New-York tribune., 1922-09-10
Interesting Chat and Information for the Playg(
Forbes Takes
His Time in
Writing Plays
There's No Rushing u;.
Takes at Least IT,,
\ e ar 9 for Develoa.
nens and Conssrr,cs;,'..


The 1929 edition Of "wbo,. ~,
In America" az well as theatres, :.
ords Of various kinds show cha. t..
Forbes has been a playwright 1,h.
allowed long periods to elacs. )
tween the production Of one ri..
the completion Of another. Tfb,s s,
been particularly true In IN. -.
stages Of his career as dr.n,t,.,
there being a flve-yesr iaterv.t 1.
tween "The Show Shop" and n. a..
work. "The Famous Mrs. Fairs I.,
now, three years after "Mrs. v.l,s
and after Henry Miller and gis.A.
Bates have finally taken up somssh,s.
else, he comes forward with his ~
latest, "The Endless chain.1 W
Mr.. Forbes, when seen last w..,.
his apartment in the sixties m.L
known ths reason for the infr..r.~s.
Of his writings and told Of his m.thos.
Of work.
In the frst place, he is a PLAYWRIGHT
who takes his time; he never ru.Ss.
himself and never allows any one !.
rush him. If the musty records :,
Broadway can be taken to mean ar,'
thing, this playwright sgures that !.
least two years should be spent in q,
construction Of any play. The recos
show that the first Forbes play, as.
Chorus Lady," was revealed in 1855 i
that the succeeding play, THE Trays
ing salesman," came in 1908 and IL
third, "The Commuters" in 1915 IN
fourth product Of the Forbes pen ri
was really pen in those days, az =
did not become a typist until afs.,
the war; was "a Rich Mans Son. n
1912-a record for consistency. tbs,
two years later came "The Show shovs
The war and conviction that bias.
wright ought to take his time, cause,
five years to pass before "Mrs. Fair
came into Henry Miller's Theater.
Now, as to the new piece itself
"The Endless Chain" Work On tkss
production was started in 1923. ana
when first completed the play was AZ
ironic thing. with a tragic ending. Ths
author decided against it and so did
his friends, and "sweetenirg mr.
process was begun, with the result thss
"The Endless Chain" turned out 70 b.
the piece that was revealed before ths
audience at the Conan Theater last
Monday nightly far the biggest
first night of the week.
The writing of plays with Mr.. FOrhe,
has always included an inevitable ais.
carding process. He has discarded and
discarded continually since the day hs
resolved to become play builder, and
he remarked that If some of the crit
cal opinions of his latest work are 70
be relied upon it seems that it wouK
have been better had he discarded @Th
Endless Chain" entirely.
II had felt for some time" said IL
playwright, "that there was somethi4
to be said in the form of a play aSm
the horrible extravaganza of New Yos
the living g-beyond-your-means habit, II
awful materialism of the city. trio
in this new piece to say what his
in mind. If l didn't say it correctly
well, somebody else will. It's sfHl
there to be said"
Whatever the results with his latest
output, James Forbes's batting Average
in the theater is very high. Hs has
been distinctly "long run" playwright,
as his record will attest. Only one
piece of his failed to get a long run
on Broadway and that was a Rich
Mans Son. although It was done for
considerable time on the road.
AS to his future work, the playwrigh
row has in mind sn idea for nsv
piece, but as it stands at present y
is nothing more than an idea. He se;s
no definite time for the completion 0s
the new play.
Mr.. Forbes's refusal TO appear ht-
fore his audience last Monday nigh
was not unexpected by those who knos
Jimmie" Forbes intimately. One q
his positive beliefs-and he has ssr.
erals that an author should stay
the background, that the actors eAsfy
his message for him. Only once has
he ever shown himself at first night
and that was at the MRS. Fair" pr.
miere. And that, it should be added
was quite an accident. He walked out
on the stage when he thought the css-
tain was down for the last time.