Evening star., 1924-03-04
Ina Claire in .''Grounds for
Divorce"

A dramatic essay that moves with
spirit through three lively acts. pun
rent with satiEe modern marriage
methods and spiced with barbs OF 'tru-
isms against very human inconslsten.
cies. came to the Shubert-Belasco !ase
night with Ina Claire and uSs 6ruSs | FOR
Divorce" Although Hungarians may
know how to write such plays WIN
vigor and charm, Guy Bolton clear!y
demonstrates that he understands
the art of putting them 1nt0 Eng rt,a ilsn
necessary to the adequate presen-
-Four things combined to make the
Belasco Theater the, scene or an en-.
joyable $50 minutes last s,,ne,sn niens not not
brand-new in theme or, smotivatlns
fmpulse-afforded broad opportGni-
ties for the injection Of up To- oa.e
dramatic effusions. The second Was
Ina Claire and Bruce Mchae. VA
third. the remainder of the cast. ana
the fourth was Bertram Harrison.
Making the last the first. for ex-
planatory purposes. let ~ pc kHoMn
that Bertram knows his pusiaess
tion such as this. His first act setting
was a masterpiece OF perfectlon ,n
balance, a Chinese motif, with, walls
done in approved style, with" plctuI
esoue Chinese miniature gardens anu
little arched bridges: ana aen,inat- mem
ing. The furnishings harmonizso
wonderfully we'll. They did not oo'
trude and were such as to attract az
tention less through positive qualitiss
than through the lack OF tting aiscof"s Vas
The play itself: A wife. negiectea
bv her husband-lawyer specializing
on divorce cases, divorces the nlat.
himself for his inattention 10 ic,, h
of time-in fact. just fifteen minutg;s
before he is going to marry Mari-
anne. That's the play.
All! Next we have Ina and Bruct'
Natural and effervescing with MI nie;
the two romp through their Wen
turned lines in a deliciously naive
but sophisticated manner-if you
get what we mean Bruce as MAUI
rice Sorbier. Partisan divorce altol
ney, rafting along like an express
train on the subject OF tne .,ion oru,n,n
of husbands who do not pay AFTERNOON
to their wives. at the same time 90
ing a mastery work of negiectins
his own spouse while freeing otner
ladies from males who are not ooihs
half so good a job. And Ina. as the
wife, finally disillusioned. but turned
strategist to win back her man. taik
ing about a mythical second HUSBAND
and his vagaries to the despair OF
the first husband. to whom she Is
applying for aid in obtaining her sec
ond divorce.
oh, yes. There's another outstand-
ing landmark. Georges Renavent.
sheik, who flies his Caproni to Paris
from Rome or somewhere to bring
back the divorced wife in time to
circumvent her first husbands sec
ond attempt at matrimony. Mr. Val.
entino's attention is hereby directed
to Georges for instruction and proht.
All in all. it's good evenings en-
tertainment. The religiously. sensi-
tive certainly cannot condemn di-
vorce play that laughs at divorce
They can't object to a presentation
that twits. buffets and gently chas-
tises with humor's lash the exclusive
divorce lawyer and his clients Di-
vorce lawyers might object, but they
will consider this type OF chap very
different from Observation-Disclosures
heavens above. they wouldn't think
of drumming up flimsy excuses from
the thin air to get divorces from
clients. Certainly not. Their clients
must have bona fide reasons when
they walk into the office. It's
Charles Frohman production.
Welcome back. Ina. And may your
new play. as Joseph Jefferson was
wont to say, as Rip, Give long and
prosper"