Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-05-06

~ pinwheel OF popularity anon
Dama or mystery play, and this {
* t1tll. producers next week. The {
* William Gillette at the Broad,
"A In second and final week at the
*3 aE resumption Of the craze for tn
4 ~ hair. r.raiscr during the Inst month o
80 has come as distinct surprise
yIhe Bat" brought forth a number o
ltations when 1t was first presented
& 40 years ago, but then the pendulum
\ G1tlted to lighter and frothicr tride!
4 ~ fantastical affairs. 1t wasn't thu
4 I'm Of the melodrama and mystery
! - to return, but return 1t did, as
following incomplete catalogue Will
y u New York, right now. are: The
\ H316rlatan," in which Fred Tiden. well
/. IL Rendered for his portrayal Of the
Villain in that delightful bad Man. y
which played a. the Walnut In the
winter, is featured:
s'The Cat and the Canary which Is
. very close relation Of "The Bat and
VA peddled to every manager on
Z Droadway, before 1t was produced on a
"a. operative plan and coined money;
ssThe Hindu" which is second -cou-
n to "The Green Goddess. with
walker Whiteside featured instead OF
lie suave and subtle Arliss;
q The Night CALI which uses the
universally talked Of radiophone IN It's
Ryotery producing business;
"The Bat" which is completing its
second year after having toured tn
country with a fine comb completeness.
Bull Dog Drummond,' that English
thriller which played at the 1arrick
around the holidays.
~ On the road, either newly hatched or
recently come from Broadway. are !:
"Whispering, Wires" featuring Mckay
Morris. the interesting Doc kennicott.
Of ''Nfain Street" and again the wire.
less IL said to be used in the plot struc'
ture.
..Smooth as Silk" one of Willard
Gack's creations, playing up Boston
Haunted" and 1.-The Dream
Maker" the two local contributions to
this delegation of shuddcr- producers.
MOT only do the general styles of
4N plays rotate in circles, but they
ov6n parrot each other to n remark.
able degree. The Luella of Haunted"
for example, is but a slightly disguised
land darkened) replica Of the part that
1.-THE Bat" Her chief function seems
% be to lead the audience in the paths
ef fear. She shrieks and she groans
and imagines all sorts of things before
the other members Of the cast, or the
audience, either have begun TO worry.
Incidentally, of course, her indication
Of fear must be 10 ludicrous and 70
exaggerated that it must bring laugh.
for the knowing playwright Is aware
that q laugh not only makes the thrill
that follows more telling, but is neces.
saty to leaven the tensity Of the nelo.
dramatic portion Of the plot.
Z Unfortunately, that same playwright
eften seems to believe that the comedy
minstrel methods. If he writes the
part that way he can only be saved by
The aid Of an extraordinarily clever
actor or actress. That same Is exem.
plifed in Haunted" Since the Mon.
6ex.. night performance Lucille Le
Verne, who left the company last week,
las rejoined 1t and again takes up her
paft of the old nanny. without in
any way rejecting On the ability Of
Moreno Pollock. who stepped in Monday
with scanty rehearsals and attempted
admitted that Miss lie Verne's assump-
tjon of the role has immeasurably i'm.
proved both 1t and the play as a whole.
IL = the marvel of those in the audience
who saw her in "Orphans of the
Storm" how the single -toothed. mus
tached Madame Frochard became the
superstitious nanny Of the William
6uxlburt play.
Haunted" is also adhering to what
oeens 4 popular custom in having for
~ leading figure q mysterious. malevo-
lent figure who stalks through the
yss'ii sss some areworks." Here It is
the Swami. played by Robert Edeson
n New York 1t is the charlatan played
by Mr.. Tfden, who draws goldfish
bowls and rabbits from his sleeves when
the action of the plot begins to lag.
The Bat" and "The Cat and the
CaAafy" have no such dominant fig
ures. though the former, at any rate,
couA easily have had one II the name
part had been differently conceived and
@ofe powerfully constructed. THE
Hsndu" Is in the nature Of combi-
nati0n Of the mystery man Of the above
playS. and the sinister AEure Of
etreiSht melodrama like The Green
n MOTHER kind of dominant per.
n sonality entirely is that supplied by
William Gillette in THE Dream
Maker" Here is not the force for evil.
0Qe the force to suppress evil.
NGtllette has always stood for that.
Ao n an actor who has stood definitely
Tor the resourceful and the unexcited In
stage characterizations. If the person
whose part he assumes Is called on to
20 into some deadly and evi!ly black
dive (as he did in Sherlock Holnes")
nobody has any qualms about his get
ting out alive. His very appearance
inspires confidence he exudes it, and
when he lights his ever present cigar.
It becomes case. not OF wondering
wh1ther 1t will defeat his enemies, but
How he will defeat them.
When last seen here Mr.. Gillette was
- something entirely different. and he
BAve final and convincing proof that no
can, at command, subInerge his striking
Reesonality entirely. That play, was
HaErie's Dear Brutus," and in it
suts Gillette Of "Secret Service" and
seeking husband of the Scotch authors
lamy In the enchanted woods Is not
llksH soon to be forgotten.
n 'The Dream Maker" however, it
- the Gillette Of old again. a single
Individual matching his wits against
- Ind NJ crooks the m0flern enuiya lenta