The New York herald., 1922-01-29

with the doctor In the final five min-S
utes Of the play, serious and rather
desperate as it was, touched the
highest peaks OF her art, not of her
personal achievement but of the art
OF the actor. In her delineation of
half quieted suspicion and uneasy
doubt Miss Taylor was mastery.
OF course, she is claiming the privi-
lege of all the great ones Of the Amer
lean theater by accommodating manner
isms. The suddenly opened eyes, the
nasal drawl, the upward movement of
the lip-these are now matter OF
course. But the gowns-the brown
one in the second act, which was a
strange combination of the worst
traits Of Mother Hubbard wrapper
and a princess frock. came as an espe-
cial shock after Miss Taylor had
looked SO charming in regular. every
day. honest to goodness outing frock.
And the coffee colored grease paint
around her eyes In the last act. 1t
may be that the actress has the best
medical authority for this singular use
of cosmetics. 1t may be that bichlor-
idle of mercury turns the skin about
the eyes the color of russet apple.
Nevertheless. 1t makes the subject, as
the country woman found the hippo
Dctamus at the zoo. very plain. But
one must evidently take Miss Taylor
along with these peculiarities. They
are as much part of her professional
career now as the Manners plays.
Exacting Duties OF Her Art.
Mr.. Manners has appeared as q re-
former before. although he was never
80 violent. In ''The Harp Of Life"
he was worried about the degree of
knowledge that should be impaired to
grcwing youth. There had even been
hints in Happiness" Of a desire to
impart the correct sort of taste in
ltsrature. In The National Anthem"
tho author imparts wisdow just as
freely as he can when most OF the best
speeches are presumably reserved for
the star. Miss Taylor at least de-
serves that consideration for perma-
ncrtly framing herself In the Manners
plays. The society actress in the new
play has other recommendations than
her skill in following the plot from
New York to London and then to
Paris. She is able in the second act
10 discuss the exacting duties of her
profession even in such strikingly
original phrases as the necessity Of
being a princess on one night and a
servant on another. Evidently she
had not become accustomed to the long
run system.
She also apostrophized the empty air
as the necessity of boulevard farce.
Even the little bounder of husband
in the first act talked about the su-
pcrior culture OF Europe and thescen-
cral inferiority OF the American man of
business who keeps on grubbing after
ho is rich. Indeed. "The National An
them" is quite as rich in the illumnat-
ing obiter dicta which are characteris-
tic of these plays as any of It's prede-
cessors. None Of them was more un-
consciously humorous than this in the
deadly seriousness with which the in
escapable er'p of dancing was dis
cussed. To hear the heroine talk OF
tho horrors OF prolonged jazz was to
believe that she was en- altogether in
voluntary victim. She appeared. how
ever TO know what she was about.
There was less discussion of the hor-
rors of prolonged jag. yet the cause
nf the heroinc's sufferings was proba-
hIy TO be found there. She was seri-
ous enough about the stepping, how
ever, TO relieve many of the most de-
pressing minutes Of the drama by
this unconscious humor. None Of Mr..
Manners deliberate fun amused the
audience half SO much.
-w
what stage C~ssrs Feed On.
Tt used to be some exhibition OF
talent in a more or less humble dra-
matte task that attracted attention TO
the possibility of players future i'm
pcrtance. Gradual promotion finally
led to an assured position. IL talent
proved to be as authentic as II APP
peared. Then, by degrees. the actor
advanced to the front rank Nowadays