The New York herald., 1921-07-03

- NOR those, says Mr.. IIldzer IN MS IN
X PRODUCTION to the printed version
of "Liliom" (now being produced
by the Theatre Guild who hold that every
fine dramatic architecture must have it's
spire Of meaning, that by the very selec-
ton Of character and incident the dramatist
writes his commentary on life, there is still
an explanation possible. Perhaps Molnar
was at the old, old task of revaulng our
ideas Of good and evil. Perhaps he has only
shown how the difference between a bully,
a wife beater and criminal on the one
hand and saint on the other can be very
slight If one must tag Lilom with moral,
L prefer to read mine in Liliom's dying
speech to Julie. wherein he says: 'Nobody's
right 4. but they all think they are
right . lot they know"
In this connection It is we'll to turn for
guidance to the general Introduction Hardy
wrote for the collected edition Of his works,
IL, which he cautions the reader against
seeking any positive viewpoint dictated by
an "objectless consistency"
It Is not hard to conceive of Franz Mol
mar. who also wrote 1.-The Devil 1.-THE
Phantom Rival" and 1.-The Tale of the Wolf"
as being In some sort a revaluer of our
ieeas, but only in the sense in which any
serious artist with a creative vision may
be an awakener and a sharp stimulus to a
fresh approach to life. But it is well to
remember that the Hungarian dramatist is
first a dramatist then poet and lastly, in
only subordinate degree. a value maker.
These considerations will help us somewhat
to enjoy and understand his best play,
"Liliom"
By reason Of it's light winged irony, it's
lingering pathos, even though the author
uses strophe and antistrophe Of mood, and
furthermore, by dint of it's unerring char
acter portrayal and finely 'articulated work
manship, "Lilom" impresses the playgoer
as one of the best plays he has witnessed
on the American stage in years. Mr.. Glazer
has made an adequate English version, ac-
curately idiomatic in the main, with but
few foreign locutions carried over. A read
ing of the play confirms in some degree an
earlier opinion, drawn from the excellent
Theatre Guild production, that its main
drift cannot be isolated by single quota
ton, no matter how happy and fitting but
that 1t must be gathered from the moving
effect of the whole From the tissue OF
emotions it is indeed difficult to disentangle
a unified emotion felt at the time of read
ing or seeing the play, and no less difficult
is 1t to say outright that such and such is
the kew to the authors meaning. For, after
ALL ii is what we felt at the immediate mo-
ment of abandoning ourselves to the magic
of a work of art that counts In the long
run.
OF such play as this. which seems to
widen our horizon of thought and human
sympathy, we can only say that we have
been acted upon by something magical and
new; that we have been purged with pity
and cleansed by pitiful human aspiration.
We may question the truth of details. such
as the speech quoted, beginning, "Nobody's
right" Lilioms fumbng, mist-shrouded
vision Liliom's conflicting half-born i'm
pulses and his inhibited haltingness OF
speech; In a word, Lilioms personal futil-
ity in the world, even at the last moment
of his sojourn in it. were too prevailing and
immense to enable him to utter anything
like this precious bit of clairvoyance. But
by almost any test available and best Of all
by the test of emotional response, the psyche
logical values in "Liliom" wellnigh per-
feet And this may be due in large part to
the fact that Molnar has put himself into
this his best work.
BY those who know him intimately, 1t is
said that Molnar is with some important
transpositions, of course) Liliom himself.
Placid cool and Unconditional on the surface,
Molnar is really one of the warmest-hearted