The Washington herald., 1921-05-15
r MIDWAY OFFERS A REAL DRAMATIC DELUGE
O'Neill Grows Gay
By EARLE DORSEY.

IN SPITE of the present interval staes-
/ craft Of form another bloom on
every glistenng footlight. the season Of tween
covers drama is well upon and while the
theater may be expected to reveal here and there
sporadic sample Of the fan trade goods, the time
draws nigh when a hammock and a book seem
seasonable than war tax seat checks.
At such a moment, Il is convenient and appro-
pirate to consider the latest work from the Of
Eugene o'NeinL whose Beyond the Horizon -Dff-
frent" and Emperor Jones" constituted such bitter
but strengthening stage potions during past
sons. The new oNein play. The Straw" has been
issued in book form and although it manifests
o'Neilrs inevitable urge toward the tragic and the
sardonic contains. oddly enough what is probably
the closest approach a happy ending this young
dramatist seems asle to attain
The Straw" by the way. despised and
Jected by Manhattan managers from Columbus Circle
to Greenwich Village. including the Theater Guild.
but with the volume finally between and with
true estate as pisy%risht plans 90 for~aTd for It's
Ss accord,ne m e to the Ne York Time,
Is far from being oNeiIIs & best play but but i is 50
could stumble on It in some out-of-the-way thester
misery sted With 0nT Rss
hand with sardonc and unmistakabie relish Of the
i0 pain Here you have % somanSe TnfoiSed in tpSer-
ever nearer and nearer like the deadly. pursuing
jones' the march q the disease Emperor
w yHEN the girl. who has somehow always man.
w aged and mothered her fathers turbulent
household is found to he stricken. there is
fsts lss1HR h Witch 56 0Ns SFsay sRjSgs Sss
the Scene Where the girs flsshy eompisoanf seSe m
ns % Ellis aS3 part pa toto TO be Psyed 1 sy the
"Dirrent"-twists and wriggles e1tricate himself
Later he author lgxgriates in stin another dia-
man who likes and pities and respects her.
but but does not OF love her and does not want her Time
LAUGHTER in books and plays your modern resiist
bsrrassme2t to waste her and thus we have had
audiences at 'Din'rent" THE Hero" Beyond the
r,,v Indeed nd ed The Straw its implies
eognteTSOnt os to the d9wnward Of tubercu
bitterness act Of Beyond the HorIoS sRS sRS
play so PhoueR gu 6oM full Sf s as 3Ss no o
h only little @ time left on earth you leave her IN
h hanniy % planning their life together the years they
be that ne tragic intent this scene viii Escape
think It possible Yet e 'nSSTs n1bHT y2g would sGarsy
greater p3%2SlaT % success for The Straw" than for
e' endns CURIOUS They base it on the plays happy
vIYHETHER it is advancing age or the decIin. ~
" the art OF acting. what. we are not pre-
pared to say, but musish comedies certainly
40 not seem TO be as funny they used to
en- or twelve years ago according to HAYWOOD Broun
the critic. Probably the musical comedy books Of
yesteryear were just about bad as they are now
but in the long ago there a Of comedians
who had no need of written instructions hlari-
Gus Richard earle always gave the impression that
he was putting a show every night. BE re-
mains in mind as the funniest seen In comic
opera
OF the men to be seen Leon Enrol alone seems
comparable TO the comedians used have. But
to 6FB9 5T Se haSF psrba +
action is worth many aS 9Sps ana s oS S ,, his knee
esFea %sSeh a Prss arESi So5 fan ~ by asysns k equally
"a fsneT ne but but hardly great comedian His comic gift
is essentially stunt who entertains YOU by his
rope only to abandon that to stand 10 90 On tess S VII Win
Of them rems1ss as ws have said were different Some
they could not stand on their feet.
THERE is probably no more di,,icurt ta.t ., ,h0
i Eorld than that OF assigning to any particular
May. novel. picture or the phrase. .TTrea,
American" photoplay There have been a. r...+ =
dozen great American novels and while The Great
ninoe approaches the sphere OF that select class
II is brave critic indeed who dares even now 10
play.
D. W. Griffith nevertheless. has probably com. g,
near 10 producing the great American photoplsy as
any producer. past present and that nbotonlav
undoubtedly is The Birth Of a Nation 74g. .,,o
now Is proving one of the biggest screen SEN
sauons ever Offered in New York and il is glowing
tribute to Its maker that today seven years afsr a.,
rs showing IL is proving attraction SO powerful
lnat tne Capitol Theater in New York seating $500
people mas oeen forced occasions 20 sion
It's seat sale as early as o'clock in the evening
As matter Of fact. it required an interim Of
seven years from 1914 to present for tn. screen
AZ large to acquire a background a standard nrone,
focus that would show Gririth work IN i,s ,r,.
hght. All hands agreed. years ago that Crit
nth has turne dOut an opus and in producing f. re-
vealed for the FIRST time the true dramatic 60 a.,
herent In screen production.
re" OF u.s. on the other hand. were at all willing
70 oeheVe that The Birth a Nation" would he the
ereatest picture by all odds. that Grifth would do
IN seven years Most Of held to the idea that
Inc birth OF Nation" for all its forcefuI drama
ana It's vivid mirroring OF history was merely the
bright promise Of greater productions that might be
expected to issue forth later from the studio Of this
super-man Of the screen. The fact remains however
si.er seven years all things taken together.
Grimth himself has equalled any OF the distinctly
Grimthian technique he disclosed in the great Civil
War romance.
intolerance" IL is true, a spectacular
affair in some respects than The Birth OF a Nation
but Grifith welded scene in even the mighty
'Intolerance" with half Of the spectacular WALTON
that he canned in the ride OF the in The
Birth" In Hearts World" he distinctly traiied
on into propaganda and in Broken Blossoms- ne
made venture into tragedy that interesting but
by no means IL a picture of and fnrca