New-York tribune., 1922-09-06
The Theaters-By Percy Hamn.on,
The Plot Thickens" Seems
Apter in Promise Than
i'm Fulfillnaent

An kS1AxGEafBxGnS
.srhe Plot Thicksns... a farcieai corsssdy
Acapisd By Thomas Beer from the italian
Eargsns and Arnaldo Fraccaroii Presented
At the Booth Theater under the direction
q Brock Pestaeeston BY the following cast
4deris Duekwcgth Eawin Nicandes
olisetti s.. Jaspsr sas Mansions
Iaaasns Dapoist Mics asnss ssse casnes aoaae
9eR3a5nin PiayfaiT Jonsa 4. - John Thorn
farst slrs s,svas Aieert Bsnnister
Second Player. .-.s..,54... Neil 1lusnlan
IlaiTa IaiTa Piayer john Saunders
sash f.anshawe. s.j....... Edward Lester
Ssfse Sheefian ,.s... Dallas Wexford
Nike Sheehan jr.. ........ A Dwight Errye
Griszei McNab ...s.. Miss Janet Murdoch
rohee Commissioner Joseph r. Mann
NJ NaSss. .s.s. ....5..... Jack Afnory
ssrEsHE PLOT THICKENS" seemed to
have every reason to succeed
last evening at the Booth Theater,
savs one. An excellent IL not a novel
idea for farce was present, and it
vas developed with considerable mag
nation and skill. The characters and
their speech were often comic, and the
actors, including Miss Ren1y Carpen,
refreshing debutante from Paris,
were superior in their various assign
ments. Yet the entertainment seemed
TO wither as it went along; to grow
weary, and to- run down. The trouble,
ferhaps, was that it started with pros
poets too great and that it disappointed
thereafter, when it faltered AS it is
said, performance is ever the duller
when preceded by expectation, so "The
Flot Thickens" suffered last night
from its too auspicious promise. We
expected it to be like Adonis's gardens
that one day bloomed and fruitful were
the next; and It was not
For Adonss Duckworth (Mr. Edwin
Nicander) in "The Plot Thickens" hit
upon fertile plan to mitigate the
cnnui which was companion to his
great riches. The idea came TO him
from the impudent invasion of his
Long Island estate by band of motion
picture players and their breezy di-
rector. Impressed with the ease by
which this director manipulated emo
tions and the causes thereof. he en-
pioyed the resourceful fellow to
amuse him with thrills. He ordered
the movie man to provide him with un-
expected adventures, with the shocks,
surprises and amazements common to
the cinema life. make the world a
bucking broncho for me- he requested,
f,,11 of a%o
At ence the life of the lethargc
Adonis became animated by startling
occurrences. But the BURGLARS who
smused him by stealing his bonds and
silverware were not the spurious ban
dts of the silver screen; they were
the real thing of farce, and they were
acted humorously by Dallas Wexford
end another. as ga comic father and
son. Here, it seemed, was the pace
set, with aa impetus too much for what
followed.
Adonis, discovering renowned se-
ducer of the films in closet in his
sweetheart's chamber, thought him a
part of the Joke. He regarded the
police inspector who came to inquire
about the robbery as merely a police
man from the photoplays, and laughed
at him. The alienist who desired to
examine him for lunacy was dismissed
as a mock physician from the silent
dramas; and SO en-. Really, the farce
was so rich in material that an explana-
ton for it's failure to give more pleas
ure is that it started with prospects
toe brilliant.
Miss Carpen. who is said to be a
discovery of Brock Pemberton, the pro-
queer, is-a captivating child, who acts
with intelligence and in manner de-
lightfully different, She plays the
French Canadian lady-love of the lack
.daisical Adonis, who also is we'll done
by Mr.. Nicander, an expert at whimsi-
cal and listless young millionaires.
Likewise there is fine comedy in Miss
Janet Murdocks impersonatione of the
French girls disapproving Scotch
aunt. The adaptation from the Italian
by Thomas Beer has many moments of
ludicrous satire somewhat in the
Kaufman Connolly manner.
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