The Washington herald., 1922-08-14

Three Wise Fools" Is a rather
cteditabie drama. 1t has a we'll
constructed Not. plenty of laughs.
some tears. and at least two heavy
punches" Altogether 1t is one Of
the best stock offerings seen in
washington this season-a play Of
the better sort with characterize
tion well above the average.
The fundamental idea Of the
drama is the deadening monotony
of middle age. when. one by one.
the thrills Of life have been sub
merged into the drab routine of
clocklike days and nights. Three
distinguished old fellows. male
factor of great wealth, a learned
judge and a celebrated physician.
are the central characters. They
have-com onto the days when
there are no more thrills In ex-
istence. the time Of dead leaves
and hot matted milk.
Into their calm days Is infected
the element of irresponsible youth
in the form of the pretty daughter
of a sweetheart all three have loved
and lost in college days.
1t is like pouring whisky into
weak tea. Around the old house
where the three gray-headed
chaps live, an atmosphere
Of new life Is created
It's the old story of the girl in
the bachelors home. Routine
goes to smash. Flowers appear
on the tables. Then comes the
first punch. The pretty maid
turns out to be a suspicious char
acter. She falls afoul the po-
lice. Her guardians, suspicious
as age always is. kick her out
of the house.
In the end. Of course, she turns
out not only innocent but a
heroine. She thwarts an attempt
on the life Of the judge and man.
ages to save her own father from
jail. The love element comes in
of one Of the old bachelors who
falls for the charms of the maid
en-.
There are fine lines of distinc-
ton drawn in the characters of
the three old fools. Edward Po-
land. who plays the part of the
millionaire, presents an excellent
conception of the cranky broker
with, nevertheless, a sense of hu-
NOR and a big heart.
The doctor, portrayed by Frank
Harvey. is just as set in his ways.
but a bit more Of a philosopher. He
knows what is wrong with his life
and tries to remedy it-with consid-
erable success in the end, although
II looks for a time as IL he had been
only a meddler in what was well
enough left alone.
Judge Trumbull. whose part is
taken by John Kline, is not so well
drawn a character. In fact, he is
colorless. He Is introduced just to
help the plot along-not because he
presents any new light on the sub
ject of middle-age routine
Ada Meade appears as Sidney
Fairchild. the girl in the case. Her
role is played excellently. She has
the job of bringing in the "heavy
punches" and does it in a way that
impresses the meledrama on the
folks in the seats.
The young millionaire. who
makes the love scenes possible. Is
a forceful enough character and
Foster J. Williams plays the part
to life except for one mistake. He
has the mistaken idea that enthu-
siastic cubs of Wall street do a
shimmy every time they talk. Most
of the boys with too much kale
of our personal acquaintance are
too lazy to have St. Vitus dance.
Otherwise Mr.. williams has the
idea. He has got the suggestion
of wriggling and dancing when he
talks. We presume. from the late
lamented Mr.. Foxe. who carried il
to an extreme. But he looks we'll,
talks we'll and loves well other
wise.