The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-10-04
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Attic heaytef
BY III.

AT THE GRAND an almost packed
| house greeted kissing Time one of the
comedy. that has appeared in Topeka for
some time. The company was not large,
but everyone in 1t knew his trade Not
one girl in the chorus of eighteen but knew
ho<y to dance and could sing and the prin-
cipals were far, far above the average.
The show has not been on the road long
| as evineed by the apparent newness or the
not one "1 jarring detail None of the
one Of the three sets was adequate and
pleasing to the eye.
Miss Eva Lynn, the prima donna, is
/ act, dance and whistle tho she is outdone
in pep by Mabel Frenyear. who is con-
/ siderab1y older and shows her added ex-
| perience in the ease with which she puts
! her stuff across the footlights. Dan Marble
| is comedian of the new school. He has
good lines, but he gets the best out of
every word. Two dancing teams Of ability
| but with nothing particularly new to show,
fill out the cast of principals.
i kissing Time was well written from
| every angle 1t has a plot. clever. fresh
! lines and tunefuI melodies tho there are no
particular catchy pieces in the production
| with the possible exception of ''Bill and
! Coo" Most of the music sounds familiar
! and one wonders where he has heard it
| before. kissing Time" is both music and
| comedy but the accent must be placed on
| the comedy.
! AT THE CRYSTAL, if one can forget the
/ almost impossible inconsistency of man
loving and marrying a woman who delib-
| erately left him to drown at sea while she
| herself was saved. there is a good picture.
| Lying Lips" After n ship is destroyed
at sea she finds herself alone on bit of
| wreckage with man whom she had loved
| in Canada. Floating about on the wreckage
she admits her love. Later when ship
! load of blue jackets rescue her she forces
him to remain hidden on the wreckage to
save her reputation, goes away and leaves
| him and the sailors blow up the derelict.
| House Peters and Florence Nidor carry the
/ picture
and holds n rather irritated attention while
| you marvel at the inconsistent handling of
| human nature that would permit the build
ing of such a story. The sea scenes are
really exceptional.
, AT THE NOVELTY, it is a mighty hard
matter to pick out the real feature of the
| program. There are four of the five acts
| presented, which are so nearly on par that
| it takes individual taste to decide which
] each individual likes the best.
The ladder balancing act by the Lind
Brothers opens. Their stuff is not new but
| it is well staged and well done They are
followed by Marion Gibney. one of the
/ cleverest condolences the vaudeville stage
| of that put over by Marie Dressler. She
got the house with her in record time yes
terday afternoon The Billy Miller conn nd
particularly well acted bit of comedy for
the third number.
Topeka audience always warn up to a
coiored quartet but the gang out front
| went to the unusual length of demanding
two encores. The boys are good and have
| lowed by the Baader Four, a cycling act
that is far above the average. 1t opens
with a stout man awheel doing some
mighty good stuff He looks a whole lot
like Steve O'Grady and is followed on the
stage by slim poppy little miss who also
looks Irish. The act is one of those that
keeps the usual early goers in their seats.
AT THE ISIS, one of the best of Ben
Turpin's feature comedies is being shown
| in THE Small Town Idol" This one has
more of plot and setting and less of the
usual slapstick than is usual in these Mack
Sennett films, tho the Wind-up is of the
old order of things.
| Ben is a good actor of the burlesque type
and has the support of the regulars in
ity of such a company standing up for
any extended run there is not enough of
the solid" stuff to make a program all
by itself
/ There are lots of laughs and natural ones
| in this film. Mack seems to be reforming
will have from his factory a really big
| burlesque comedy.
| AT THE ORPHEUM, Goddess Men, is
/ one of those strong Jack London stories of
the 1t is filled with scenes of brutality
| and murder is its climax. There is how
| ever. an underlying theme that more than
| justifies the tale as it Is tolG.
The acting is intense and the action is
rapid making the observer forget the same
thrills in the scenario that hold the viewer
! breathless at times and the producer has
| successfully used contrast by weaving n
| love theme into the wool of the plot
| palliating the horrors of the two strong
characters of Black Pawl and Red Pawl.
| father and son, who at the finale, kill each
other.