Evening public ledger. (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, April 29, 1916, Postscript Edition, Amusement Section, Image 11

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Amusement section
PHOTOPLAY
THEA.TRES
v "n A "M r"1 t tvt r:
Euening
' MUSIC
PHILADELPHIA, SATURDAY EVENING, APRIL 29, 1916
Grumpy on tke Long Road
Or Our "Provinces
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I . BACON .SHflKESPEflfcE.
'--
C ' . STARS AND THEIR CARS
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Jjn.
an Actor Turns and Returns
Often, the Joy of Traveling
" Departs
By CYRIL
for his third season in "Grumpy"
ini English comedian has journeyed
to such remote stretcher of tho road
asjAkron, Mason City, TiClhbrldgc lit
Aocrta,and Kaikatoon in Bavkatchc
wfn, and what Mich louring means
h suggests in this letter, which was
xvitlen for a sympathetic cyo in tho
I7str
Yt0 nslc me wlint I think ' of This
burlng lite In America, nnd nt ifFSt
men is onlv ono nnswor Hint comes up
pcrhost. In my mind, nnd Hint Is, this:
Thro la only ono form of life Hint I
renly dlsllko more, nnd that la touring
thevtrlcnlly In Kngland Non.. non pub
potf cct enfant, si well, l (No, It's
no good, I can't keep tlio Kfcnch tip In
caio Lou Tellegen or perhaps (lint brll
Halt Mnie. Yorska mlRht expose mc)
Will, then, If It were not for tho filthy
lure that rolls In occasionally
I pay, mind you, occasionally, because,
tlough I personally have nothing to com
pain bf on this tour, still I Rather that
Miring Is not really quite what It used
to ho In tho little towns which formerly
ac! no other kind of amusement to look
forward to excopt nn occasional visit
from somo decent company or olso a con
cert, or possibly, with greatest luck of
all, n clrcusl I think nlso that somo of
'theso little places Bet rather out of tho
way of theatre going. I have been to
, One or two lately whoro they had not hnd
' a play for months nnd months, and they
I, seemed to como to tho theatre llko a
hungry dog to a hone, but a bono which
thoy havo possibly somo doubt about, as
thoy have found somo of tho previous
bones not finite wlint they had been led
to cxpoct by tho press agent
I must tell you of a simply perfect
,nsvor to an examination paper which I
,wns told on Sunday by n delightful Hnr
. vard professor, who has now taken to
conducting a delightful pnper called or
perhaps yclept, as thoy would prefer me
to call it, with Its distinct savor of all
that Is best In older world daintiness nnd
literary distinction "Tho Bellman." The
question was, "What do you know of
llerculanoum nnd Pompeii?" And tho
dear boy can't jou seo bfm, bless blm,
with his dear, puckered l)row? put on
paper, "They were two towns completely
destroyed by nn extremely long .overflow
of saliva from tho Vatican " Or Is thnt
qulto a word one can use In tho States? Oc
casionally Englishmen do mako mistakes,
don't they? And It must seem so silly to
you when wo cnll a Crown Derby a bowler
or a billycock or even n Prlnco Albert a
frock coat.
I so well rememner, when I was years
nna years ago acting tho part of a somo
what racy sort of young man In somo prl
vato theatricals In u certain very lovely
houso In London, I had constantly to say
"What tho dovll !" After tho first rehearsal
a dear old cousin of mino took mo nsldo
and begged mo to cut out tho expression
entlroly, for, bb she said, no gentleman
over says "What tho dovll!" I wonder
what she would have said, that dear old
cousin of ml no, had sho lived td sea
"Grumpy"?
But I am digressing. Yes, I havo been
nnd still nm playing sometimes In tho
strangest places, where, if I do not seo
fiery nnd untrained cowboys nt literally
every street corner, I still seo my nnmo
In glowing letters shining across tho snow
on every nsh can, nnd I sometimes havo
KOAn Tirlnlnr! In lnri-n Inttirfl nn Mm ramng
IT 4 which separates mo from tho nudienco
tho curtt'n."
Tho stag'o doors In "Western American
theatres seem nlwnvs to bo hidden away
In tho most curious maimer, as If tho
architect only thought of them nt tho last
moment and thon Bhovod them In any
where I wonder sometimes how many
architects really over gave a certain
nmount of tlmo to tho study of thcatre
hulldlng They nlwnys seem to bo built
on exactly tho samo pattern as hotel
bathrooms are. I havo, by tho way, heard
of one architect who really seemed to
havo original Ideas, for he forgot entirely
to build any dressing rooms. Not that
whon wo find the dressings rooms thoy
are anything to go at onco and wrlto
home about And there Is ono thing that
even the local manager, as well as the
architect, seems to forget, and that Is that
actors sometimes want to wash their
hands. It Is somewhat distressing for
young gentlemen who possibly havo to go
on the stago in a minute to represent tho
bluest of blue-blooded bloods, clad in Im
maculate dress clothes and revealing a
shlrtfront In which the Western washer
lady has, perhaps thoughtfully. left even
yet n little more blue It Is, I say, dis
tressing for them to have to crowd around
a small tin basin to render their hands
into that stute which the young Western
lady Is Accustomed to think should exist
In the drawing room.
One learns to appreciate snow In the
far Northwest ; It Is always so dellcious
ly dry and powdery and bo infinitely
preferable to tho slush wo are so accus
tomed to In lower latitudes, "But the
stage door so often opens on tho street
out here, and the cold, powdery stuff
blows sometimes almost as far as tho
Ingenues' (oh, why will they call them
ongenoos and vordavllle) out here?) pretty
bare shoulders. Gilbert of Bab Ballad
fame told me once he thought Pneumonia
would make such a lovely name for a girl.
Oh, but I am doing what Is most In
fernal cheek. I am actually beginning
to dare to criticise your country and Its
ways. It Is the Irish In me that is do
ing It Vxa sure. I really admire every
JANE SEYMOUR
Who comes to the Walnut next
week in "Twin Seds," '
El ' - r
1 , . .--aSHB
MAUDE
thing hero except but there, I will re
frnln from telling you, wishing, ns I do,
to emulato tho example. of a certain lady
of title who camo over to Now York some
two or thrco summers ago. Sho wns-most
anxloUR to please, was this lady, whom
wo will call Lady Archie, nverythlng sho
saw In America was "swcot" At last
tho New York lady who told mo this
story nnd who hnlls from tho South, be
coming nauseated with her continual en
thusiasm ocr ov cry thing American, said
"Oh, Lady Archie, you must meet my
Undo Bob Ho Is coming up from Iton
nokc, Va ,'nnd he chews " But Lady Archlo
was still undaunted, nnd turning to his
Lordship, her spouse, Bho nt onco said
"Oh, Archie, Isn't It sweet, ho chows I"
Dryden Versus Eaton oh
tke Function of Criticism
- i
A-Rejoinder by the Authoress of "The Pear
Market" Some noughts on the Laying
and Hatching of Dramatic Eggs
By AMELIE RIVES
(IJrlnceia Troubetukoy)
T HOPE that Mr. Eaton will not think
JL that I mean to bo dlsagreeablo If I
add a few word3 to our debato. He says
very nicely and gallantly In his reply to
my article In tho Evenwo LirbaErt of
April 8 that ho "has no' wish t(entor Into
a controversy with a woman whoso wit
and charm he bows to 'i I, on my part,
courtesy In return, for I liked him -very
much on tho two occasions that wo met.
It Is not his personollty as a man that
I am discussing, but his Idea of the func
tion of criticism.
Mr. Eaton says that my article "only
deepens his conviction that neither play
wrights nor actors should read dramatlo
criticism"; that "such criticisms are not
written to tell playwrights how to correct
their faults nor actors how to act Thoy
are written to Inform the publla of tho
Impression the completed play In tho thea
tre made on the critic, and so will be
likely to make on other spectators of
similar tastes."
Now this. If accepted, would mean that
dramatic criticism has no higher function
than to act as theatre guide td the play
going public, but my Idea of dramatlo
criticism, as well as of crltclsm In gen
eral. Is loftier than this.
The constructive critic Is the best friend
of the creative worker. '
John Dryden, himself a critic of emi
nence, has said that "A severe critic Is the
greatest help to a good wit," but he also
said: ''I must taite leave to tell them that
they wholly mistake the nature of criti
cism who think Its business Is principally
to find fault Criticism as It was. first In
stituted by Aristotle was meant as a
standard of Judging well; the chtefest part
of which Is to observe those excellences
which should please a reasonable being."
Now I am less exacting than Dryden,
for it seems to me that If criticism were
only Impartial one could not complain.
But bo that as It may, whero the persons
criticised, whether actors or playwrights,
are told ths,t they should not read such
criticisms, then the work of the critic has
failed of its highest end, which Is, accord
ing to the accepted definition, to polntput
the "excellences and faults" of a piece of
work with the object of helping the artist
to Increase his "excellences" If possible,
and diminish his faults. ""
As to Mr. Eaton's statement that he
cannot write a play, "neither can he lay
an gg." but that this Incapacity "does not
prevent htm from expressing an opinion
of his breakfast," I will venture to point
out that he Is more ltally connected with
an egg than with a play, because, though,
he cannot lay an egv, he could hatch an
egg If he were patient enough, and the
plots of plays are hatched rather than
laid Also be could roast an egg ant) the
pro -verb says -There is reason la roast
fas eggs." My, contention la that there
too y :wim fur ytf
.jfc m3m:immn?iamimm.iwrjtj,, - j&mmmBmmmmm - n by
wSKKmKB' k -BmmSM 0 gi
should be '
"reason In roasting plays," nnd
reason should bo made qulto
that this
cloar.
"Critic" may not bo used as a term
of Indorsement, but our critics should nt
least bo'our clearest foes," nnd criticism,
unless It is to lapso Into mere censure,
should deal with tho virtues as well as tho
faults of what It undertakes to criticise
Otherwise the critic becomo a criticaster
and his work discourages instead of stim
ulating to fresh endeavors thoso who may
take ft seriously. In a word, It Is de
structive Instead of constructive.
I courtesy again and retire, this tlmo
to leave him the privilege of the last word
should he care to utter It
New York. N. Y., April 13, 1916.
THE CONTENTS OF A PAIR OF SILK
gAM and Molly
Went to war;
Casus belli:
Motorcar. 0
Molly bought it,
And,t)f course,
Sam got even,
So divorce.
What a silly
Thing to do!
Sam got squiffy,
Molly blue;
But, no matter
How he'd try,
Molly scorned
His alibi.
gAM Invaded
Molly's room,
Hidden in a
Pall of gloom,
Hidden also
Prom, the eye,
Quite resolved, to
Do or die.
Just got ready
To begin
Former lover
Sauntered in:
Even this much,
I should say,
Would produces
Fairish play.
Gladys Knorr, ingenue of "A Pair
the crucial moment in the
Do You Own a Bit of Film?
Would you like to?
Would you like to possess a few
inches from one of the last photo
plays in which Lubin presented
Philadelphia's favorite screen
actor, the late Arthur V. Johnson?
If you would, clip, fill out and
mail the coupon below. Or write
a personal letter or postcard to the
Photoplay Editor of the EVENING
Ledgeu. You will receive not only
the bit of celluloid, but some very
interesting film facts concerning
the number, size, enlargement and
rapidity of pictures thrown on tho
screen.
Photoplay Ktlitnr Kvenln? Idffrr.
Indrpeixlrnif hinmre, I'lilluilrliililai
rirtiMt mull me u bit of inoWnirpIrtiire
fUm hn ofTrredIfi huturthuN Aniiibemrut
hecllon.
Name.
Address ,
nf Silk Stockings," Is aUo something of an artist. Here is her notion of
play at the Adelphi when the amateur burglar loses his freedom.
Xke Dream Play Barrie
Just Gaye Tke World
"A Kiss for Cinderella,"' Which Miss Maude
Adams Will Play Next Season, Scores
Success at Its London Opening
THE creator of "Thu Llttlo Minister"
has dono a new play. Sir J. M. Barrio
has Just computed "A Kiss for Cin
derella," which Is being played at Wynd
ham's Theatre, London. Miss Maudo
Adams will glvo America its first glimpse
of It next season. Hero Is a review by
A II Wnlkloy, of the London Times.
Mr. Walkley, by the wuy, is tho gentle
man Mr. a. Hcrnard Shaw placed on the
Btaiw as Trotter tho Critic In "Fanny's
First Way"
A dream rather than a play, nnd there
fore privileged to have the decousu at a
dream Logical sequence, cumulative In
terest, and the other essentials of any
strictly dramatic form are not to be
sought here A wn ward fancy broods or
skims, stopping for a moment at any
STOCKINGS
"gUT the action
Hastens on
To a swiit de-
Nouement:
Sam discovered;
Awful fight!
Molly's stockings
Holdhimtight.
Sam, resourceful,
Gets away,
Molly and her
Old flame stay,
Then they're
captured
What a mess!
Host and hostess
- In distress;
Old flame's
sweetheart,
Jilts him flat
What could hap
pen After that? '
PLENTY hap
pens Go and see
Sam, you notice,
Holds the key!
How Wagfner and Back Wrote
for tke Pkotoplay Screen
A Distinguished Singer Analyzes the Eelation
of Music to the Movies Wagner -for
Cowboys Bach for Pullman Cars
FRIEDA
Since "Tho Illrth of a Nation"
showed tho tremendous power of ap
propriate tnusfo in photoplay prescn'
talion most of tho big feature com
panies have taken steps to supply
tho want. To tho Paramount Cor'
poratlon, whirh has just arranged
with tho firm of Cf. Schtrmer rf Co.,
the welt-known muslo tiiiMfjn'ora, to
compile specially elected scores for
its. films, tho litentng ueager s
William Courtenay, of "Under
Fire," takes his dop. Myrtle
Stcdman, Paramount, carries a
prolf bajr. Beth Lydy, of "Alone
nt Last," likes a town car. Violet
Horner (Fox) has a strange
chauffeur. And May Emory oc
casionally likes vacation from
Keystonitiff.
merry or wiso or wistful or tender thought
that occurs, playing gently with It, then
dropping It and passing lightly, gaily,
I'ucklshly on. And that Is the virtue, the
enchantment of a dream, when Barrie Is
tho dreamer.
Hut you reflect that tho dream privilege
Is a rich convenience for the author. He
can heap his inventions up without the
trouble of building them together. He can
even think of an act and put his sketch
away in a drawer and take It out on a
favorable day and Just add another act
Was "A Kiss for Cinderella," thrown
off In this way, piecemeal? Sometimes
jou suspect It There are odd solutions
of continuity, excrescences, loose ends. In
another man you might have felt disposed
to criticise this. But not with Barrie, for
that would bo only cheating your pleasure.
Knjoy his fancies as they come, "the mo
ment for tho moment's sake," as Pater
used to say; they are always beautiful
fancies. And they are always character
istic of the man, not to be had from any
other man pure, authentlo Barrlelsms.
Yet, If you look for It, and look In
dulgently, there Is a certain unity; at any
rate, a recurring theme. It Is, of course,
the Cinderella story. You first meet Cin
derella as a mald-of-all-work at an artist's
studio. The artist is puzzle-headed and
kind-hearted (what else could he be,
played by O. B, Clarence?) and much dis
concerted by a call from the policeman
(Mr. du Maurler) on account of an un
shaded skylight Still more disconcerting
Is Cinderella's familiarity with a few
words of German -a suspicious circum
stance which the policeman feels bound
to probe to the bottom. Is she a "swell"
In disguise? The policeman has a simple
test, simple but, in his own word, "in
fallible" If she keeps her valuables In
her pocket, "common"; If In her bosom,
"a lady." Sho proves to keep them In her
pocket. But she lives at "Celeste et Cle,"
Bond street another suspicious circum
stance and the policeman determines to
follow her thither. Item: Cinderella Is
always dreaming of balls. Item: She has
tiny feet, which cannot be said for the
Venus of Mllo in the sculptor's studio.
Digression on the Venus of Mllo. Her
lost arm held a baby, the baby fell, and
her raised knee is so held to catch it
Yes, the dream Is certainly not without
its docouju.
Now to Celeste et Cle In Bond street
It is a hovel, and the subtitle of the Arm
Is 'The Penny Friend " Cinderella mends
coats for a penny, prescribes to the sick
for a penny, shaves for a penny. But
when a customer is going to be lathered
for a shave, lo 1 he whisks off his enormous
beard-lt is the policeman I And at the
droll sight all the wooden boxes hang
ing on the walls, about the contents of
whveh you were wondering (unless you
had seeor Llttlo Mary, ' then you knew)
CesUoued a fu Twe
HEMPEL
debted for the following articU
the distinguished singer:
I,
TrtJSIC Is a prime necessity for tho JTu-
JLVX ture success of moving pictures. In
theso stories of sltenco, music mu9t take
tho place of tho spoken word. It; plays tha
feelings of tho drama straight to thd
henrt. What wo miss In the moving pic
ture theatre nro the voices of tho actors,
but now you tell mo these hre supplied '
by tho great lltcraturo of music. In Rich
ard Wngner's music there la everything
ndaptnbfo to any drama ever conceived.
And'l can Imnglno nothing moro Bultabjo
for a sceno In a Pullman sleeper than
somo of Bach's music Tako tho mualo
of "Dlo Walkuere," It applies Itself won
dorfully to tho Interpretation of cowboy
pictures. And If you want music for lovo
scenes, why don't you tako the lovo motif
from 'Tristan und Isoldo"? I think thnt
eventually you will develop certain chief
motifs from great composers that will
becomo recognizable In course of time by
motion picture nudlences.
I suppose that Itlchard Wagner Is th
only master who has npplled literature to
music All of Wagner's dramas nro mag
nificent lltorature. I mean by that, that
Wagner, with his genius, has not merely
reached tho emotions of tho world, but In
his scores ho has also fascinated and
nourished generations to come with tho
finest mimical essays on philosophy: In
deed, on mnny subjects that nro usually
limited to literary expression. It seema
to mo that In Richard Wagner's muslo
thcro Is everything ndaptablo to any
drama over conceived Of course, the
"Wedding Mnrch" of "Lohengrin" has
becomo tho recognized symbol, tho world
ofcor, of overy Joyous scene, or unjoyous
for that matter, at the altar That In
Itself Is a new testimony of the universal
appeal which Wagner has mndo to tha
sentiment of tho world upon Its most vital
subject marriage.
What emotion of tho most popular kind
has not Wagner Interpreted to the Im-X
provement of any other composer In tha
world?
For Instance, tho "Ho Yo, Hel," muslo
of the "Wnlkuro,"wlth Its Btlrrlng vitality
of open-air and god-llko courage applies
Itself wonderfully to tho Interpretation of
cowboy pictures of those beautiful outdoor
scenes taken In your we'storn country, In
tho hills of California. Wagner never saw
them. Ho gained no Inspiration from the
great stretches of prairie and sky and val
ley which your western country so amply
provides, but ho had the universal Imagi
nation of great genius. Ho felt all things
that wero possible to human feeling.
You remember tho wonderful music
written for Hans Sachs In Wagner's opera
"Dlo Mclsterslnger"? I have always
thought that that music would apply Itself
to somo of thoso homo scenes I havo wit
nessed In photoplays, where the master
ful philosophy of heart Is often shown In
tho chnracter of the father. Of course,
In these modern stories that are put before
us In the motion picture houses, thero Is
perhaps a purpose beyond tho mere sus
pense of story-writing, but I was particu
larly Impressed with the fact that In the
production of "Diplomacy" I enjoyed tho
poetic feeling In the play because of the
Ideal music selected, while I had not felt
this when I saw the play produced abroad.
You .see, music will always idealize, and
that Is something wo can never get too
much of.
Of course, when the ballroom scene
came, I Instinctively expected to hear tha
"Blue Danube Waltz" by Strauss and
when tho wedding scene came of coursa I
nlso expected to hear Wagner's wedding
march. But, I hnd never .considered
Mendelssohn as an inspiration to Intrigue.
Yet, I found tho music selected for thnt big;
sceno In tho play In DorrtVj apartment
from "Hebrlden" by this composer .was
mnrvelously appropriate. So also was
the serenado by Moszkowskl, for another V
moment or Intrigue in tne scene Detween
Baron Stein, the villain, and Countess
Zlzka. Thos selection from "Musetta" by
C. Saint-Saens was Ideal for the symbo)la
vision of Dora. As I watched tho progress
of the play, with Its many opportunltieafor
Improvement over the mere theatrical pro
duction on the stage, I couldn't help won
dering what the great Sardou would have
thought of It himself,
I firmly believe that muslo Is a prima
necessity for tie future success of mo
tion pictures, and that the more beautiful
the music the deeper will be the under
current of feeling stirred and the moro
sincere will the audience believe the
screen Etory they are watching to be. Of
course, I am a singer and my profession la
music, but I do not believe that any human
beings are fully nourished with the savor
of ideality that Is necessary to perfect
happiness unless they hear and appre
ciate tho 11 nest muslo written. You know,
the world has not changed since the great
stories In mythology were written.
There Is as much poetry, and, above all,
a craving for poetry In the human heart
today as there was In the euthetlo period
of the ancient Greeks. I believe one. of
the reasons that the motion pictures draw
such tremendous crowds Is because they
appeal to the primitive poetic aspirations.
svf .
Afc f i'- -.
LILLIAN GREUZE
Of the French Company coming
to tb.e Little Theatre ext w&
1
u
rtj
ril jiiifiiMBH'--"-j'r" -"--v
Mill i'ii iTiW