The New York herald., 1922-05-02
Guild Produces
arnold Benefits
Journalism Play
What the Public Wants Prob
lem in Ethics Rather Than
-~
Dramatic Fiction.
ny LAWRENCE REAMER.

Was acted last night at the Garrick for
Ale work is not new it has been seen
,.'iy in Boston and some of the Cara
dian cities.
To the audience the drama seemed
TO have dated. 1t bears unmistakab!e
s,gns of an origin earlier than the prob
ems of life/ to-day. Even the type o,
journalism with which it deals, while II
may still exist in just the form the
author satirizes, is no longer new. Its
becLliarities are we'll known and ac-
cepted if they are not approved. At all
events they are no longer talked about
as they were when Mr.. Bennett was in
stirred TO write What the Pubic
Wants"
Most of the spectators last night were
familiar with the central figure in the
drama. They knew the history and the
methods and the present activities Of the
man who is so thinly disguised as the
resident of the Five Towns, who went
up to London and became famous as the
owner OF forty publications. They are
all more or less described in the play
and the author inevitably has his little
joke about the decline of the religious
publications and the certain profit Of all
sporting organs in England. 1t is such
humor that adds the strongly marked
British flavor to the fun. The piece is
indeed. altogether British in its view
points, serious or comic n
what the Public Wants" unfolded
TO the spectators the study Of prob
lem in ethics rather than any dramatic
fiction. Even the play agents now ask
4 tts. -p1a
when they come to peddle their products
ON New Yorks theater avenue of trade
IL they write from plot or character.
Mr.. Bennett in this play writes alto
gether from character.
Not Usual Stage Fiction.
There is disappointment in store for
any visitor to the Garrick Theater in
search of the accustomed kind Of stage
fiction. There is none Of it in the min
utes from the life of a great and mod
ern journalist as the four acts reveal
them. On the contrary. the scenes pass
ang in the Office Of this great British
editor rather accentuate his professional
labors than any of the softer emotions
he may feel. He does after keeping
off' women, as he describes it, fall in
love with an actress in whom he sees
the ideal wife that he needs.
OF his genuine affection there seems to
be no doubt even If '1ove" is one of the
words he never has been able to bring
himself to utter. When she gives him
up with only the poor living that her
own efforts may bring her it is not
because he is lacking in the tender pas
sion she requires 1t is all because he
cannot possibly see what he is doing In
Just the same light that she and other
intellectual friends for whom he pre-
lends a genuine scorp insist upon views
ing his achievements.
To be sure, he suppresses the sensa-
iional revival of an old crime which will
bring modification to the innocent who
are close to his family. But he consents
10 what he calls such an Unnecessary
course. not because he recognizes the In
excusablc impropriety of it, but because
his bethrothed begs him to and caresses
him into It.
But worldly honors continue to heap
ur on his shoulders even II his family
does not hesitate to express its horror !
q the methods of newspaper editorship |
IN which he has gained such fame and |
ealth He is to be made d. c. l..
%. Oxford Just when the woman Is in |
his office to tell him that their mar
rage cannot take place. His power in
sreases with his wealth. 1t may be |
that the woman who has refused him |
will marry his more cultivated and in
tellectual brother. He would not even |
work on one Of his newspapers as !
dramatic critic so different we're their |
views.
Parting of Brothers.
Yet the spectators cannot help but |
feel confident OF the editors power IN |
spite of a threat of possible downfall
In the parting scene between the two
brothers. The belief in the infallibility
Of giving the public what it wants will |
obtrude whatever the temporary set |
backs In his affairs of the heart may be-
To this extent has Mr.. Bennett made
his play and his protagonist plausible
But he did not make him human
enough to warm the hearts of the spec
fators toward him. The interest In his
adventures was listless. His talk was
always vivacious. Most OF the men and
women in the play had the usual facility
In speech that Mr. Bennett can impart
10 his stage figures. But he never makes
them live. The creatures in What the
Public Wants are rather pale st-
houettes Only their talk gives them any
seLse OF reality. Talk cannot exercise
This power throughout four long acts.
The line of the plays development
reached its highest point in the second
act Then Il declined The later scenes
we're rewarded with but the faintest in
ferest.
The performance might have been
crisper. The actors showed lack OF
readiness for their task which is unusual
in any OF the attempts OF the Theater
Guild There was almost constant
sense OF uncertainty throughout the play.
This quality did not. of course. tend to
render Mr.. Benefits work any more
cnerossing.
Nor did Il. on the other hand. detract
from the finely human characteriza'i9n
Of Charles Dalton as the man OF jour
nalistic destiny. He was unusually sue
cessful in denoting the vanity. the lack OF
ssner feeling and the innate generosity
Of the man IN spite OF his boasting and
pretense. Claude King as the sochisti-
Gated brother seemed unduly finicky and
omniscient. He overactcd rather per
sistently.
Miss Margaret wycherly. with vague
and novel suggestions of Laurette Tay-
lor in her acting played the heroine
agrecably. Louis Calvert as the egotis- |
tical theater manager gave the play
sorne Of it's most interesting minutes
But his participation in the performance |
was brief.
DANCE AND JAZZ AT PALACE.
Morgan Artists and Paul white