New-York tribune., 1921-09-20
The New Play
By Percy Hammond
'sBluebeard's Eighth Wife,
Is Fleet of Intention,
but a Trif1e Slow
in Performance
THE CAST

In performance
THE CAST
Albert de Marceu. ..... Barry Baxter
sille George. .Leonoro Hayris
a.. y Kay ay.:...'....... Jules Epalll,
The Marquis de Briac. 80. Ernest Stallart
i4uclenne. ........."......A Anne Meredith
Jopn Brandon. ..-.....-.. Edmund Breese
The police force of New Haven
Conn, may or it may not have been
justified in calling the patrol wagon
for "Bluebeards Eighth Wife" and rem
dering it into the local hoose-gow or
a charge Of disorderly conduct.
Questions of the kind must find
their solution in the hearts Of each in
dividual, and what is naughtiness to
the chief of the New Haven constabu-
larry may be but innocent chatting to
the sophisticated playgoer of New
York. MIR. William Harris jr., the pro-
ducer, for instance, says in his pro-
gram that while the thing is bold it is
by no means indecent, and in his con-
slderation it is wholesome and q
delightful play" SO far as l was able
to learn from those who were on hand
at the Ritz last evening to welcome
MISS Ina Claire's return to the drama
they agreed with Mr.. Harris that
"Bluebeard's Eighth Wife" was whole
some. AS to its delightfulness, thei,
opinion seemed to be divided. But II
was European though ornery, as Kin
Hubbard said Of the Russian ballet
and it had it's funny as we'll as ;ta
fetid moments.
Ac any rate every one present was
glad to see that Miss Claire at last wa g
freed from the ruddy insinuations Of
The Gold Diggers," which irked her so
ana was able to exhibit herself in
something bold, if not indecent. ayes.
yes," you remark with explicable i'm
patience, but why was the New Haven
gendarmerie irritated at Miss Claire's
performance to the extent that 1t in
hlbited its continuance in that citv o.,
Well, as they say in the Middle West.
draw up chair, and will endeavor to
whisper to you the half of it.
X * X
1t is IN Monna's boudoir at midnight.
and present in that voluptuous en-
vlronment are Monna (Miss Claire).
the Partisan wife of an American bill
lionaire Edmund Breese), and her
prospective lover, referred to bv her
as the crown prince. This lover
(Barry Baxter) has grown tight
from his champagne, and though audi
BILE is somewhat inarticulate, His
amorous advances toward the ladv are
repulsed by her, because she is good
woman, and when he asks her to LEFT him,
KISS her hand she forbids him the
caress. He, then, is as much startled
as you are, and as the New Haven
policeman was, when she helps him to
his feet and says to him in so many
words: "Take off your clothes!"
l wonder how far one NAV 90 when
reporting for home paper the occur
rences Of an evening at the Ritz with
"Bluebeard's Eighth Wife? Not verv
lar, suspect. and so l shall have to
content myself with saying that Mr..
baxter, answering the lady's petition
takes off his clothing Ga word more re-
spectacle than clothes in the circum-
stances) though he balks at remov;ng
his trousers. Clad but in his shirt
his netherwear (still striving 70 be
not indelicate), his socks and his gar
ters' he climbs into bed, while Monna
retires to her dressing room and SINH
larly prepares herself.
X X X
No doubt have gone too far in NV
repeating of this droll story and I
shall have now to speak of the plav,s
hlstrionism. Mr.. Baxter and Monna
having been interrupted in their per-
fectly chaste rendezvous by Monna's
husband, Mr.. Baxter is, in the patois
OF rubicund romance, given the air.
Very realistically does he starrer from
the couch at the behest of the enraped
husband and tumble about for his gar
ments. Eventually he gets some Of
'hem on one way or another, and he
reels from the apartment, his sus-
penders danglingly dramatically from
beneath the tails of his evening coat.
Whereupon there ensues great dem
onstration for his achievement in the
matter, and as the curtain falls it
seems that the acting honors of tho
evening are either his or his gallusses.
X y: X
10 prove that the comedy is whole
some and delightful 1t developes that
Monna is really in love with her
INSTRUCTION