The Washington herald., 1921-03-16
By EARLE DORSEY.

One must. curse the rigid conven-
tionaIity of the American theater
for the one conspicuous ailment
that mars the GENERALIZATION OF
Toto" the Hennequin-Duquesn
comedy that Achmed Abdullah and
Leo -Ditrichstein have adapted to
the stage uses of the latter gen.
tleman.-
Limited to a playing time Of two
hours and no more, Toto" might
be commended to all and sundry as
chortling, -diverting and fire.
quently vivid little comedy from the
French that reveals Ditrichstein In
new and intriguing guise. As 1t
stands, however. the copper-riveted
traditions of the drama in this re-
public inexorably demand two
hours and thirty minutes OF play
ing time, and the result is a gratu-
itous fourth act that is nothing
more than a stage device that
places its associated action in dan
ger of anticlimax.
Let us, however. be not dismayed.
It is not difficult to forget that
three preceding ones reveal the re-
doubtable Leo-strangely minus his
Freudian aura-as the mere devil of
a fellow who imparts to a French
comedy of romance and strong
psychic contrasts the motive power
of his own elegant and ingratiating
savoir faire.
1t is, indeed, a strange yet charm
ed in "Toto"-a Ditrichstein devoid
of that sinister virtuosity for Sc
duction which made him such a
malign figure in Lavedan's Mar
quis de Priola," and devoid as well
of that suppressed but not-to-be-
disguised ambition for sex conquest
Concert" and The Great Lover"
A New Ditrichstein.
He is, in fact, a rather bland and
innocuous Leo in Toto" a Leo
rather obsessed with the cares of
father. a father who carries of
his own mischievous abandon with
a careless air-but a father, never
theless. Working toward the goal
of his daughters happiness, rather
than toward the goal of somebody's
else daughters unhappiness, he pre-
septs a new but nevertheless charm
ing figure. There is a mother of
severe and monastic mind to cir
cumvent and put at naught - a
mother who is the precise emotion
al and temperamental opposite of
her giddy but not quite abandoned
husband, King Toto" the toast of
Maxim's and the hero of the Folies
Bergere.
1t is a new role for Ditrichstein
and one, perhaps, that caused him
much uneasiness, but 1t is evident
that he has not failed to captivate,
once more. his audience as well as
the cast about him.
So long as the story itself works
toward a natural and progressive
conclusion. Ditrichstein himself and
Ditrichstein's play continue an in
teresting il not a fascinating thea
ter adventure. 1t is only when the
play reaches a natural climax thirty
minutes ahead of 10:45 p. m, that
Toto" begins to stall and wander
down emotional blind alleys and
contradict the intrinsically SOUND
development of its theme.
From the standpoint of perform
ance, Ditrichstein still remains the
gracile, facile interpreter Of his par
ticular forte, still shameless, still
mischievous but a little troubled. II
is difficult to find fault with any.
thing he does. in a technical sense
though Miss Phoebe Foster, with al
due respect to that young woman, Is
not altogether happily cast in the
I role Of the daughter. The Phoebe
| of The Cinderella Man would have
been charming, but avordupois. alas
has claimed Phoebe. The dear gir
| must reduce or take to character
roles.
The rest of the cast can be in
spected and passed along for thu
approval of the early spring trade.