The New York herald., 1921-09-04

Do dCCOIulUB " luo lSSlAAOhy Va
various credible authorities 1t is alto
gether permissible to call Henry f.
Dixey in Personality" genuine ar
tist and to admit complete surrender
to the humor of his rowing eye. To
deny the name of artist to him for this
habit would exclude some other highly
esteemed comedians. Look at the ir-
resistible Laurette Taylor, at John
Drew, the polished William Collier and,
well, almost any really funny actor
you want to mention.
Mr.. Smith m Realist.
crosmic life of hotel lobby in "The
Woman" there has been nothing so
realistic as Winchell Smiths moving
photograph OF fashionable gambling
room, which is the background for the
third act of THE Wheel" The scene
might be described as the last word
in such temples of chance. 1t is no
three story brown stone front nesting
under the shadow Of large hotel No
non-committal lace curtains hypo-
critically veil it's garish splendors. No
private door from the hotel affords en-
trance to the visiting hick, while the
outward and visible sign of law and
order patrols. In his dark blue au-
thority, the sidewalk in front. There
is no such antediluvian character to
Mr. Smiths picture. He has drawn
the kind of temple of chance which
appeals only to the local elect. 1t al
most looked. indeed, as If one had to
be actually socially registered to get in
at all.
Expert and most polite croupiers
stand behind the tables over which the
old rose shaded electric lights dispense
q sufficient but not dazzling glow. The
black servitor-he was the genuine
article beyond all power of grease
paint and burnt cork to create-si-
lently glided in and out of the room
dispensing the cup which seemed. in
the case of the protagonist, to in
ebriate without in the least cheering.
Pocketing the tips of a size in pro-
portion to the rate at which large
sums were exchanged-with rather
monotonous advantage In favor of the
house-he disappeared without the
audacity to smile but with the cour-
tesy to exude q quite sensible grati-
tude.
The barred door which opened
quickly on the understood signal; the
speaking tube into unseen but OBJ
viously important regions; the SUBJ
stantial looking but unobtrusive deal
ers said to be old graduates Of this
now somewhat less fruitful college of
chance; the obsequious manager with
his dinner coat and his manner of be-
ing about equally interested in all his
Guests-these realistic elements COM
bined to create a scene full of inter-
esting detail.
The PainstnIxing Dramatist.
In the circumstances Ii Is not pos
sible to escape sense OF surprise
that the frenzicd passion which seized
the hero did not move the spectators
! more deeply when they saw the last
CT his fortune slipping from his trem-
bling fingers as he sat at the roulette
table. Nor did the sudden entrance OF
MS wife as the owner of the resort
obviously situation" on which the
playwright had counted heavily--stir
the emotions of the spectators. Per-
haps the skill with which Mr.. Smith
had alternated his speeches with the
turning Of the wheel and the second
OF silence in which the ball dropped
into its final resting place to precedc
the knell Of the player as 1t fell from
the impassive lips of the dealer were
points too technical to impress the
casual spectator. Yet they served
as evidence of the care with which the
dramatist has piled word upon word
and deed upon deed to make effective
an act which evoked interest only
through the truth Of its detail to the
Doality.
IT used to be theory of the theatre
That the gambler could not be made n
sympathetic figure on the stage. Prob
ably this was the result Of the at
tempt to utilize on the stage the char
{ acters out OF Bret Harte's fiction. At all
events. II needed only few success
ful plays to put an end TO this theory.
Like all stage superstitions, II took
only these examples Of its futility TO
end Its power. 1t was certainly Diff