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Tft Evening Ledger Amusement Section, Saturday, December 11, 1915
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On the first page appears a story about .the new silhouette movies of C. Allan Gilbert Here is as clever
a use of shadows in The Cheat." The figures of the two men arc cast on a Japanese paper window.
Fanny Ward will be seen in the leading part at the Stanley next week.
WALTER PRICHARD
"BUNTY" IN FIRST
"Hobson's Choice," Manchester Comedy, Full of Two
Sorts of Bustle and All Sorts
of Fun
By WALTER PRICHAP.D EATON
With this issue of the Saturday
Amusement Section of the Evening
Ijedger begins a series of Kcw York
letters by Walter Prichard Eaton,
easily the most distinguished as well
as the most popular of the younger
generation of American critics.
IN NEW YORK just now is a little
comedy called "Hobson's Choice." writ
ten by Harold Brishouse. and brought
over from Miss Horniman's Manchester
wver liviu wma nuiimiMu 0 iiia4i.iiwv:i ,
theatre to be produced here by B. Iden
Payne, lor s o m c i
years an actor and
stage manager at
Manchester, but now
working in America
to good purpose.
Any one who liked
"Bunty Pulls the
Strings" will like
' I
"Hobson's Choice,'
for the two p:ass
have
mon
much in com- '
Both are folk
plays, with the hu
mor and the oddity
of provincial dialect
and provincial little
nesses Both. too.
hae for the leading character a girl of
brisk determination and "magcrful" ways,
as Gnzel would say. The likeness is all
the closer because Miss Mollie Pearson,
who played Bunty with a rich Scotch ac
cent, is now playing Maggie Hobson with
a Lancashire dialect, and both plays are
laid In the bustle period we refer to the
article of feminine wearing apparel, not
the pace of modern life). But Lanca
shire is not Scotland, and so "Hobson's
Choice," even if a later work, haB the
stamp of originality and genuineness. We I
are taken Into the interior of Henry Ho
ratio Hobson's shop, a shoeshop, in Sal
ford, and when wc finally leave his prem
ises we feel that we have come to know j
Lancashire folk a great deal better, as
well as having had a very good time. I
Henry Horatio Hobson Is not nious. 1
like the rawer in Bunty.
Far from it
lor he loves only too well to visit the
near-by tavern, where he is esteemed as
the best debater or the district. When he
goes, he leaves the shop in charge of his
three daughters, especially trusting the
eldest, Maggie, who Is a wonder as a
saleslady. ior does Mr. Brlghouse ask
you to take that on faith, as Edna
Ferber does in "Our Mrs. McChcsney"
You see Maggie sell to her sister's 'beau
a pair of boots he didn't want. Now.
Henry thinks he is a very shrewd man
of business, and he also thinks, po fel
low, that lie is master of his menage.
But be Isn't: Mactie Is. Upon .papa's
irettlitr . tit too uppish and refusing to
allow any of the daughters to get mar-
iltipyillii5
ANOTHER SORT OF SILHOUETTE
EATON SEES NEW
NEW YORK LETTER
ried. Magpie takes matters Into her own
hands.
The first thing: she docs Is to call "Wil
liam Mosson up out of the cellar, where
he is making shoes. William Is a fine
shocmakpr; it is his shoes which have
Civen Hobon's its trade with the "qual
ity." But on manners and social poise
he is very short. In Tact, he is a yokel.
Maffgie proceeds to tell him she is coins:
to marry him, in a delicious scene that
would do credit to any folk drama. His
JCJJ1 IS WG ejaculation
poom!" an ejaculation he
the play. It seems he is all
reply is tnc ejaculation. "Well. hn.
uses through
alreadv nllr-htort
out. mat aoesn t trouble Maggie. She i
knows what is best. The other woman I
is packed off, and Maggie's plot begins I
to work. 1
It Includes not only her marriage to I
William and their establishment of a 1
business of their own-thc manufartnr- !
ing and sales end thus united in holy
vh-u.ock out me marriages of both her (
uisinr nrt i, ,
..",-.. :.i"""? ". ;l ralrn Ir-
lion fnr nil .. ..r .... - i
,, "- C" . ,-.tw i " " l .ia
-. j ..,, lt is, au rare lun,
played with rare unction and stemingl
faitnful local color, in no part being fun
nier than when, after the wedding, poor !
illiam is lert alone with his bride in a 1
helpless terror of embarrassment.
In the last act we sec poor old Hobson. '
his business cone, his lmdv sicv a.-uu inn I
much alcohol, forced to take Maggie
and her husband back. He oilers Mag
gie a salary as saleslady and William his
old wages as shoemaker, and thinks he
is doin well by them, but William, put
METROPOLITAN
OPERA
ir r
T.Q MMnu T-l.. . '"'.-
- - " iei -ume Tonight
"The Battle Cry of Peace"
ACADEMr Keau at Hjpper 1119 Chestnut".
Philadelphia j Tonight at 8:15
Orchestra
soloirt- ERNEST
SCHELLING, Pianist
UNIVERSITY MUSEUM
New
SaL -0 H'"8" Lnrtun? by c w
Farther Eart KreJ to KSSTdS HniTprucS
NIXON
Today
Amy Lfwer. VlctnrU
Kour; "Thr Ra Mr
Q". 10 Wild Moors:
at 2 15
Tonlcht at 7 and t. '
van Six; German War Flclurw.
rvnirlrrrorUr THEATOE PLATERS
rvnicKerDOCKer market 4trrn sts.
"The Gamblers" MATS tkes.
Peoples At the Old Cross Roads
Next Woek "A Uttle Girt in a Ble City."
JROCADERO iifEUzE
rttmrtrl,r,umoBt' Mlnatrda, 8th Arch
IUBIOBI S su. m TODAY. 10c II 20c.
op to it by Maggie, suddenly blossoms
out as a man of eloquence and business
parts, and insists on a partnership, no
less. The old man yields and goes out
at the end on Maggie's arm to the law
yer's, but pathetically declaiming still that
he is master in his shop, and there
aren't going to be any modem inno
vations. Maggie, from this description, might
seem to be rather a heartless little wench,
but she isn't. She is shrewd and calcu
lating, and not far from the peasant
type, as are all the characters. But she
has a good heart and she is fond of her
William and sees all along the man in
him under the yokel, and she has heaps
of Mr. Barrie's "dom charm." We are
sure she would have, even if Mollie Pear
son didn't play her.
Some of the actors are from the Man
chester Company, notably Whitford Kane,
who plays William Mossop. He was over
here two years ago in "Hindle Wakes."
A better performance than his could
scarcly be imagined. His "Well, ba
goom!" alone is an eloquent revelation.
In the scene of embarrassment after ho
NIXON'S GRAND
nitOAI) AND MONTGOSrnrtT
F. (!. Mion-IflrdHncrr Gen Sfgr.
Daily Mut., 10c: 7 and 9, 10c and :0c
G Great Acts and Pictures
MARKET AND
VILUDL,.,,, DBYlt.l.T.
JINIPERSTR.
E- Continuous 11
A JI to II P M 10c. IOC. 25c
ROYAL RUSSIAN
BALALAIKA ORCHESTRA
With MADELINE HARRISON. Famous Dan
scusc. OT1IEU BIG FEATIRB ACTS.
t T H 4 rTi CHESTNUT Below lClh
A K 1 a I 1 1 A ' A M. to II :15 P. M.
Aart-LTIA GAIL KAjjg
in first "THE LABYRINTH"
showing
Next Mon . Tare . Wed DOROTHY GISU
in ' JORDAN IS A HARD ROAD"
THURSDAY. FRIDAY'. SATURDAY,
JULIA DEAN In "MATRIMONY"
METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE
METROI"OLITAN OPERA CO. NEW YORK
": : . 1st Time Here ,l"L5tUM
Dec H.atS Opera
DER ROSENKAVALIER
Mroeis. Ilempel, Ober, Mason MM. Gorltz.
Well, Althouse, ReUn. Cond . Mr Rodanzky.
Seats 1109 Chestnut St. Walnut 4424. Race C".
-If TT T'V MARKET AROVE 1GTH
STANLEY fcSi M
In First and Exrlunlve Presentation
"THE UNKNOWN"
ALL NEXT WEEK
FANNIE WARD In "THE CHEAT"
VTJir" LAST MATINEE TODAY
J I IVll LAST TIME TONIGHT
The Seflfm's Most Distinctive Novelty
RALPH HERZ ln SriSr4'
"RUGGLES OF RED GAP"
Is left alone with Maggie on the marnage
night he keeps the situation so beauti
fully within the bounds of folk comedy,
so utterly free from sophistication, that
the most ribald Broadway rounder could
not fall to feel the authentic picture of
a simpler people, and would be ashamed
to give it anything but wholesome laugh
ter. The part of Hobson himself, however.
Is played by A. G. Andrews, who was
born In Buffalo, though he may be of
English parentage. For many years he
was a member of Otis Skinner's com
panies. Tet so perfect is Mr. Payne's
stage management that whether an actor
comes from Lancashire or not is quite
immaterial to the American auditor at
any rate. They all seem to speak the
same speech, to belong to the same race,
to be units in the same picture. Neither
do they hurry and fuss about, crossing
stage right at every fifth word and back
again at every tenth. They let their
characters and the words they speak hold
the attention of the audience now and
then, and only move enough to preserve
the illusion of reality. Not only is the
humor of the play refreshing in its sim
ple, homely richnes and faithfulness to an
odd racial nook, but the performance Is
refreshing for its simplicity, too. Com
pared to a play staged by Mr. Cohan, It
is like springs of water in a thirsty place,
like the shadow of a great rock in a
noisy land. Perhaps that is misquoted.
We got the habit at the play. Even a
New York audience seemed to be aware
that something was wrong when Papa
Hobson declared that somebody "skipped
like a calf by the cedars of Lebanon.
Theatrical Jottings
The old Walnut Street Theatre will re
open on Christmas afternoon, with An
drew Mack In "The Irish Dragoon." This
engagement will continue through the
following week.
The present plan of Sir Johnston
Forbes-Robertson is that he will make
his last appearance on any American
stage in Sanders Theatre, Harvard Uni
versity. Monday, April M. He will play
"Hamlet," the performance being on the
300th anniversary of the death of Shake
speare. Burton Holmes is to give next week an
extra travelogue on "West Point and the
Yellowstone" on Wednesday evening, and
"California and the San Diego Exposi
tion" on Friday evening and on Saturday
afternoon.
B. F. Keith's Theatre
Chestnut and Twelfth Sts.
, n.2 "OWS DAILY S
MATH.KK. I r. M. NIGHT. P. M.
.NK.VT WKEK
Philadelphia Favorites' Week!
THi: -MSMINU PIE" COUPLE
Sam Chip &. Mary Marble
Pre&tnting ."The Clock Shop"
TUB POI'L'LAIt KAVOIUTE
Maggie Cline
Somp Old ami Snmi NVw Soncs
The DfUncul3hc1 Dramatic Star
FLORENCE ROBERTS & CO,
Offering "Thf Umnan Inlrnrlx-"
KATHLEEN CLIFFORD
"America's Faorltf Ho"
HARRY GILFOIL
A lh FamniK "HAIION SAXDSV
AVON COMEDY FOUR
De WITT. BURNS & TOUIIEN'CE
PAHII.LO & FIIAUITO
IIEItAS & PRESTON
Hearst-Sfliu Pictori.il News
BP O A P. MATINEE TODAY
KUAU Tonight at 8:15
, g FuiaI Week NIs5,t",t !5 s
I 1-b.K Matu Wc-cl. A Eat
narics x-ronman, Klaw s. i;rluns;er I'resent
FERGUSON
in "OUTCAST"
THE VITAL. TIIIIOHIIING. Hl'MAN TLAY
By Hl'IIERT HENRY DAVIES
SOc to 41 50 at Wednesday Matinees.
HER PRICE
A New Play hy Lottie M. Meaney,
With Emma Dunn S. Powerful Co.
CTM? I? P QT MATINEE TODAY
t UKKtS 1 TONIGHT ,
next LAST WEEK NlKhls at 8:15 ' "
WEEK 1' ' i--r- Ma11 We(, t gt,
GABY DESLYS
and HARRY' P1LCER in
CHARLES DILLINGHAM'S
LATEST MUSICAL PRODUCTION
STOP! LOOK! LISTEN!
Joseph Sanlley. Frank Lalnr, Harry Fox.
D"H.e tc Dlxnn. 1mjwt &. Sunshine. Justine
Johnstone. Florence Morrison. Hawaiian Oc
trtte. Walter Wills. Charles Tucker and 100
More.
xmaT Watch Your Step
NIGHT Seat Sale Thurs.. Dec 1C
ACADEMY OF .MUSIC
Wednesday Afternoon, Dec. 15, at 3
PADEREWSKI
Tickets at Ileppe'a. Jl to i2.M. Boxe. Ji;-J18.
Direction. C. A. Ellis, Symphony Hall. Boston.
Nkon's GRAND ?Xs:i5nTTT.
FIXING THE FURNACE." The Hardener.
The Beauty Shop. Harry Roue. The Sone
Booth. Herbert's Dopi. PICTURES.
1?
1 13
One Week
RcirinnlnE
MON, on
DEC. -U