The evening world. Newspaper, May 3, 1922, Page 28

THE NEW PLAYS Strindberg’s “Creditors” A Morbid Accounting By CHARLES DARNTON. 'T IS a safe guess that August Strindberg put something of his own un- | happy experience with women into ‘'Creditors,’’ the erotic and neurotic play in which Maurice Browne went apparently mad at the Greenwich Village Theatre last night and then anticipated a possibly similar fate on the art of the audience by dropping dead. ‘’The Constant Lover,” by St. John Wiankin, put a touch of spring in the air at first, but it was blighted by the ‘inateurish acting of Charles Webster and Janet Young. Mr. Browne alone gave “Creditors” its due, As an actor of nerves—not mere nerve—he was interesting, play- img the second husband of a peacocky oreature like a married Oswald see- img something more evbstantial and frightening than ghosts when the di- ‘vorced husband happened along. A more formidable actor than Reginald Pole, who dallied with the part of the avenging Gustav in the absence of Moroni Olsen, would have strength- ened the situation. It was necessary to take the , wtronger mind of Gustav for granted. ‘This man, coming to a seaside hotel for vengeance, really didn’t count: It was only when he advised the dt traught painter. to follow a conserv: tive mode of life for six months thi he seemed to be of any importance. As @ creditor of the runaways he could acarcoly bo taken into consideration. But when Adolph, physically and mentally bankrupt, reminded his wife how much he had given her, there conld be no doubt of the claims of the second creditor. The crash that came in an adjoining room when he heard _ his wife making an assignation with her first husband had an obvious sound and threatened to wreck the play with laughter. We could have ‘Whitman Bennett, producer of the Rex Beach pictures for United Artists, returned yesterday after canvassing the Eastern States and Canada upon \e popularity or unpopularity of the screen melodrama, ‘According to Mr. Bennett melo- , drama wins in a canter. ) "Viewed from a box office stand- pbint,”” said he, “melodramas lend themselves to exploitation better than any other class of picture. keep away from the censors in as much as they do not require any be questionable sex catch line to lure au- Re diences. The melodrama, as far I can ~ learn from exhibitors and spectators, ‘meets the popular demand for amuse- ment." ALAS, POOR BILL. Although Charles Ray's latest pic- ture “A Tailor Made Man" is a mod- ern comedy, it is being taken in a strictly Shakespearian atmosphere. This does not mean that Ray is trying to shine as a new sort of Ham- let, for he is not. It, simply means that Joseph De Grasse, the director, is so full of Shakespeare that he just can't help spouting quotations all over the lot. ‘The other day the Ray company as- semble for luncheon. Afl watched fearfully as De Grasse speared a large slice of roast Texas steer. Their fears were well grounded, for the direc- tor cut loose with: * “Alas, poor Maverick, I knew him ¢. well!” " Then Charley passed the prunes. PETE’S GONE. Lioyd Hamilton, the screen comique, ~ is a wad, ad jester these days, He's wearing a shoestring as a mourning ‘and too, Pete, Ham’s trained goldfish, turned up his toes yesterday and went to the happy fishing ground. "I'm a sad guy,” moaned Ham. “Pete, the best-trained fieh in the world, up and died on me! An’ just when I was getting so proud of him too! Why, Pete was the only fish in fhe world who could stand on his hind legs, shake hands with you and fly backward. And he did all these things before Prohibition too!'"* ~ We believe everything in the above Yarn but the last sentence. A POLL. Now the Princeton senior class, enerally a sensible sort of a bunch, has been at it, ‘What? Oh, nothing, except that the class Tecently took a poll to find out what m actor was its favorite. Doug- Fairbanks was an easy~ victor, Arliss a close second. studies? é MAE WAS TOUCHED. Mae brown eyes out. “What's the trouble?’’ and Bob. @one!”’ walled the youngster. she get the dime? ‘@ime—she got half a buck! MARY'S ANSWER. with Harold Lioyd as second choice. While they were at it, the class also @ecided.that John Barrymore was its favorite speaky actor, with George » Don't those college boys have hard Murray and busband Bod Leonard strolled out of their studio Yesterday and ran into @ little girl who was doing her best to sob her chorused “% wanna dime t’ buy ‘o I-scream -“What's your name?’ asked Miss ". “Mac Murray Cohen!” shot back one, ‘without a shudder, Dear Reader; she did not get waited without this warning for Adolph to stagger in and pay the score with his life. Limping about, responding to pleas- ant suggestions of epilepsy, and changing from tenderness to rage, Mr. Browne was febrile and vivid. Elien Van Volkenburg caught the mocking tone of the wife, but missed her dan- gerous fascinations. The production as @ whole left a great deal to be de- sired—granting amy desire to see this play. To say the least, “Creditors” is a morbid accounting. THE BIG LITTLE Yee tHe “To LIVE ALL RIG “TURNED .) 1 : upt ENGAGEMENT « 1S ALL OFF BETWEEN MINNIE” AND BROTHER - StHoPsig - how would you live them?" was asked of Mary Pickford the other day. And what did our fair Mary say? “If I had but two years to live ‘I'd live them just as I am living now. I'd want to go right on and be a little Island of Pickford entirely surrounded by California and husband.” Right cute, say we. A BUSINESS EYE. 2d Dillon waxed warm and petulant in his hotel lobby last night. And it was all because he had run against a farmerette with an optic for busi- ness. It happened yesterday during the Dillon company’s ramble down Long Island way. They were seeking a location and found an ideal farm- heuse, one that Dillon figured would fit into his picture story admirably, “May we use your pretty little farmhouse in our pictures?’ asked Dillon, right pleasant-like. “You certainly can," answered the ‘woman, ‘‘if you'll let me hang up this ‘For Sale’ sign where it will show. I've bin tryin’ to sell this house for years and mebbe someone might see it was for sale when it's in the pitch- ers and come an’ buy it.” “Nix!"’ muttered Ed, and the’com- pany strolled on, A PRETTY THOUGHT. Alice Calhoun's director tries to be ja stickler for ideals. Mebbe that's BusTeD "TH" ENGAGEMENT Berore 1T Y BusteD Him! T'VE CLEANED HIS ROOM FROM OLb SHRIVVEL GiVES ME A PAINS DON'T “HAE TA “tax HIS FRESH REMARKS — 1 Managed HT BEFORE HE No, Ho. MO ¢ WATH You = ; No! THe HAD A SPAT ovER Some “TRIFLE # SS biais , Dont say “Ca” _ ¢ = es Saar ek wien THE MINISTER Te . MR-BLIX 1S . SINS: Be You TAKE CANT. MARe@Y : HS MAN “Is BE YouR 4 GowWG 76 BE NEW PAPA ~ You MusT You FoR A- HER New Para. SAY *I Do"-} — 14 Fact ste 18 ALREADY MAKING “PLANS FoR THe WEDDING — Tor To BOTTOM — BET HE WON'T RECOGNIZE THE he included Victory Bateman in his list. The casting was done while the country was vivid with red, white and blue in commemoration of the Grant Centennial. Victory Bateman was born on the day Lee surrendered to Grant—and was named Victory be- cause of the“coincidence, Now, isn’t it a pretty thought to carry around, that the director had all this in mind when he chose Miss Bateman? We thought it was, too. So we ambled up to the director yesterday and tried to compliment him, “Grant? gasped the director, “What fillum is HE in? JUST SUPPOSE. Just suppose you had directed a great big motion picture and knew that the picture had gone into a Broadway theatre; suppose audience after audience applauded and de- manded the director—wouldn't you like to be there to receive the back- slap, hear the applause, get the con- gratulations and come in for the din- ner parties and all that goes with a Broadway success? Of course you would. So, give a thought to Frank Bor- azage. Hia ‘“*The Good Provider’ made a hit on Broadway and every one was asking and looking for Frank. Was he there? He was not. He's lost somewhere in the wilds of Canada, making another picture, STILLS. ‘The Follies were antedated a thou- sand years by the Royal Ballet of Siam. If, you don't think these Siamese dancers (7?) are funny, just ask Burton Holmes—he knows. “The want of a good excuse never kept a movie villain from erime,” muses Aesop's Film Fables. Josephine Crowell and alan Forest have been signed to appear with Shirley Maron in “Lights of the Desert."* Pat Moore, nephew of that Moore gang, will be seen in “Kentucky Days.” Estelle Taylore, vamp o’ yamps, be- sides playing the vampire in “A Fool ‘There Was,” will appear as Mercedes in “Monte Cristo.” “Kainbow Valley" is the name of the picture William Fox thinks will prove a@ worthy successor to “Over the Hill.” Hill? Valley2—We get you, Bill! It is clatmed by Associatea First National that “The Masquerader” 1s the most morally moral film ever shat. R-C yesterday added another name to its roster of film luminaries when Ethel Clayton jotted her name down on the dotted line of a long-term contract. “Never Mind To-morrow," is the alluring title of Marie Prevost's next release, All right, Marie, we won't Hoot Gibson will next appear in “The Cherub of Seven-Bar,"” What's Hoot give a hoot for seven bars for? GOSH ED, 1 Just, BEEN Havin’ LUNCH WITH AN OLD SCHool MATE OF MINE — FELLAH NAMED SHRIVVEL — ONE OF TWost oRabs “Tyat’s ALL Th! TIME FINDING FAULT ph aed KNow T HEAR ‘ You AN’ MINNIE FaRTED OVER A SUGHT ‘ MISUNDERSTANDIN —Huw ? YES - YOUR CHEEK iS DIRTY — HAS FeERDIE BEEN One ought to be enough in these arid times. ‘ King Baggot, he of the zebra hair, is directing ‘The Suburban," Charles T. Dazey’s thriller of the last gen- eration. Harry Levey, head of the Nationa: Non-Theatrical Motion Pictures, Inc., is just in from Cincinnati, where he contracted to furnish 100 reels of Biblical pictures, If Cincinnati ix anything like it used to be it sure can stand a little Biblical education, Tom Mix has just finished “For Big Stakes and opines: “For big steaks DON'T go into a one-armed hash hangout."’ ‘Ruth Renicka, leading woman, has a novel way of figuring out difficult matters. Instead of “sleeping on” the problem she takes a long horseback ride and the horse does the thinking Dr. Ernest L. Crandall and Miss Rita Hocheimer of the visual instruc- tion department of the Board of Edu- cation visualized the Fox studio yesterday. They sought and founa many pointers that will be used to aid them in thelr work. De Witt Jennings is said to be ideally cast as a police inspector in the Irving Cummings production, “The Fires of Vengeance.’ “Linda,” the working title of Corinne Griffith's new Vitagraph pro duction, has at last been dropped and the film will be released under the name of ‘Divorce Coupons.” Do you save that kind? War's “ile! How dD You Ever KNOW oF OF HIM? ALL I KNow 1s, HE PAID HIS “TAX ON A MILLION DOLLARS 18 THAT So!? wen, ne Never TOLD ME “Thar! He's A GREAT SCOUT; SHRIVVEL (S — A GREAT ScouT ~ You OUGHTA KNow HIM ED — You'd LIKE HIM~<| Him! say . About Plays and Players By BIDE DUDLEY ILLIAM A. BRADY and his wife, Grace George, are on the high seas, having saifed yesterday from France. Miss Georg will go direct to Paris to see the pro. ions of “Aimer,” by Paul Ger= , and “La Flamme," by Charles Mere. She has acquired the Ameri- can rights to these plays and will translate them for use in this country. She has options on two other plays now being acted in Paris. Mr. Bra will go to Berlin on a business mis sion, the nature of which he has not disclosed. IT’S “FANNY HAWTHORNE.” The Vanderbilt Producing Company has decided to call its production of “Hindis Wakes'’ Fanny Haw- nl thorne.”” The play will begin an en- gagement at the Vanderbilt Theatre on May 11. TILLER DUE TO-DAY. John Tiller, the English teacher of. stage dancing, is due to arrive from London to-day. He is coming to visit his two troupes of dancing girls, one with Fred Stone in “Tip Top’? and the other in ‘Good Morningy Dearie.’ In his forty years of activi- ties Mr. Tiller has trained 25,000 girls, ; NUTT’S DOPE. Jefferson Shrewsbury Nutt, who is in Bogash, O., is keeping a close watch on the situation in China for this colunma. A suggestion he makes along that fit follows: Dear Dud—I and the wife believe there is a good story here about the war that's going on‘in China. When we read about the bum avgoplanes whipping the warships at POEMS OF PROVOCATION } Richard Rustbottle of Mount Ver- hon jmplores us to let him have an- other fling at the iron pansy, the prize in this contest. We have decided to let him. Here's his second entry: One night she’s awful nice to me, The next she's cold and haughty. She swipes my pins and jewelry, And keeps 'em; ain't she naughty? She's obstinate as she can be; She lies without cessation, So my best girl, as you'll agree, Is my worst provocation, A THOUGHT FOR TO-DAY, People say they never understand a subway guard, but let him make a mistake in announcing a station! FOOLISHMENT,. (By Doc. Largeman.) dnd while he whispered words of love And held her to his breast, Encircled by his manly arms, The maiden grew distressed. For alt her boasted lovliness Lay scattered on his chest. FROM THE CHESTNUT TREE. “Was that a relative I saw you leading home last might?” “Yes, a full cousin.” WHAT HAPPENED To THAT, THIRTY CENTS I HAD immediately thought of W: laundryman here. Of cou question is, which side is right, and I and the wife thought an interview with Wee Hing would be good dope for you. If you it, wire. 14 could go to him and si ‘Wee Hing, belly bad war in Chinkland. Likee” LYING ON MY DRESSER! interview.’ If he refused to come through the wife could give him some laundry to do and then say: ‘Think of the heartaches in your land for China boy and mebbe littley Ching girlie. Why they fightee?’ I've got a hunch he'd talk to her on account of the laundry work, but if he didn’t she could recite Bert Hart's poem, “The Heathen Chinee,’ and do a few of her funny dance steps for him. That might get him good-natured, and no doubt he'd talk. By the way, send me $11. I need some new pants ‘to go to a church social and cover it for you. Ham Lister thought he heard a burglar in his house Jast night and blowed a police whistle, Constable Moats arrested him for dis- turbing the peace. Much excitement,’ but could learn nothing.—Jeff, GOSSIP. Marjorie Rambeau has bought & ® BIQBENBEI®: California ranch, ‘The National Vaudeville Artists’ benefit this year will be held at both the Hippodrome and the Manhattan Opera House on Sunday evening, May 14. There will be a bill of seventy~ five well-known vaudeville acts and each artist will ‘double’? both the- atres. Reports say there may be @ third theatre ustd if the advance sale indicates one would be needed. Eddie Cantor has a new song called “They Made You Laugh.” “Shuffle Along” will 400th performance to-night, Victor Herbert, Gitz Rice, Armand Vescey, Jerome Kern, Joseph Herbert and Frank Tours will help out at the Equity show, Raymond Hitchcock and Florence O'Denishawn have been engaged by F. Ziegfeld jr. for the new ‘‘Follies."”" The French Players at the Belmont Theatre have extended their engagi ment a week. “La Belle Avventure” will be presented. “Billeted’’ will be produced at the Greenwich Village Theatfe next week. H. Langdon Bruce will be in the cast. Lotus Robb has been engaged for the leading feminine role in ‘*Kempy’ in which Grant Mitchell has the lead. Arthur Hammerstein has accepted a new musical comedy called Sun shine.” It is by Alonzo Price, George D. Parker and Antonio Batunno. Frank Tours, musical director ot “The Music Box Revue," is the daddy of a new girl, who has been named Joan. Florence Gast has succeeded Billee Maye in ‘The Review of Suncopa- tion’ at the Golden Glades, The Theatre Guild's special produc- tion of “From Morn Till Midnight" for subscribers will be glen Sunday, May, 14. reach its “THE GOLEM” MAY 14. Another benefit that is attracting much attention is that to be given the Jewish Consumptives' Relief So- ciety at Earl Carroll's Theatre Sun- day night, May 14. On this occasion Max Gabel will bring his big Yiddish company down to Broadway and pre+ sent ‘The Golem’ in musical form, ‘There will be a cast of fifty-three and twenty-two musical numbers. Eng lish speaking entertainers will assist between the acts. MISS HOWLAND IN IT. ‘The announcement that Jobyna! Howland will have a featured role in ~ “Greatness,"’ a new comedy by Zoey | Akins, to be produced by Charles Frohman, Ine., probably means that’ Miss Akins is carrying out a promise) to Miss Howland to write a play inl] which one of the chief roles would fit her exactly, Miss Akins, by the wayp is in Europe and will remain abi until she ts needed for rehearsals “Greatness,”