Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1920-01-02
THEATRES

MURAT-E. ii. Sothern ana Julla NAT,
lowe in Tanning of the Shrew,' at 8. }.
ENGLIsHs-DeWolf Hopper in 1.-THE
Better OLE at Sac
B. +. KEITH's-Meeropolit vaudeville
at 2 :15 and s:1b.
LYRIC-vaudeville continuous from
until II o'clock
REALTO-Vaudeville and pictures, con-
tfnuous.
BROADWAY - Vaudeville, continuous
from noon until ii O'Clock.
PARK-Musical extravaganza at 2:15
and s:15.
j. l. j.
ENGLISH's-"THE BETTER OLE"
Whoever chose Dewolf Hopper for the
role of Old Bill Busby in 1.-THE Better
Ole which is playing at English's,
surely had excellent foresight as no one
else could possibly have been seen to
better advantage In this piece than Mr..
Hopper. Such q great old character 10
this Old Bill, with his deep voice ana
slow and easy manner. Those who have
seen Capt. Bruce BARN fathers car
toons, which cheered all of Canada dur
ing the days of the world war, know
just how to picture this blessed old per-
SON.. Hopper's large and pudgy nose
and walrus mustache make him an iden-
teal likeness to those pieces of art.
And those two buddies Of Old Bill
Bert and ALI, which parts are taken by
Harry McNaughton and Victor Dyer
are rare specimens, too. These three pals
go through the war together and when
one does something the others follow.
Bert is a little tickle. He gives each
girl he meets one of his Identification
tags as a keepsake until be returns. He
distributes these freely, always keeping
on hand good supply. ALI has as his
pet patented cigaret lighter, which
never works until some one comes along
with n match and lights the fuse. Old
bills hobby is to do a little Of every
thing at any time.
The opening scene shows recreation
hut, where an entertainment is in prog
ress, This lasts until the captain comes
along and issues orders for the boys
to prepare to leave that location. Old
Bill comes in contact with a German
spy and does some clever work in OBJ
tanning blue paper bearing plans for
an attack on the following night. He
then leaves with his buddies for the
trenches, the three of them schemlng and
plotting how they might handle the pa
J,ers in a way that would benefit their
country On the evening of the sup.
posed attack on the French, Old Bill
leaves the trench without permission and
blows up bridge over which the Ger
mans have to come to do their dirty
work. When he returns to the trenches
he is ordered TO be taken prisoner AM
punished for A. W. o. l.. from .he
trenches Not until later scene is on
Bill found to be worthy Of an honor
cross issued by a French officer. The
British officer asks what he can do FOR
the soldier to show his gratitude ard
old Bill asks: "Can me and my two
huddies have seven days leave to Eng
land?" The story is fun of tears. bub
many OF them soon turn into laughs.
Mr.. Hopper and his company give
some clever songs.
Mr. Hopper gave q curtain talk dur
ing the intermission. In which he stated
that the large nose and dropping ano
waIrus-like mustache was not his own
and that the person who created that
character merely had to use his paint
and brush TO make Old Bill. but he
was up against the had TO wear them.
His talk was responded to yesterday
afternoon by the Boy Scouts, who gave
three cheers for the star.
This attraction viii be seen for the re-
mainder of the week, with matinee Sat
urday.