Evening star., 1924-03-18
Joseph Schildkraut in The
Hiehwavman.

At the conclusion Of The High.
wayman" at the Shubert Belasco
question rnsadea Presented Iass % itself. The frst
prong is the question:: why did
Chicago keep the play four months
Gas per advertisement)g" The SECOND si
Is like unto this: :. Why is ~ New 1os
advertisement
have wandered into the machinery.
Possibly a Chicago audience has
vision keener than the audience last
night 1t is certain. however' however ,faar taar
the first curtain was dwindling per-
functorily at the final. If by audi
ence tempo q play may be judged,
as some aver, '"The Hoghwayman" Is
far lower dramatic plane than it
started, albeit there are many
swoops, breathless dives, perilous as.
cents and sharp turns between start
and finish. But there is q feeling
the shrill cries and laughter of the
ride.
The action rests in the hall of
castle in Hungary,s wine district, .a :, be- i,r
including four counts and three
countesses, a gamekeeper and his
daughter, a butler and Eric Kardos.
an outsider, constitute the cast
coaster running up smooth steep
grade. At the top ready for Or, a
(Schildkraut) steps in. Count Fer
enz Cserhati, chief of clan, is about
| keepers daughter. Kardos. combi,
nation of parlor sheik and polished
adventurer, is called in to render
| professional services in breaking up
| the match.
Down sweeps the roller coaster to
| a sharp turn, where 1t is revealed
| that Olga, the girl, is the only woman
who has struck a spark to tinder in
! the kardos left breast In act 2,
| between turns and dips in the jour
ney. the certainty that kardos pre-
| fers the girl to the 100000 (denom-
! ination not mentioned) offered him
for the breakup expose, is estab-
/ lished.
Starting the finish. the counts and
need of soap water. sleep and spirits
| of ammonia. They had been keeping
an all-night vigil outdoors, waiting
in vain-for the prearranged sig
J nal whereby Kardos would let them
i know that the girl has consented to
go to his room.
The roller coaster is slowing up.
as roller coasters do. Count Ferenz
has decided his property to Olga Olga
! tells him she loves Eric. (The brakes
back the property. Eric stops her.
The count acquiesces and orders the
| other three counts and the three
| countesses to pack up and leave. OTIS
| coming to a jarring stop.) The count
! tearfully asserts that he wants to
make Olga happy. The sheik reveals
| that he has simply been on vaca-
| tion from the law books and the
prominent law firm wants him back.
He cracks the lawyer-honesty chest
nut He is kneeling, with Olga
| stroking his head. The journey is
over. with the last announcement
| convincing every one that honesty is
the best policy after all-isn't it?
| Schildkraut handles his role with
an excellent assumption of artificial
| ity. He stands out above all the
rest. Count Ferenz (Grant Stewart)
was convincing until he handed over
the estate to the gamekeepers
daughter and her fiance. Count Vic
tor (Theodore Westman, jr.) turned
in performance second only to
Schildkraut, and Jessie Royce Landis
as one of the countesses is also in
line for palms.
The play is by Lajos BRO, Hun
garian, adapted by Gladys Unger.
Lester Bryant presents it