The Washington herald., 1920-12-19
Concerning Satire
And It's Recreant
Disciple, Ziegfeld
Nathan's Portrait of "Follies' {"
Producer Not Borne
Out by Facts.
By EARLE DORSEY,

r,.nta ~ George lean Nathan the enfant terrible
among Manhattan critics. one nnds Mr.-Natnan IN
dulSnr the odd thought Flo Ziegfed, jr for all
his genius at form and color is totally blind on the
of comedy.
1T is common" says Nathan. in effect "for zeg-
field utilize cast of 100 and scenery worth s@Vo'
900 in working up to a joke about F1atbush-"
With the statement. even though not buttressed
Nathan's usually formidable array or autnor-
ites one may presently agree most wholeheartedly'
hut whatZieefeld does now and what Ziegfeld did In
years gone by quite another story. II one Is 10
accept the that ziegfed is totally blind on the
side must admit at once that sucn per-
formanees as the "ollies o7 os 'os, and even as
late of H. did exist at all and that comedians
like Bert Williams, Ed Wynn. Frank Tinney' Bickei
and Watson. Fanny Brce, Billy Reeves. and a long
and memorable of others never drew Zieg-
field paycheck in their lives
The main weakness Of the Nathan contention
though lies its utter ignoring Of ziegfeius pioneer
adantation-to the comic uses Of the music stage Of
the present generation. at least-of that thoroughly
comic element the extravaganza based on topics OF
the day. It was that very element, interpreted oy
most prstentious of that made the
Ziegfed "Follies instantaneous hit and lalo tne
groundwork for the annual series of Ziegfeidian
spectacles which have steadily deteroraeeo IN colo
valuation since 1908.
In casting ones eye back along the "Follies' OF
those earlier years. one will recall that they were
noteworth first their high comic content and sec
ondariy for their extremely musical scores. the
anatomical array of femininity, now the headlined
feature of Ziegfeld entertainment was largely
tertiary consideration in those earlier Gays nor mad
the Ziegfeld instinct, in that earlier turned
wholshesrtedly to form and color and girls as
substitute for words, music and situation
The chief reaction experiences to a ziegfeld
performance the present day is doleful, hnger-
ing regret at the almost total absence OF COMEDY
upon a burlesque Of some mementous occasion OF the
past year In the earlier "Follies" one went into
mild hySeffs over burlesduerie and satire predicated
upan the Tzw trial and It's legal lights the opening
- tbs Iarrrs sto4va exposition and the T r. per-
sonaIify the ibsou bathing girl and-this was prob
ably tit lstsr-Sell Brinkleys sketches The
hara MT
terly barren of sInge sit, for all the material that
dies inherent the league Of nations. the return
the Republican party the reform wave the snort
skirt fad and the like.
Not only had this earlier ziegfeldian type of girl
and-music comedy shelved into the discard but
also the comedians of the ater-day Ziegfeld expo
stions sad sad contrast to the giants OF the
zisgfeld comedy realm Of dozen years ago. With
Cantor Fields, Ray Dooey and such vaudevillians as
have entered the ziegfed fold one has only an
abstract sympathy. They draw, all to clearly, sor-
rowful line of that is not pleasant to
those of US who liked the eary-the funny-"Follies
and electricians art gallery they have lat
terly become. ssr~ s.t--
There is really no particularly mystery in Zieg-
fields departure from the form of the show he first
gave America in The Follies" He carries today
probably only few more girls than he did then and
it is doubtful IL scenery present day costs
much more-aI things being equal-than it did a.
dozen years agone. The "FolIies" Is now, as Zeg-
field claims his advertising "a national institution,
which. its bare reputation, will average $4,000
a week from end of the season to the other. Why
then the need spending from a fourth to third
Of his outlay in addition for cast Of comedians or
make an additional outlay for a performance that
will be quite superfluously funny
Putting in that form, of course. there is need
at all The "FoIlies," regardless Of competition can
expect limit Of patronage while on the road and
it remains in Manhattan only SO long the intake
makes its retention there desirable Additionally,
there are probably more people attending the.
"FoIes" of all, this year, than attended the best
'.FoIes." Of ALL a dozen years past So Mr. zeg-
field without doubt has the best of financial
for permitting his entertainment to decline.
= The only argument possible, of course, swiftly
arises when someone-even George Jean Nathan
makes the statement that Zigfeld is blind the
comedy side. As well say George Cohan has gone
blind the medium. simply because he has
given stage Conan Revue for several seasons
NCohan. by the way is the sole producer who has
come under my ken in the past nve years who
to have appreciated the powerful satiric force
herent topics familiar to the most of Cohan,
of course, limits his exposition of the idea
IN. stage, contenting himself with a burlesque of
travesty this and that success Of the in
hand. In his way, Cohan has, incidentally, q
complete grasp of this same medium, for all his
Limitations of field. Who forget travesty of
.aThe Tailor-Made Man" played in racing time with
the dialogue in rag-time meter? 1t was rich. racy
and zippy-so much SO that restrained ones
riment to hear 1t all.
For q time two three season George White
made motions Of revving and rejuvenating the
satirc principle of the earlier ziegfeld shows in his
scandals" From what gathered of Whites pur-
pose it appeared at the time. that he prepared
to occupy~the satric field left vacant by Ziegfeld
when the latter went to girls and scenery,
somewhere along the produetio1 way; White must
poured their unspeakable jokes across Washington
,footIiRhts stood revealed nothing but inept,
clumsy, awkward. boorfsh amatenrish and iIl-m
nered iaaitation Of ziegfeId his with white
making shift to the glaring errors and fm-
tations Of his own production with, much press
concerning his lavish outlay and with much
boerish testing In unspeakable taste By comedians
fo1sS. ~itR Tor the night
Of w audience.
Somewhere this season. I have heard whisper OF
new Gohan rsyue after the maansr prssumssiy Of
theater place OF charm and delight and not .dormi
tory This is mere, whisper Tar, whisper light
but q is sncerely hoped that win naterialize
into something tangible for has long ago given
up hope OF Zegfed going back to his earlier
and cohan has been too busy for the last few
to repeat with the same medium
In the meatime. such satire as one meets in the
vashinGton theater today Incidental line
in dramatic situation and is gone ere one may