The Washington times., 1936-02-12

1t seems LnaC LnlS was HUI my
I remember walking along the
CObbled streets Of Norwood on
my way home from school. There
was q brilliant poster on a wall.
Erred Terry and Julia Nielsen
In The Scarlet PimperneP," the
poster said. For q long time /
stood In front Of 1t, staring at
the picture Of the famous stars,
who were unknown to me then,
and at the name Of Baroness
Orcxy underneath the name OF
the play. / had never seen q
play, for, though Norwood isn't
far from London, the little thea
ter In the village was almost al
ways dark. That night I saw the
play Tiny first and / still re-
member the robust Terry swash-
buckling his way through the rO-
mantle tale, though it was rs
years ago and / was only IS at
the time. So clear was the pic
ture Of the actor two or three
years ago that / heSitated when
an English film company asked
me to make "The Scarlet Pim-
pernel." 1 knew / couldn't do
it. Twas SO unlike Terry.
English schoolboys had little
freedom in those days before the
war, when Edward VII was the
King. There was none for me in
Norwood. nor was there any for
me until they sent me to London
to become a banker. Those were
the days when Sir Herbert Tree,
Sir George Alexander, Sir Gerald
Du Maurier. and Ellen Terry were
the stars, the glorious days Of the
Haymarket and His Majesties and
st. James and Wyndham'S thea
ters, the golden era of Barry,
Pinero. John Galsworthy hadn't
been heard from yet as a play
wright He was writing novels
and poems about the middle
classes. saw only two plays until
/ went to London, THE Scarlet
Pimpernel" and "H enry tn e
Eighth" with Tree. And I saw
few in those years before the war,
because I had very little money.
They didn't pay bank clerks much
then. I used to leave the bank at
noon and prowl through the
streets where the theaters were,
looking at the billings, dreaming
Of the time when my name would
replace Pinero's.
We heard the rumbling Of
the guns across the Channel
in 1914. had gone with my
family to the south coast on a
holiday. The girl I loved had
Tilted me and I didn't care that
German IegiOnS were marching
on Paris and that English
youths were dCnning khaki to
help stem the tide. The excite
ment Of those first few weeks
didn't touch me at all. 1t was
only when I returned to the
bank and found all my friends
gone that / wanted to join up.
There was a notice on my desk
and the desk Of other boys
who hadn't gone to war. The
notice told us that il we en-
listed we would find our positions
filled when we came back in q
few weeks. No one, it seemed,
was taking the war seriously.
1t would be q short One-Over
in six weeks at the most
that's what the kerS
thought. But because / hated
the bank went out one aft
ernOon and came back in the
uniform Of the Inns Court
YeOmanry."
In the bank I had helped put
on some amateur theatricals, and
when they brought us home and
I found myself with a wife and
no job 1 turned to the theater.
was 20 and on my upper lip
there was a pale imitation Of a
rnustache, and I was slight and
lean and hungry looking. yet the
manager Of a company touring
the provinces gave me job and
! became an actor. I used to
come to London and haunt the
offices of the big theatrical man.
ayers. When I had been a clerk
one Of the accounts was that Of
Dion Boucicault, the son Of the
famous writer of melodramaS.
Now he was the manager Of q
theater and I used to go to his
office and ask if they had any
thing for me. One day the girl
told me to wait and I was ush-
cred into the presence Of the
great man. He was a little fel-
low with silver hair and beady
eyes, and he looked at me quiz
zically and then looked at the
man who was sitting in the
office with him. So did I. The
other was a great, tall fellow
with a dome of a bald head,
bushy black eyebrows and pierc-
ing black eyes.
"This Is Arthur Pinero,"
BOucicault said. "T'm putting
ON his play. The Freaks and
we can use you"
Sir Arthur directed the play
and he used to lead me about at
rehearsals as though I was a
puppet. There was always a
cigarette hanging out of his
mouth and he would look at me
and shake his head until was
in mortal Serror that would
never amount to anything. The
play lasted a month and I was
given a part in Arnold BENEFITS
''The Title" at the Royalty Thea.
ter which Dennis Eadie ran.