New Britain herald., 1930-04-29
Theater Review
GEORGE NJ. CONAN
 presents
 "GAMBLIa,"
Staged by Sam Forrest (The Cast of CharaCters)

bh M bIliA
 Staged by Sam Forrest
 (The Cast~of Characters)
 Sheridan ................ Harry Lillford Connolly ................. Harold Healy Draper ............... George M. Conan Freelock ...,........ Robert Middlemass Lewis ...,.............,- Dan Carey Nall!Sle ........ ..'-......... Neli Stohe Dorothy ...-.............. Isabel Barring Braddock ......... Douglas MacPherson Magic ................... Mary Philips Brennan 7..,..........- Charles Johnson Marie .... ........... Kathleen Niday Ciaylor ..,..........-. Theodore Newton Martin .................... Ernest Fox MaSon ....,.'. .-.....''. Mark ouillNdi Buddy ..... ............. William Giliard Maid Mary r OK Captaln ....''...'...... Jack Nlulains knowles .........s...,...,. Jack Leshe Wayne ....-........-...., Duke heeleF Attendant ............... Joseph Halsey Messenger .,............ Irving Jackson Mrs. Bromley ......... Lida MacMillan Chief ............. Edward F. Nannary Miss Daily ...,-......,... Jane Thomas (By Herald Reviewer)
 George NJ. Conan came back to Hartford slast evening after an ab- sence of many years, presenting hlS newest comedy drama. 'Gambling.' which has been entertaining folks over this broad land for many months. There's something remark able about this genius of the the ater. At his age--hc said during | the performance last night at Par sons theater that he has stopped having birthdays-most men of his | financial means arc basking on the l et- hni 6, about in a wheel chair on the At lantic City boardwalk. But not so with George M. Cohan, His meticr is appearing before the footlights. The atmosphere of the stage is his atmosphere. It is his life. So there he is, as magnetic as ever, a bit more mellow, perhaps, but giving himself to his public in the true Cohanesquc manner.
 "Gambling" gives Conan many opportunities to reveal his peculiar talents to the fullest. True, he lyrics which sent another generation away Whistling are absent but he i7 in a Cohan role which fits him as we'll as the newest suit from his tail or.
 His character, Draper, is owner of a gambling establishment. Twenty years previously he had taken under his wing the four year old daugh- ter of a Seattle gambler who had befriended him and who had been killed. Draper has given the girl a thorough education in q convent school and has been rewarded by seeing her grow to womanhood with all those refinements which have been denied him. He takes yicari. ous pleasure in her development tc mental naturity, watching her mind bud and flower far from the debili. tating influence of his gambling house. After a visit to Paris, the girl returns and is found dead in al obscure hotel in New York. Tho play deals with Draper's efforts tt run down the slayer and the mean: he adopts forms a novel plot.
 The pace of the show is slowel than the usual Conan presentation giving to the cast an opportunity tt build up tenscness and gripping in terest. Cohan's droll humor, hi mannerisms and his Cohanisms bull large in creating audience attention Robert Middlemass of New Brit ain has an important assignment a l Police Inspector Freelock. He doe