The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 71

EO THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, SUNDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 16. 18IT I 4 7 An -y'fT Dorothy stone: the tiller sunshine girls fK I if ERLANGER. 1 1 JUNE. COCHRANE in SS 1 I 1 a A CONNECTICUT I I YANKEE" I SYLVIA FIELD i BEHOLD THIS DREAMER I WALNUT I 1 iS; i r- 1 1 4 THE CALL BOY'S CHAT i vr--. Joslyn' was one of the those sentimental, give me your applause affairs which caught the fancy of the ruralites HE APPEARED ILL-AT-KASE ss he came into the room puffiug on one of thniie "Missouri Jlcer-ehatim" plpe, snd I wan not Burprised, (or the odor of burning corn was in the ir.

Suddenly he looked nt the thing and made much money for the star that he was able to build a theatre In Pittsburgh bearing the name of Alvin, I think Davis has gone to 'his reward It ought to be good, for he was a splendid showman. But returning to the young adven turers, Alex. A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley, of our town, who are re sponsible for the now muaical comedy in which those exceedingly clever performers, Fred and Adela As- taire are starred at the Sliubert. As wornfully, und thPn nfti-r he-inz sure that th annes were not of Btlflii'ient warmth to do harm ho "went over to the window and cast the corncob out upon the desert air.

He emed relieved, for he-fore starting hi chat he brought forth an old-timer, filler) and lighted it. With I have already intimated the theatre played an early part in their careers, although each was trained for other pursuita. After receiving their elementary education they drifted thither. young Aarons studying electrical engineering, but the urge of amusements, M'-T GERTRUDE MSDONALP iv wnn ti Had Deen the asset of nis tattler, Alfred K. Aarons, caused him to give up mechanics for the theatre.

evident, relish As soon as he had learned the rudi ments of the show business and had mastered the intricacies of routing at Three New tractions, the junior Aarons branched out on his own. "His initial venture as a producer Plays This Week, was an individual effort, 'La, La, Lu cille, a musical comedy with which he immediately demonstrated bis ability LYRIC "Broadway," a vital, amusing, to pick winners, for he chose the score of a hitherto unknown composer named George Gershwin. His second produc absorbing drama of the night clubs of New York, a panorama of pas tion was a musical play called tor sion, prohibition and politics, one of the most sensationally successful plays Goodness which he later reproduced in as 'Stop and itj endured there for two years in the of the American stage, will be present ed here hy Jed Harris beginning to Shaftesbury, Queens and Strand the night Miss Hnvea has been brilliantly associated with our stage for the past ten years. She was "discovered" by the dramatic critics when she appeared with William Gillette in "Dear Now but 'Jll, Miss Hayes has a long list of notable performances to her credit. "Coquette" ia the story of a young Southern girl, Norma Besant, whose flirtations engage the attention of practically all the young men In the small Virginia town in which she lives Willi her widowed father.

A delightful prevaricator, expert in feminine subterfuges, she slyly and delightfully tricks one swain after another into feverish protestations of love. Just sa skillfully she jilts them. Eventually her light amours lend her Into a predicament where her tnntilizing evasion) avail her nothing. Her escape from this dilemma Is highly dramatic and gripping. In the cast are Charles Wal-dron, Elliot Cabot, Frederick Burton, I nn Merkla, Andrew Lawlor, G.

Albei Smith, Phyllis Tyler, George 0. Pendleton, A blue Mitchell and Harlan. E. Knight, till SHUBERT With a company of over a hundred singers, dancers and comedians, headed by the talented Fred and Adele Astnire, with the most tuneful of Gershwin scores and a dancing chorus of high and fast steppers, "Sinnrt.v," the new Anions snd Freedley mil icii 1 comedy, begins the second week of its successful engagement tomorrow evening. The Astaires have scored a pronounced personal success in the leading roles, while William Kent appears to have surpassed his previous best in the part of "I lugsie" Gibbs.

Stanley Ridges, the brunette Betty Compton, the blonde Gertrude McDonald, the famed beauty, Kathrvn Hay, Henry Whittemore, the Kit, Uuarlelte and the inimitable pianists, Victor Arden and Phil Ohman, featured in an augmented orchestra, share the general acclaim in a performance that is bright, merry and wholesome. lilt ERLANGER The third week of "Criss Cross" begins tomorrow night. From the demonstration shown atres. 'Primrose, also produced by Aarona. alone, attained an appreciable run at the inter Garden, London.

Im ALEXANDER CALLAM in, MY MARYLAND" CHESTNUT. mediately afterwards he formed the present successful partnership witn Vinton Freedley. "The latter was born on Spruce street and was educated in the De- morrow night. This play, by Philip Dunning and George Ahlsitt, has not only stirred American audiences to great enthusiasm, but also those of liOndon. It is a play spoken in the vernacidar of the cheapest and the grandest, the toughest and the most human, the flashiest and the most real of all the streets in the world.

"Broadway" is a rip-snorting melodrama, rich and racy, tense, palpitating and red-blooded. Although It is melodrama, it is all new and so nnnsutil nnd so different lhat it keeps the audience guessing. There is no mini or woman so blase, sophisticated jn the ways of the theatre, wh would not be absorbed laueey and Groton schools prior to en Seme from. VNTHE CONSTANT NYMPH GAfcfclCK tering Harvard University. Jt was dur ing his undergraduate days at Cam never has unmarried her.

The sinister, crafty, subtly, wicked Arliss of the footlights ia not presenting the book. The only ambition of Arliss life beyond the primary one nf being an actor was to become accented in the bridge that Freedley's interest the atage asserted itself and he took an active part in writing and producing the annual shows for the famous Hasty American auccesses which recently hava Invaded the English metropolis this drama o( New York's night life, West-end theatres of London. After years of hard, discouraging, hut in Pudding Club. valuable provincial experience, he had Returning to his home town, ne and deeply amused in witnessing a Iter of prohibition and politics, is the only one that has caught on with a gripping hold. whirh has been kn Mew aome amoke-wreatha before he Bade any obnervationa.

"For the life of me," he finally be-Ian. "1 cannot understand why all thi excitement about showing fight pictures in other States than the one In which the encounter actually took place. The Government didn't atop the tight and there wns no apparent Ilerculeaneiin endeavor to prevent the transportation, cither by-air or otherwise; yet the moment the announcement was mads that the picturea woold be shown in other than the State in which the mora or leas honest en-eounttr took place, the sleuths grew immmgly active pouncing upon whom-sotver dared to take a chance, "I do not believe this is fair; I can-lot see why there should be an embargo on showing the films when the authorities permit the actual encounter to take place. What harm can be done in exhibiting the filma? I saw them ind I am free to confer that I re-larded the showing as an example of genuine friendship, (or, both Jack and Gene seemed to In loving embraca for much of the time. That seventh-round was sufficient for anyone to coine to the exclusion that there will be Dors miT-ups between these con-teatants who ire undoubtedly growing vastly wealthy by the often recurring encounters.

And I presume they will challenge escb other just so long as the public will clamor for admissions. "But tie- point I wish to drive tome is that the Government Is in error In keeping on the statule books law which is not Juat and which incline! a lot of people to Violate one niore of the thousands ot 'Don'ta' which emt our judicial progress. What with the prohibition amendment being made the lanching stock of the world, other laws being evaded with as great certainty, Isn't It about time that our Congressmen should get together and either wipe out some of these silly laws he ready to accept the violations Jf them with the proper aplrit Yon uow that only a few days ago It was nnounced that a large cargo of per-f'ftiy good liquors were destroyed in ur midst Well, maybe it was. However, the fact remains that the me fight law is inane, because there re thousands o( exhibitors who will take a chance. And in so doing they lv to the world wrong impreasion "'unt lawa in our country ara made jnore to give notoriety to the men mho Introduce them than to their strict observance by those who would make while they laugh at law.

THAT OFF HIS CHEST HE came to the theatre again. "Not his foot on the bottom rung of the ladder of London distinction, only to sail away to America and remain there formance of "Broadway." The plrfy bursts Into action at the rise of the studied law at the University of Pennsylvania from which he was graduated in the Class of 1917. His legal attainments, notwithstanding, young Freedley could not deny the call of the footlights nluvin continuously in new lorn twenty-three years before he returned curtain and never ceases or pauses until the finale. While it Is replete with thrills and novelties, Ihe sentimental and humor since Tt had its premier there a year sgo last September, and with amazing box office returns, began its London engagement during the Christmas noli-daya last year, and ia still a leader and even while Immersed tn tne teacn- ings of Blackstone he became one of the ous content centres about the love dominant spirits in tne stage society to his native city to achieve his goal. The irony of this should please the author.

The book la full of quotable lines snd anecdotes, also of sound sense about the art of the theatre. Furthermore, it. never once suggest that the stBge has gone to the dogs, or will do so when Arliss has retired. TIIE CALL BOY. ESTHER DREAMS" ARCH ST.

and in Plays and l'layers, organisations prominently identified with the local little theatre movement. Neverthe less, considerable surprise "was occasioned when he renounced 1 career at duriug the past two weeks Fred Stone and bia aggregation of singers, dancers. plsyers, will undoubtedly remain In the bar that many declared "was awaiting him on a silver platter' to try his luck at the bottom of the precarious theatrical ladder. Philadelphia for some time, although a ris believes that the hngllsh liked, and still likes, 'Broadway' because primarily it is good exciting entertainment, but he also believes that besides those who patronized the play just to he amused, thrilled and generally entertained, there were many who were lured into the theatre by an opportunity to observe an authentic picture of post-prohibition New York life, "Whether Philadelphia takes to 'Broadway' or not, there is no denying it lins been an outstanding success elsewhere, a play that, undoubtedly will make its authors and producer millionaires. The romantic anpect.

of the thea'tre is that a sweeping financial success like 'Broadway' occurs about once in ten or twenty years, but, as Mr. Harris significantly points out. it ia the possibility of its happening that keeps managers in a turmoil of play production, reading a thousand scripts, investing fortunes. It is the possibility of striking a Klondike that is the unending lure. And, let it be remembered that this same play, went liegcing for production for four years, before Mr.

Harris, by the merest, chance, got hold of it, and his keen judgment led him to produce it." The arrival of a somewhat suspicious looking person caused the old fellow to stop short After surveying the newcomer, who was no friend of mine, he arose, bade me good-night and disappeared. THERE IS A RICH, ROBCST, resonant tang to "L'p the Years from luiwiuAlniry," an autobiography by George Arliss, published by Little, Brown and Company. It bus the penetrating, inescapable smell of the theatre, a vigorous, unabashed, wholehearted love for the atage. It is deftly limited engagement is announced. Mr.

Stone'a downing ia unique, he is nimble and acrobatic aa ever and never tires, Daughler Dorothy is now a real star and works harder than any girl of the ensemble in ihe show. She responds graciously and generously to encores and carries her part with a charm u. is rare. In tins Charles Dillingham production there is always something written, with charm and humor, with well-turned wit and not a little satire and Irony. It might well have been named "A Hook of Friends," for If one is to lielirve the author, almost everyone except himself is responsible for whatever success Arbsslias achieved.

In retrospect it is a curiously modest narrative and not at all the thing an actor is expected to write. His triumphs are told almost casually, with no pomp nor parade of the ego. Hut for all this, out of the story rises the figure of tiie man who has won the pre-eminent place on the American stage; whose Disraeli, the Rajab of Rukh and Sylvauus lleythorp are high-water marks in the present century of acting. While painting so many other people, Arliss has managed to portray himself. In some ways it is the most revealing of recent autobiographies despite all its literary polish.

Its reticence and its determination to make it a book without a hero. To a public which considers Arliss its most consummate stage villain, it may be a surprise to find the actor married the first woman be loved and doing, something to please the eye and ear. A jolly good show, not only good for the old folks, but simply great for "Alwaya with producing as his aim, Freedley put in five years of intensive study on the far side of the footlights as an actor, making a marked impression in I wide variety of mles in 'Blind 'Miss 'For Goodness The World We Live and He started in determined fashion with his back to the wall the atage wall, and he pushed forward through very manner of part and in every kind of play from fantasy and melodrama to musical comedy. "When be fet that he had obtained auffHent schooling in the mechanics of the stage to suit bis needs, the young actor entered the producing field by associating himself with Alex. Aarons.

Their initial production was the musical comedy, 'Lady, Be which featured the Astaires, and they demonstrated their civic prida arid fearlessness by opening their very first show right here in Philadelphia before their relatives, friends and fellow citizens. Since then, Alex. Aarons and Vinton Freedley have produced three other tne cniiiiren. I I I I WALNUT Philadelphia has received Lew Fields' latest musical among the attractions in me r-ngnsii metropolis, "The great euecess of 'Broadway' in London is all the more remarkable when, according to the cabled news, such other American play hita as 'Seventh The Butter and Egg The Music Master' and 'The aome of which lasted only a month, had to let go. Even 'Abie'a Irish Roae' managed to hold on for only sixteen weeks, against its more than five years' record in New York.

Twelve Miles the play aliout bootlegging which thrilled ua when here at tne Walnut, is also included among the London failures. "Reaaons are gjven for the non-success of aome of these plays which have won popularity here. Among these are that the London playgoer taboos saccharine sentimentality and down-right hokum in his theatrical entertainment, and some of the plays I have mentioned certainly have them in generous quantities; the London playgoer doesn't alwaya comprehend the purely American or local allusions such as are contained in 'The Butter and Egg for instnnce, nor does he readily grasp the significance of bootlegging ramifications. That some of our big successes have failed to in-tereat Loudon audiencea is not to be taken as an indication that there ia discrimination against American plays; the success of 'Broadway' proves the confrsry. "While bootlegging playa an important part in the theme of this particular plav became a hit in London in spite of that fact and because that, above all, it is good, thrilling melodrama with a plentiful sprinkling of rare and engaging comedy, at least ao the critics across the big pond say, and which Jed Harris, the young producer of the Philip Dunning and George Abbott play, proposes to prove to Philadelphia audiencea at the Lyric tomorrow night.

Strangely enough, when Mr. Harris announced that he was going to produce 'Broadway' In London he was told that it would be failure; that it wlis too esoteric for comedy production, a version of Mark Twnin'a "A Connecticut Yankee," with open arms. so many years ago" ha aaid, story of Roy Lane, a "hoofer" in the Paradise Night Club, who is perfectly convinced lhat ho is a greater dancer than Fred Stone and a greater comedian than George Cohan, and Billic Moore, another dancer in the cabaret. The romance of Hoy and Billie baa a highly novel setting against the cacophonous background of gang feuds, caWet dancers and vindictive murders. The scenes are laid in the Paradise Night Club and most of the action takes place during a performance of the show.

-Mr. Harris has overlooked no detail In the staging of the piny und has supplied it with a notable cast, I I I I A ROAD Monday night Glenn Hunter, whose fame ia associated with "Young Woodtey," "Mertnn of the Movies," "Clarence" and other plays in which he enacted undergraduate parts, opens his new play, "Behold This Dreamer'' for an engagement nf two weeks. The play is a satirical comedy from the novel of Fulton Oursler, puli-lisbed under the same title and dramatized by Mr. Oursler and Aubrey Kennedy. The story represents Mr.

ntinter as grown up at length quite at length; married at last; the joy of the street but the sorrow of the home. He kisses ladies "experimentally." He shirks work because he hasn't found his work. Sheer laziness and good-for-nothingness so his wife thinks. He is a sort of young Rip Van Winkle, only with nn ocarino instead of a gun. Altogether he is what wives call a problem husband.

And this wife doesn't hesitate to call. So that nice kid, Roger Woodley, has grown up into Charlie Turner to be bullied by a woman. How he finds his true work and his true love is the theme of this very deftly done dramatic work. "Behold This Dreamer" was dramatized especially for Mr. Hunter.

Jn the supporting cast sre such able players as Thomas A. Wise. Hudson Mitchell. Edward Donnelly, nines Seeley, .1. Hyland, William Iorenz, Sylvia Field.

Patricia O'ilearn and Leonnre Sorsby. Frederick Stanhope, the veteran director, staged the production. I I I I ADELPHI Helen Hayes in a new fter careful thnuiht. "two schoolboys Critics have pointed out that "A Connecticut Yankee" is a novelty in musical comedies. The authors and com Thanks to His Friends He's Slill a Funster If you are funny on Ihe stage it doea not necessarily follow that you will be just aa funny off, contends J.

C. Mack, veteran funster, who with his talented company of players, pays his annual visit to this city at Fays this week, in his side-splitting character comedy entitled "Mother's Boy," Reputed to be the funniest man on the vaudeville stage capable of eliciting more laughs than any other dozen comics, Mr. Mack is the very antithesis of his singe personality. To watch him perform and then catch him leaving the stage door dressed for the street, is to receive the jolt of one's life The humorous, fussing and fuming old lady has been transformed into a quiet, modestly retiring gentleman, whom one would immediately adjudge to be prosperous business man. "When I leive my dressing room, I leave behind the cantankerous old lady, cast aside her liiugVprnvoking sntics and prepare myself for the hustle and bustle nf things as they are.

I am quiet hy nature and di-postion and find great pleasure and relaxation in standing off and observing the ways snd habits of my brother men. Could I but have my way, I would much rather interpret dramatic and tragic roles for therein is greater source of expession. but managers will have none of me. I know, I tried. "Slinkespeare is my favorite.

And not so many years ago, I forsook Mother Goose and vaudeville to try my hand at the more serious art. I nder nn assumed tisme and in a city which I will not divulge, I joined a traveling repertoire enmpay of popular Shakes-rwnriiin rtlavers. hot mv career short-lived. They told me I was rot- td? tfci vara rtoh, posers. Fields, Rodgers and Hart, have supplied a really funny hook, several of our 'town, with a great love for the theatre, dreamed of the day when they would have a playhouse all of their own; of big things In the theatre where they would be aomething in the Jorld of the make-believa.

Thoae youth-fl dreamers seem to hsve reached heir goal for the producers of "Smarty' which wan dT late in letting started remarkable numbers and two ureal musical comedies: Tip 'Oh, song hits. "My Heart Stood Still'1 has become the rage of Philadelphia. A sumptuous production has been supplied by Mr. Fields and his associate. Lyle I).

Andrews. The scenes range from a banqnet hall in Hartford, Connecticut, to King Arthur's Court, the palace of Queen Morgan le Far and and the current Smarty, and like Lady Be all have been presented in Philadelphia before New York was given a chance to declare them hits. "And I might add thnt 'Smarty' has all the earmarks of 1 glowing success, which la a tolerably good showing for a couple of onr townsboys who had faith many other colorful locales. A typical Lew Fields cast has been assembled. at the fchubert, sre soon to become the directing geniuses o( New York tentr on Fifty-second street In New lork, which mill be dedicated sometime next month.

The bouse will bear the name ot the Alvin which in this Instance is a polyglot tif the names of the two youthful producers. This title Jeminda me of the days when Charles I-. Davis, a comedian who played the ripe and jicger towns In a play at least his press agent called it as such -known IS 'Alvin Psvis was I Ill GAR RICK "The Constant Nyronh" in their ability to do things. TJK REFERRED TO HI9 NOTES, aomething he rarely doea; 11s- A GUIDE FOR FIRST NIGIITERS New Plays and Pictures This Week: LYRIC "Broadwaji," the Sensational Melodrama. BROAD "Behold This Dreamer" (Glenn Hunter).

ADELPHI "Coquette," starring Helen Hayes. STANLEY "After Midnight," with Norma Shearer. FOX "The Gay Retreat," a comedy of war flavor. KARLTON "One Woman to Another," drama. ARCADrA "The Rough Riders," Spanish-American War story.

GLOBE "The Life of Reilly," farcical comedy. VICTORIA "Shootin' Irons," starring Jack Ludens. will begin the third and closing tened to the vocal efforts of week of its Philadelphia engagement beginning Monday night. So the pres Bell, the esrtoonlst, who has a voice ent visit has been a very satisfactory showman. believen thst a display which would be great in grand opera.

onf and indications are that the an of diamonds or substitutes would prove of considerable profit. 80 he and then resumed: "In. view of the fact that Philade! nouncement of the closing week will lad bis advanc man nlaca in the win still speed up the attendance. 'ow of some prominent sfora in the the play begins, as 1 lid Jlunrhret phi ia to get ita first glimpse pf Xiuuj' tuuAirrow r.isht, it is hv British audiences. I lint tnese advisers were wrong was sufficiently indicated at the very outset by the favorite response of the J.opHon riewpnr and audiences, and that they are still wrong is abundantly evident in the report from London this week.

Mr. Har of "Sanger's Circus," high up in the a watch studded with forty-two diamonds, eeversi other trinkets which were fuU of sparkles, and the popnlace drama. "Conuette." will be seen teresting to note that this week a news of the Londim theatra points out that of about half dozen productions of 5f though I didn't agree with them. here (or two weeks, starting Monday Continued OR Ith Paga, 1st Column aunrea at toe plaiBOus. 'AJvln 1.