The New York herald., 1921-07-31
Popular Actor Manager Feels Strongly the
Unionning of Actors, but Anticipates
Return to Old Conditions Mean
while He Will Go to Europe
and May Write Play
BY LAWRENCE REAMER.
..T HIS pulling up the roots" said Mr.


WITH HIS pulling up the roots" said Mr.
Cohan, pulling up his shirt sleeves
simultaneously, as if that might
hurry the job-"this pulling up the roots
after so many years takes time-more time
than anybody would think"
The roots are up, all right, in the former
Cohan offices at 237 West Forty-fifth street.
The Office furniture on the first floor is piled
in rather dusty disorder. Deserted desks
look out pathetically from the corners. A
detached telephone board stands in the mid
die room as a mute witness to the suspen-
sion of business Stretched on the floor is
the long black and gold sign which used
to proclaim from the facade that George M.
Cohan had converted the brownstone resi-
dence into an office building for his own
business. Mr.. Cohan's office is the front
room on the second story. There is still his
desk. Sitting there, he is directing the pull
ing up the tiniest tendril for the Cohan ac-
tivities are at an end
"A wire comes from Oakland" says E. w.
Dunn, for years Mr. Cohan's other SELF as
he opens the door noselessly and looks in,
Saying they would like nightly to have
Mary for two weeks"
"Out of the question" is Mr.. Cohan's un-
compromising answer to the question into
which Mr. Dunn's observation gradually
grew.
With the pulling up going on like that,
il will not be long before Mr.. Cohan can
start off on the postponed motor trip which
is going to begin his long vacation now that
he is for the while altogether out of the
theatre He says that nothing else in his
future is settled but that motor trip. But
afterward?
There Is European Trip in
Prospect, but Not Settled
Maybe a trip to Europe, which 1 am
anxious to see" he rather reluctantly ad
mitted, "although even that is not definite.
l have been abroad several times but al
ways as the rapid tourist. I went over for
several weeks, usually met all the friends
had in New York over there on trip like
myself and then came back again. Now /
want to stay longer and make the acquaint-
ance of the Old World in different way
Mr.. Cohan's pleasures are interesting to
himself just now. 1t may be that they will
be profitable to him. But 1t is his work that
is productive of the pleasure that he has
given this country. So the reporter for
THE NEW York HERALD wanted to know
when he was going to be far enough along
in that vacation that made it necessary to
pull all the roots up to think of work again
and what sort of work 1t was going to be.
"a play?" he repeated, introspectively, as
if he were weighing the question with him
self 81 think 1 might feel like writing
plav after the air has cleared. You see,
dramatist ought not to be burdened with
managerial duties. 1t isn't the best prep
aration for playwriting to sit and receive
kilograms that the leading lady of this COM
pany is threatening to resign in Omaha,
while the manager of this one is drunk at
Indianapolis A man ought not to have
those responsibilities when he wants to write
plays l was reckoning the other day that
during my partnership with Mr.. Harris I
acted for $50 weeks and wrote fifty plays.
Then there was the duty of reading the
numerous manuscripts. / think / never
read less than a thousand plays year
while we were together. I certainly read
three a day on an average. l don't mean
that read every word in them, but enough
to know il there was anything we wanted.
1--WE never hoped to find plays, you know.
In all those years never got but one
play ready to be produced. That was The
Fortune Hunter, by Winchell Smith. was
looking for ideas in the plays that we might
utilize even for ideas behind the plays, for
often the dramatist had not brought them
out"
How could it happen that there was still
so much work for the manager!
II am afraid the answer is that American
dramatists don't write complete plays They
have an idea and they set QUE to express
it in the form of a play. But they don't tell
their story in the right way or they don't
tell 1t at all. The reader has to look for it.
If it's a good one the manager is willing to
get a play out of II himself Then there Is
the greatest Importance in the way char
acter or a set of characters may speak. A
line couched in the wrong language. the use
OF the incorrect words in stating a fact or
a feeling, that may ruin the following ten
minutes of a play. Then the scene is spoiled
and the poor scene may ruin the act. OF
course the playwright may not know that.
IL takes a manager of experience in produce
ing plays. Look at the immense service for
instance, David Beasco may be to play
wright. He knows just when the language
fails to express a sentiment as it should be
expressed
Can't Hide From Cohan
When Play Has Been Rewritten
IL think / can tell in seven cases out OF
ten maybe In nine cases. just when a play
has been rewritten. just what parts of it.
moreover. have been done by a different
hand OF course, / ought to know after all
the plays / have read and all have rewrit-
ton"