IL George NJ. Cohan has
anything to say about 1t. All OF
which is apropos of seeing THE
Acquittal" at the National last
night.
Most of the novelty of the Cohan
production lies in its being crime
play that starts after the criminal
is acquitted. That is, acquitted by
the court. The wretched man still
has to face the tribunal of his wife.
Also, he is bounded by one OF these
newspaper reporters who thinks the
jurys verdict evidence of their
mental incapacity.
On the verge of collapse after his
long trial, he is trust between the
the Scylla of divorce and the Chary-
bdis of disgorging his plunder. He
falls into both and then, with his
first flash of Judgment, takes
train.
The Cohan trademark assures
play possessing the sterling quail
ties of good construction, sustained
interest and absence of rough
sports" THE Acquittaf' is all OF
this. As a theatrical version of
detective story. It Is very fne. 1t
moves at a dynamic, nerve racking
pace and is in high" practically all
of the time. And it is Interpreted by
a highly capable cast that, after an
eight months New York run, have
synchronized their roles perfectly.
As the criminals wife, Chrystal
Herne gives a wonderful picture OF
la woman whose nerves have been
worn down to the raw by months
of torture and who is kept going by
will power alone. She rises to her
best in the scene where she breaks
and pours the Walls of her distilled
hatred upon the man who Is bound
to her legally but who has violated
his faith to her and his faith TO
humanity. In the last scene the dia-
logue imposed upon Miss Herne
seems to force her to drift from her
Characterization.
Fof instance. there is the Mutual
Admiration Society started by her
and the newspaper sleuth. You've
been a wonderful friend" says Miss
Herne fervently: "Ah, but you've
been a wonderful woman" comes
back the young man. with deep
feeling.
This brings US naturally to Will
lam Harrigan, who plays Joe Con-
way and combines the fair-haired
hero and the keen-eyed sleuth with
theatrical verisimjlitude. Whenever
anyone confesses he steps forth nom
chalantly from behind the window
curtains or out of the inner boudoir.
as the case may be.
And now we come to Ken Win
throp, the homicidal person who
caused all the trouble by his fond
ness for other folks girls and loose
collateral He is played very finely
by George Parsons, who somehow
in some unauthorized way, contriVes
to make US a little bit sorry for
him especially when he is weak
from grilling by Conway. Also. 1t
seems tough when he leaves and no
one will say good-by to him. But
he should have thought of the dread
f1lness of being cut socially before
he committed murder.
Every really modern play has
"yamp." And Ann Mason is the
sweetest and least vampish one we
know. 1t is true that she tosses her
head once in the last act, but. 9TH
erwise, you would never dream that
she is playing such a horrid part.
Violet Pearl Meehan, Of the henna
locks, who plays the maid detec-
tive, looks more the vamp than
Miss Mason. Somehow, 1t seems to
us that 1t would be a fine idea for
them to exchange parts.
The remainder of the cast dis
tir guish themselves by uniformly
good work, although Franklin Hall
must be mentioned for his enjoy
able picture of a doddering but
sweet tempered old butler.