The Washington times., 1923-07-23

Avery Hopwood, based on the
French play, LA Sonnette
D'Alarme," at the. Belasco last
night with the following cast:
CAST
Bobby Brandon. Bruce Mchae
Charlie Morton. ......... :Lionel TaHe az
Homer Wickham .CharIess !.ssi,v
Theodore Boom. John Daily MuFpnS
Reggie Wynne. Gordon ASH
Frederick Dunmore. Norman HacAs .,,
DR.. Wallace. ............ Carl Antnony
Henri .''..'''''''''' wsiter Soldering
MARY Kent Marion Coakley
Mrs. Susie Kent. 49,. Blanche nns
Mrs. Dunmore. Core WitheThSiPpSE,U Os
Lulu Deane. e.. ....... MAY
BY HAROLD PHILLIPS.
Saving the pun, this newest
communicating Of Hopwood wit ana
Latin inspirations, is likely TO
prove the Big Ben Of the new
seasons farces. There are pre-
cious few spots-though. they 90
exist in the last two acts-Wnefe
the Hopwood pace eslackens ana
the alarm becomes intermittent
and as a whole product, me
Alarm Clock" is resonant, sure,
and insistent; just such a mellow
warning as the (irowsy post-Vaca-
ZIONIST needs to summon him 10
the ardors of the oncOming sea-
son. There is the chance at this
writing that the awakening play
'goer may be Weaned back to MS
pillows for an extra few w1nks,
where act two grows desultor1iy
humid, but, knowing the HOP
wood forte for using the broad-axe
on persiflage, we are SAFE III
guaranteeing thar at least a half
hour of verbosity and open spaces
will be eliminated before the
week end. Then, comrades, we
shall have a play which will De
after Broadway's own blood.
1.-THE Alarm Clock" is strictly In
the spirit Of the time. 1t is at
once a raillery and n morality.
based on the very foundation Of
American behavior of today.
namely, prohibition. jazz. and
love. Though grounded on the
French play, La Sonnette
D'Alarrne," it is of. by, and for
the land of the Eighteenth Amend
ment, and none will deny that this
international collaboration is
about SO per cent Hopwood ard
the rest MessieurS HenncQuin and
Coolus, whoever they may be.
Were it not that amity between
nations is to be preserved, even
at the sacrifice Of truth, We
would add that Bruce McRae and
Blanche Ring smother the French.
mems chances of getting the his.
toric one-half of 1 per cent OF
credit.
A lady, possessed Of husband
conveniently dispatched to Wash
ington, and who is enamored OF
Mr.. Brandon, grand marshal OF
the Midnight Sons. seeks to
estrange him from his reveling
friends by transplanting a flock
of hick relatives to his home in
hopes that the leavening in
fluences of the countryside win
restore him to righteous ways
and to the privacy Of her own
love-. She conspires with the doc.
tor to diagnose Brandon's twinge
of rheumatism as the govt
natures alarm clock that the
pace is too fast" Brandon is
scared into subsection, tolerating
even the incursion Of the human
vegetables from Kane's Corners
if it will halt the poisonous
nnalady before his heart is af-
fected. The first curtain descends
on combination vesper service
and burlesque that flattens the
audience into an hysteria Of
laughter. It looks like a long
retreat for Bobby Brandon.
But wait. The hard-shell casabas
from the countryside no sooner
experience Broadway's ripening
sun than they turn into Jazz
hounds and cocktail fiends. The
spiritual succumbs to the ma
terial. The lady blanche Ring
whose forty years have bean dedi-
Gated at Kane's Corners to writ
ing oratorios and pumping the
church organ, helps close such
refugees as the Purple Pup and
Snuggle Inn at daybreak each
morning and amends her deca-
logue to permit Of composing the
meanest jazz tune heard, entitled
1--WE Got What You Need" And
thus 1t goes.
Then, jazz and gin, not suf-
ficing to complete the devastation
of the household, love must needs
fly in the window, altering every
body's life and arranging for a
pretty love scene between Bruce
McRae and Marion Coakley and
a climactic punch where the
young professor, ignorant of
Brandon's love for Mary Kent
Miss Coakley) begs his help to
retrieve the prize he sees slipping
from him.
The cast. like a diamond, can
be called perfect, the understand
ing being that while flaws exist,
they are eVasive. Miss Ring, we
should say, anticipates her
metamorphosis in the final acts
when she first appears as.
presumably, the sedate matron
from Kane's Corners. She's the
yeast in the cake, though, and the
comedy laurels shower upon her.
Age Is yet long way from re-
moving Bruce McRae from the
matinee idols pedestal. He is
cast ideally and surcharged with
more fat lines than he has uttered
in long time. Stress must be
placed on mention Of the work Of
Marion Coakley, Cora Wither-
spoon, Lionel Pape, Charles Latte
and John Daily Murphy.
- A