Evening star., 1933-09-17

and yellow laundry soap His home was the
poorest house in a wretched block, surrounded
by Junk piles, billboards. chicken coops and
the railroad switches of the Benson Refinery"
Yet Johnny, at 81, was captain of the foot ball
team and the town hero, had nearly cheated
his way through high school after attending
for six years sang in st. Stephens choir, could
drink six bottles of beer without getting drunk
(haying charged his friends double for the
beer he procured from the steward of the mems
club and had mistress. He was a complete
success as far as the town Of Little River, Pa.
was concerned when the millionaire, Mr. Ben
son, offered to send him to college if he would
make the foot ball team
Foot ball fame and personality that pleased
the not-too discriminating took Johnny into
and out of with diploma) Kings Univer-
sity. A good job fell into his hands. He was
soon making plenty of money. He married a
rich girl of good family, though the family
were not enthusiastic about him At 40 he
was millionaire, with an estate on Long
Island, where he was popular with the smart,
horsey dvorcee crowd" and was about to be
elected to Congress. Everything had worked
out, or been worked out by his own devious
means to forward his interests. His first wife,
a department store clerk, had conveniently
committed suicide in time to allow him TO
marry the wealthy Kay Lincoln. Kay had
divorced him. for good reason, but she re-
turned to him on the eve of his election to Con-
gress Yet with all his luck and managed
success, his character (that old-fashioned
thing) was a poor affair. But Johnny was
not interpretive and it is doubtful if he ever
thought about his character Three people
estimated him at his true worth. His worm
out mother. when he told her he was going
to college. expressed her opinion of him: "You
don't care about an education. All you want
is to loaf and have good time" HIS young
er brother Pete, who worked in the Little River
hardware store and helped his mother, de-
tested Johnny perhaps chiefly from envy, and
was perfectly aware Of his selfShneSs and
crookedness. DR.. Graves, principal of ST.
Lukes School, man of intellect and upright
ness, pulled away Jonathans protective cover
ing Of hypocrisy with one sentence: Are you
trying to bribe me?" and quietly insisted that
Junior, Jonathsns son, be removed from tie
school at once Hes not our type of boy"
he said. How many Jonathan Greens are
there in America today. in large cities and
small towns. and wha. produces them? How
co they get that wey?"
RICHARD OF BORDEAUX BY Gordon Da-
viot. Boston: Little Brown & Co
N this play, produced last Winter in London
there is more than suggestion of Shake
speare's chronicle histories of which Henry
V" and Richard III have most often been
produced in recent times. Shakespeare's chron-
icles, taken together, present a pageant of a
large section Of English history One of them
not the least dramatic, is a mastery analysis
through action. of the character of Richard
II. whom Mr.. Davlo. has chosen for his sub
ject. His Interpretation is quite naturally
not the same as Shakespeare's. If it wera
it would be imitation. There are IL scencs
in his prosechronicle play, during the coui Sc
of which Richard undiSciplined youth
is despised by the party of Gloucester as
weakling. and is aided by Anne. whom he has
just married. HIS real motive is shown to
be (and this is a modern point of view) to
eliminate war and bring about enduring peace
He is a pacifiSt. which in his period meant
a coward pure and simple The deterioration
of his character is attributed by Mr.. Daviot
to the dsloyalty of his friends and the harsh
unscrupulousneSs of Gloucester The death
of Anne completes his downfall. At the
end it is embittered, mocking king who
leaves his throne. but one. Mr. Daviot insists,
who in his youth had in him the possibility
of worth, if not of greatness. Such an inter-
pretation of tragic figure of the past by one
under the influence of modern psychological
and social theories is exceedingly interesting
Bernard Shaw's "St JOAN" his greatest play,
is an example of the same sort of experiment