The Washington herald., 1922-08-20
SEEING THINGS
At NIGHT
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ny HEYWooD BRoUN.

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rumbling ali over the stage with
| threats Of dire deeds of revenge,
we were able to comfort CURSE"
with the memory, OF the many
charming and amusing after-dinner
spe' ches which we have heard him
make.
The Newspaper reviewer IL often
accused Of being too jaded for the
good Of the theater. but this is an
armor which he needs to enable
him to repel with SUFFICIENT con-
tempt the attempt TO place the
drama on the level of putting q
spider down a little girls neck.
Certainly there can be no com, /,
plant against the easy charm OF
the new Belasco production which
is called shore Leave" Once again
the old squire has turned out the
loyal pleasantly. But although
Shore Leave" IL pretty consistently
sweet. a tile OF IL 10 true. The
first act Is genuine light comedy or
high order. The rest OF the manu-
script is probably no more than q
variation from pretty good to not
good at all. but IL Is at such points
that Belasco has come to the res
cue OF Hubert Osborne's comedy.
When the characters have moth
ing in particular to say, Belasce
rushes around back stage and in
PRODUCES the sound of surf. II you
don't care much for the CONVERSE
tion II is soothing to listen to the
waves. Indeed. IL seemed to us that
Belasco had rather improved the
ocean. We do not remember ever
having encountered a swish quite
so regular in rhythm or SO musical
in sound. In the real sea there
comes a wave every now and then
which proves a dud. Mr.. Belasco's
ocean is much too well rehearsed
for anything like tnat.
Hubert Osborne has also made a
good deal of use OF the Atlantic
His is ss more gentle and con-
siderate than that which RACES
through the drama Of O'NenI. So
much sugar and cream has been
added that one can hardly detect
the salt But there Is also a dash
Of lemon. The humor Of Shore
Leave" is genuine and often keen.
The two major characters are
w'll drawn and exceptionally well
played. The story concerns a lonely
Little seaside seamstress and a visit
ing COB from the United States
navy. Frances Starr Is the young
woman who does plain and plantive
| mending. But she is far less plain
| tive than has become her lot In the
| theater during the last few seasons
The rainfall Is much diminished.
Even when she is Obliged to weep
Shore Leave" permits Miss Starr
to cry for comic effect Until we
saw Frances Starr in this play IL
was our notion that there was no
actress In Amer ca except Laura
Hope Crewes who could achieve
merriment by dabbing at her nose
with handkerchief
Shore Leave" proves that most
Of us had forgotten how excellent
is the capacity of Frances Starr for
light comedy. She has true
soubtrettish verve and vigor in her
best and happi"st moments The
! pinched quality which seemed to
be creeping in. a few seasons ago
rs gone There is true mischief and
twinkle in the young woman.
For the role Of the COB. BeIasco
has been fortunate enough to find
: James Rennie. Rennie can swaeger
without straining at Il. Indeed. he
manages to be a caveman without
hitting any Of the SC merry with his
chest. He has added Just enough
quizzical disbelief to his interpreta-
on of the conquerinE male 10
make the portrait humorous as well
rs convincing
Moreover. he is among the mos.
graceful Of our young leading men
Unlike most Of them he understands
| tootwork. The voice Of Rennie is
fearsome thing. He is among the
/ habitually hoarsa. hut in this list
are such well-known PLAYERS as
Ethel Barrymore. Elsie Janis. Re>
sic Mccoy and Raymond Hitchcock.
somehow or other. We are ALWAYS
profoundly moved by scenes played
| bronchielly. Hoarse actors and
actr' sses can make US forget tina;
we are in the theater. The imper-
fection of utterance is enough to
divert us from all the slick thinrs
! wh ch dlnerentiate the drama from
! lif Hoarse people generally don't
say useless things because they
don't get any fun out Of merely
listening to the sound Of their owt.
voices OF course. an actor actually
has to say whatever ne playwright
4 tells him to. but that is on. Of the
things which IL is possible 10 for
get IN the face Of a finished per-
] iorma nee.
shore Leave" alternates hetweeS
comedy and farce. After its really
I excellent first act. beautifully
| played by Rennie and Miss Starr. il
is rather a disappointment to frn
almost a musical 'com-dy mood IN
the second. IL is in the first ac,
that the htil" seago;ng seamstresS
1 meets her COB. just for a minu-e
/ He Goes away and forgets She re-
members. hut all she knows ahou,
} MIN rs that his name - smith. Ac-
/ cording y. upon coming into money
she gives party on the deck Of
/ her freiChter and invites all the
Smiths in thS American navy. This
rs all tolerably amusing but only
second class. The play comes into
It's own again when IL falls back
INTO the hands of Rennie and Miss
Starr in the last act.
oh yes. il anybody happens to be
curious. the girl and the COB do
marry. eventually.