The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1920-11-09
THE CAST.

When the curtain rose on when
We Are Young" at the Belasco last
night we had a fearful feeling that
the play was going TO drip sentiment
by the bucketfui. but after George
Marion had spoken mis- first few lines
In the character OF Sam. the faith
full old retainer" OF the piece. then
and there we embraced sentiment with
open arms and prepared to watch
the best delineation of negro charac-
ter IL has been our good fortune to
see.
The story of the play Is that OF a
young family wastrei, shorn OF his
sheckels ana at the end Of short and
spotted career OF spending, facing the
problem Of marrying the rich girl to
gain back the old ancestral home. Al
this point the little girl who boards
on the fourth floor comes in as the
good fairy, the villain. Is most villain
us. and to cap the climax an old aunt
dies leaving her fortune to the un-
heroic hero. who weds the ballroom
princess
All OF this sounds a la Harold Bell
Wright, and so IL 10. II you prefer
antiquated legs and antique jokes. or
sex drayma. or "spectacles," but to
anyone with a grain Of imagination
and who cares to overlook few
naring instances Of bad dramatic
taste. the play 10 worth dozen
risque comedies.
Henry Hull as the spendthrift Is
clean-cut, likable young actor. fully
aware of the sense Of restraint needed
for his role. and succeeds splendidly
in his part We can imagine the dis
dain with which Mr.. Hull approaches
the few bombastic lines in his scrip
and wager that he will throw them
away. or most OF them away. before
the play Is many days old.
Miss Wilfred Lehman. as Annie
Laurie Brown, the fourth floor prin-
cess, is ideal. She plays the part of
the refined. romantic working girl.
AS often as we have seen Miss Con-
stance Talmage as the destitute shop
girl on the screen. we have yet to re-
member that she dressed with one
tenth the finesse OF Miss Lehman.
The latter does not regale one with
visions Of Lucille frocks and Harry
Collins capes and hats by Giddings
In her poor but proud menage. but
looks her part. Miss Lehman will go
far toward making this play sue
cess. And she is really very comely.
But all the above simply leads US
to George Marion, as the darkey Sam.
Anyone who has ever observed negro
character in its element knows that
the stage negro. or white mans fable,
II a myth. However amusing the ne
grocs Of the Saturday Evening Post
type maybe. even the man from Yer
mont knows them to be impostors,
masquerading with Anglo-Saxon wit
under q burnt-cork exterior.
But George Marion could go down
around the little towns of Virginia
or Mississippi and fool the negroes
around the country clubs and the cot
ton wharves. His lines are the most
skillfully written Of the piece and he
does not labor under any OF the melo-
dramatic burdens OF the plays action.
He acts with a deft. sure touch, a
finesse unequaled. with the darkey's
sense of humor and sympathy. Sam
Ia the brightest light of the piece. a
sheer delight after the coon-shouting
and forced wit of his competitors In
other plays. His trials and tribula-
tons of a decayed retainership, his
dog-like devotion for his worthless
master. his fatherly. respectable atti-
tude toward the shop-girl. are all
perfectly acted and spoken. SAM will
live a long time in our memory.