New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-08-23
The New Plav
BY Percy Hammond
The Scarlet Man. Makes
Comic Crimaces at the
Double Standard
of Morals

For long time last evening it
seemed Henry Miller's tneater was
rather a sedate forum wherein "The
Scarlet Man" was propounding for dis
cussion an obsolete dilemma of yester-
days ethics.
The case proposed was that of a
young woman, socially eminent in Madi-
son, Wis, who, bewildered by the in
scrutable enjoyments of a neighbour
hood picnic, missed the home going
boat and was forced to remain the
night upon the pleasure grounds with
her escort, loose-tongued youth of
unsavory reputation.
Gossip having ensued, it became the
function of the author, Mr.. LIE Baron.
to ask if the lady's misfortune should
be regarded as synonymous with i'm
purity, and whether her betrothed
young man and his family (recentlv
moved from Madison to New York;
we're justified in breaking her engage
ment on the circumstantial eyide nca
that she had lived. For thew did break
the engagement, though 1t was obvious
IN the modest impersonation Of her bv
MISS Patricia Morris, that she was Ak
chasto as the icicle on dams temple.
ana her only sin was that of unpunctu
any. ihey gave her the air, and she
mao 10 leave their place in Westches-
ter, a trembling sacrifice to midwest
propriety.
i. y y.
any You learn from your playful that
The Scarlet Man" is a farce comedy"
and you wonder when the sport will
begin, with many doors slammine and
mr.. John Cum berland hiding himself
as his wont, like FalstatF, among the
laundry baskets. "The Scarlet Man."
however, is dignified farce of the
rostrum type, and you must be patient
while the characters prove to you the
absurdity of double standard Of
morals. Miss Frances Carson, a COOL
determlned young comedienne, adj
dlcted to retlcence of gesture and elo-
cutlon, represents the radical daughter
or the transplanted Wisconsonians, and
she undertakes to emphasize her i'm
patience with their moldy code
10 prove that her girl friend is in
nocent, despite the picnic episode, sh,
revolts and goes to spend IA white
chambers of the prim Mr.. Cum berland
Thus, she seems to make this some
what vulnerable proposition to her
parents: IF | can stay the night in
those cloistral precincts, unpoluted,
Why shouldn't Helen have remained
likewise upon an 0dorons, amorous
island in the Wisconsin lakes. unim-
PEELED to sin by one Of the widest and
handsomest cut-ups in the state uni
versity?' You may not see resem
blance, but the play does.
The matter is argued and reargued-
into many air pockets and sinking into
such dull spaces as there are between
fun and sclemnity. So it may not be
said by prudent reporter that it is u
good show Eventually Mr. lie Baron
drags the dfident. frightened, always
n-wrong Mr.. Cumberland from beneath
the humilating bedsteads of Mr..
Hopwood's rubicund frolics, and causes
him to produce numerous moments OF
laughter. The trouble is that the
vendible satire Of "Thc Scarlet Man"
does not begin until the final few
minutes, and that, perhaps, is too late.
Mr.. Cumberland is most comic, near
the conclusion, posing as q man COM
promised by q woman who will not
marry him ard make him honest; and
his despairing cry that it 10 the man
who pays and pays rs amusing enough
to be uttered earlier in the farce
Perhaps you. too, are one Of those
ingenucs Of the theater who always
wonder why bright, pretty women
marry Mr. Cumberland at the end of
comedies. He is Gin the dramas) so
hopelessly a man net to be married to
Shy furtive, squat, unromantic--
something innocent and ludicrous, to
be found miscrablv hiding in a
boudoir. But he in "The Scarlet Man"
is an empurpled hero compared with the
other young chap, who, after discarding
his ladylove because of gossip, takes
her back again and marries her. Often,