Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-11-25

i Gift horses in the NOUN ls neltner
s;nS nor profitable, considering how
rery, very scarce the gifts are. Nor Ia
q lind to treat In any but n sober
and disnified vein an attraction which
n"rnorts to treat In a serious and dra
p.n,Ri', tashion some definite theme.
n''Nt Nevertheless, the fact remains. that
A.. nataille play, LA Tendresse," now
!.' " n" broad, Is not half so ponderous
a. a. so vital as some Of us were led to
.unoct Dur On tb. credit side of its
iadscr there Is n certain flavor Of lit.
n.arv distinction and a sureness Of
.hoairical effect. both of which are fre-
.un"ontlv 10 be found In continental pro-
S"ctions. On the debit side Is a theme
thot at no time thrusts its point home
and n structure that contains mum =
Ser OF the old moss covered standbys
Of the stage, which help rob the story
Of its appeal. ., >, D., o.,
,.nnd,t;on nbstrnct--the conflict or re-
iioo.u;nnsbin Of two kinds Of love, that
~ desire and that Of tenderness--Ea.
sa;,ls did not exactly commit himself.
~" cnn conceive Of this idea being
.mbroidered into n story Of great power
and and very real poignancy. But when the
Eronch dramatist chose to eXemplify
his them. In the persons of n middle.
% "red and retrospective Acndcmician and
S;s vc,lny and sportivc mistress he set
h;s stems In the way of well worn con-
tinental dramatic rnts and minimized
;ts effectiveness over here. where
standards and customs are quite difter-
ent. ,. :. A.. ,.,, -.
nlay which. in lacking the tenseness
| 81 a great drama. gives opportunity FOR
oueer little thoughts. often irrelevant.
during the course Of the action. For
sxamnle. s1 it occurred to us that in this
type of domestic entanglement, charnc.
ters seem 10 love to go out Of their
woy. clear around Robin Hoods barn.
80 10 speak, to say nasty and disagree
Able things. This propensity T. not con-
6nsL to the unpleasant people In the
s.ory ether. For example. in the last
sct If "Tendresse," Barnac, the hero,
IL shown as II snddcncd. unhappy man
Nho. by his own admission. has for
given his loved ones treachery even
though the sore remains. Yet, when she
comes to him, he let's no opportunity
sin to cut her to the quick. Every
time he opens his mouth, 1t is to say
something ulkind. =,
And that interminable liam.
roinC' scene! When, finally. poor Miss
Chatterton was forced to speak n line,
~ nv, cn;r, l;tt,e nv little" It was
small wonder the audience Uttered.
Throughout this prolonged departure.
we couldn't help but think of the critic
who declared he was going to write
play. some day, in which the heroine
proclaimed her intention Of leaving
and lcft--on the instant.
The best parts OF la lcndressr
occur in the first act ana part OF tne
last. The former was interesting De-
cause OF the distihct!on OF the nlaioRue.
and the latter. partly as rrIlel rom
the high -h'wn absurdiues OF tne se."mu y!
act climax; ana parity pee""Se u '''
real "iStlulheSS.
4 quarter Of a century ago-cvcn ten
yeats ago, for that matter-la len.
dressc' would probably have been con-
silered real meat, but of late, de-
spite other shortcomings, The stage mas
rid itself Of lot OF its stilted verbiage
guised more silly and tiresome plays
and given them the outward appear
ance OF intellectual depth or pyschologi.
cal research than any other two factors.
But they canno: disguise LA Ten.
dresse. It's no particular mental
hazard.
Generally speuking, we would he so
clad to SEQ a favorite actress rid for
ever of Polyannsms. but the fact re-
! mains that Ruth Chatterton, when she
donncd the black wig Of Marthc Del
Heres, attempted something thnt doesn't
become har-- we mean the part as we'll
as the wig. Evidently the gilt and the
plush and stiltedncss Of Bataille's play
starved the beautiful and unaffected
Mary Rose right out of her. Although
III" herself did the translation Of ia
TendreSsc.' she was unsuccessful In
catching the spirit in which her own
role was written. She was neither SUIT
Rciently soulless and unurincinl,d ms thc
Marlo of the first net, nor uplifted
enough for the changed and redeemed
Marthe OF the finale. Instead. she
played tho lw" on much the same key.
and ruined the effect.
,,
W dramatic productions this season
has been, IN a certain measure, com
ronsated by tho wealth of really AT.
tractive musical shows. "Rlossom
Time which We ar" glad to sec has
caught on in splendid style mt the
I.lric. is the finest Of them ali, but
th" two musical openings last week nrc
both quite II way above average.
"Tangcrinr' il the more oririnuI ~
the two, and contains II definite nnd
tangblc plot in which much fun 10
The three husbands tor p"rhnns wc
should say husbands, soiourninr on
the mythical island of I'uugerinc wL,so