The Washington times., 1925-05-05
RUTH NUGENT IS
MAYS GIFT
TO MAN
By FRANK L. .BAER.


One that, once it gets a man,
refuses fatty to release him to
any other master, and it seems
that only death spells freedom
from the artlessness of its ways.
It's bigness seems to completely
absorb his personality and per-
spective. Harry Deli has been
thus accursed. Keith time" has
been his undoing. And so it
happens that his comedy, alleged,
"The Family Upstairs" which
Sam Harris brought to the Ma
tional last night, serves to I'M
mask a. playwright Of genuine
promise tainted with the two
a-day." go -
What might have been play
of american life' turns up its
toes in the second act and goes
on a bust OF mental acrobatics'
,"The Family Upstairs" is presto
ichangeoed from q comedy into O
cartoon. simply because DELI fell
into evil ways and knelt in wor-
ship at the shrine Of the greatest
of American identifiers-"the wise
crack
And yet, there is in this piece
of writing the ingredients OF
fine play. 1t is g. stretch of
laughs equal to the distance frjm
Marietta, Ohio, to Vincennes,
Ind. 1t bristles with the phllo-
.sophical; it CLOVIS with nice
acidity of Characterization; it has
Ruth Nugent doing. the best work
of her career; 1t has delightful
touches of satire, and ensembles
that sparkles. Yet, the play Is.
gagged into Inconsistencies.
Simply, indeed, is Mr.. Delf's
premise. He takes family,
crowded into New York flat,
and sets out to show you how
they crowd each other out of
happiness. There is a daughter
Miss Nugent-a bewitching, full
bloom girl Of twenty-one, on. the
threshold of maturity. The las
sizes mother wants her married
and at once. Enter, the young
bank clerk, with mother bluff
fing'' and "spouting" her head
off. The clerk tumbles to daugh-
ter's magic allurements, but IS
almost frightened away. How
ever, he stays and the curtain
slips down on the eve of a new
domestic situation.
The cast interpreting 1.-THE
Family Upstairs" is particularly
satisfying. Walter Wilson Is the
dad" of the home, and does a
great job. Claire Weldon, the
mother, and is just as superby.
though Deli gave her a tough
break in line and situation. Thee
dore WestInaYl, the kid brother,
and Lillian Garrick, the kid sis
ter, fit perfectly. Harold Elliott
looks and acts like a bank clerk,
and gives his work countless
ly fine touches. Enid Gray, Jerry
Devine and Hermione Shone serve
in minor roles.
Then Ruth Nugent!
A most charming heroine, and
one that even Deli couldn't shake
from her throne of loneliness.
Miss Nugent-has broadened since
"Kegapy." Though a bit shy on
that divine shyness that was
hers, she has 1eveled her artistic
uncertainties to a definite key;
she has arrived"
/ am calling Doctor Craven,
Professor Harrington and the
eminent AIDE to my brother-in-
laws apartment this eve to have
them devise q play for her. Phil
Barry, who wrote "You and l."
and Lewis Beach, of "The Goose
Hangs High" have agreed to
help.
You'll laugh at 1.-THE Family
Upstairs" and continuously, too.
You can't help it. But the fact
remains that 1t crashes from
eminence In act two and the two
Sans - Forrest and Harris - to-
gether with Deli, must busy
themselves this week toward re-
moving the Rube Goldberg verbs
and participles if another gen
uineD American play is to be
written into the notebook Of
Burns Mantle. 80