10 B
THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: APRIL
25, 1920.
Stan System Still
Supreme Despite
Managers9 Edict
By BURNS MANTLE. ,
NEW YORK-(Special Corre
spondence.) As we approach
the ides of May and the end
of another dramatic season it is
interesting to note how supremely
the star system still reigns, despite
-many a manager's confessed deter
mination to change it. Of fifty cur
rent attractions on Broadway, 35
are "sold" on the strength of 'the
name or names at the head of the
cast.
It has long been a debatable ques
tion in theaterland, this one of
whether the star "sells'! the show or
the show "sells" the star, according
to the S. E. P. School of Salesman
ship. The answer you get to any
inquiry depends entirely upon the
personal interests of the authority
consulted. The, author, particularly
the author of a successful play, will
assure you it is the play; the star,
that it is the star; the manager, that
it is the combination, plus intelli
gent direction. But by the proofs
and the records the stars have all
the best of the argument. '
"Lightnin'," as an example, was a
popular play months before Frank
Bacon was officially named as its
star, but probably nine on r-f 10
of those who saw "Lightnin' " talked
much more freely ami ciiuiusu. ....
ly of Frank Bacon's performance
as Bill Jones than they did of what
they could remember of the play.
Which is why they made F. B. a
star. And the other day when A.
II. Woods put the then idle Majoric
T .. .,,!..... il i r r
I'ollock's "The Sign on the Door,"
though the play was already soundly
established as a drawing attraction,
(lie "business increased and the gos
sip concerning the play was notic
ably more general than it had been
before. Which is in no way a re
' flection on the actress who created
the part and gave an excellent per
formance in playiug it. The Ram-
beaii -name simply has better ad
vertising value.
Another interesting development
of the star situation in this suffrage
rear has been the unusual number
of successful male stars. Usually
the women outnumber the men two
to one, but at the present writing
they are practically on even terms.
Of 20 single stars on Broadway, 10
are men and 10 are women.
Killed Barrymore in "Ppclasspp."
June fowl in "Smilin Through."
Kls'urpKuff nchrd cmf shrdlu mi
KIkIp Ferguson in "Sacred and
Profane Lovp."
ancp O'Neill in "The Tassion
J'lnwer." ,
Marjorio Rambran in "The Sign
tmlho Door."
' Ignore Ulrlc in "The Son-Daughter."
Inn Clime fn "Thp Gold Diggers.
Emily Stevens in "Sophie."
T'lorcnce Moor, in "Breakfast in
Cod." . i
Thpda Ban in "Tht Blue Flame."
Frank Mctllynn in "Lincoln."
Frank Bacon in "LightiTin'.'"
I.co Ditrlehstein in "The Purple
Mask."
Kichard Bennett in "Beyond the
Horizon ."
Lionel Barrymore in "The Letter
of the Law."
Barney Bernard in "His Son, Abe
Potash."
Clifton Crawford in "Hia Lady
Friends."
William Collier in "Tha Hotten
tot." :d W'ynn in his "Carnival.
Cecil Lean in "Look Who's' Here."
in the case of. the co-stars the
honors are evenly divided;
Blanche Bates and Henry. Miller
in "The Famous Mrs. Fair."
Francine Larrimofo and Charles
Cherry in "Scandal."
Peggy Wood, Donald Brian and
Ralph Morgan in "Buddies."
Irene Bordoni and Sam Bernard
in "As You 'Were."
.The women, however, have the
better of the men in the list of fea
tured players, with Fay Bainter in
"Fast is West," Adele Rowland in
'"Irene," Helem MacKellar in "The
Storm," Martha Hedman in "The
"Hole in the Wall," Wilda Bennett
in "Apple Blossoms," and Jeanne
Eagles in "The Wonderful Thing,"
against John Charles Thomas in
"Apple Blossoms" and Edwin' Nican
tlcr'in "The Bonehead."
The time may come when all
plays will sell on their merits as
plays,.and all the stars, stuffed with
humble pic, will sit meekly in the
background, content to be even a
W3E
7M IS AT SIR'S
Ptsv" and there were inanv as-
moaesi partv.oi so neriect a system. Lsocir.ted him with a cotton . nm
j i ii aocs i snail De giau to ouija
back . congratulations and a state
ment from whichever section of the
hereafter I happen to be occupying.
The Russian vodka drama is ably
represented by Arthur Hopkins' re
vival of Maxim Gorki's "Night
Lodging" at 'the I'lymouth. It is not
the sort of entertainment that the
pollyanna American playgoer takes
to readily, even after he is lectured
into believing that it is real art and
should be indorsed. But it happens
there is a large public of foreign
playgoers in New York that delights
in serious foreign drama, finding it
much more soundly dramatic and
more intelligently written than the
native output. This public, added to
that of the theater's serious student,
promises a successful spring run for
the Gorki opus. It is splendidly
done at the Plymouth, so well acted
and staged, in fact, and so carefully
characterized, that it loses much of
its power to depress the thoughtless
onlooker. '
Superficially it is a somewhat
formless jumble of misery studies
as they are found in a Russian
"flop;" a damp,' ill lighted, odorous
cellar filled from time to time with a
squirming nest of humans bewailing
the ,fate that has brought them low,
or accepting it philosophically; all
of them seeking a way out, but none
of them with the courage or the
strength to attempt the climb, how
ever plainly the way may be revealed
to them. Through the main por
tions of the picture and there is
no attempt aCjiarrative a sort of
moral influence is represented by an
ged wanderer who drifts in, gently
chides or kindly encourages the un
fortunates, and drifts out, leaving
them back again in the midst of de
bauch, a hopeless, helpless, spiritless
crew. . ,
It is the fusing of an infinite num
ber of individual tragedies into the
jreatfr tragedy of human misery,
md it offers fine opportunities for a
long cast of carefully sleeted players.
V. HV Thompson, Gtlda Veresi. Cecil
Yapp. Roslind Ivan, , Clyde North
and Edward Robinson are among
the most successful.
A new comedy and a trival one is
called "The Bonehead," and the title
A7
i
'vv'4-, vv ,vf ' Heen f. U
:ff. . JfSK -W (coming TO f m
TJ 7 'J A' JZ. " ', li'V6 1 sJL
Alltl "
American Dancers
Now Lead World in
Artistic Excellence
AMERICA seems ti.. have
snatched the palm for choreo
graphic dancing from the very
bosom of its mother. In this coun
try pantomimic and classic danc
ing is, comparatively a new art. but
nevertheless, today, the ballet of the
Metropolitan OperaHouse excels
the ballet of any other opera house
in the world.
It remained for vaudeville to pro
duce a dance production that would
be a credit in any artistic company,
the one now being offered by the Ma
rion Morgan Dancers and described
as a dance drama of the time of At
tila. Marion Morgan has been one
of the most serious and most in
telligent of American sponsors of
choreographic dancing. She has
given the stage a group of exquisite
pantomimes,' but in this work she
has produced a vehicle which gives
the fullest measure of all of the
combined arts, story, execution, ef
fect, lights, color, scenery, costumes,
music and motion.
The story is so graphical! told
it can be followed without drawing
upon the imagination,; the execution
is perfect. The first violins of a
symphony orchestra do not , bow
with any more rhythm, harmony
and unity than do the motions of
these dances. Light-, scenery and
costumes are three separate di
visions of the same unit, and here a
series of pictures have been put to
gether that go to make scenic art
a high art. The music is as descrip
tive as the story, tl is a mass of
movement with colorful expression.
Marion Morgan's dance drama may
be divided into a hundred separate
heads, but either separately or as
a whole, no detail has been over
looked or any expense spared in the
production.
Town Character Dead;
Attended 1,01 7. Funerals
t Providence, R. I., April 24.
"Patsy" Mulhern, who recently" said
that he had attended 1,017 funerals
during his 60 years or more as a
character in the north end, died at
the Rhode Island hospital after a
brief illness. Those - who , knew
?OA2
London Must Emulate .
Skyscrapers of N. Y. to
Economize City's Space
V ' v
Should Have Garden Suburbs Connected .With London
By Elevated Roads Suitable for Fast Motor Traf
fic to Average at Least 20 Miles an Hour.
Mrs. F'ske
(COWWGTOiflANOBS)
Promised Joys at Theaters
Ai
PANfE dm ma of th tinio of Atilla,
the Hun, by h Marlon Morgan
dancers, presumed ty Martin Beck,
will ton- the Mil for th" current week at
fhe Orpheiim: inrclixlipg Kobrrt Hurd, the
musical direr tor, thore nr 15 people with
the Morgan danrfrs. The dance .story has
to do with Atllla's invasion of north
i rn Italy. "A Golf Proposal," a ron.edy
of the linlis, ia to be presented by Jark
Kennedy and three assocla f e players. An
other featured skit is "Caught In a Jamb."
Florenz Ames and Adelaide Winthrop.
Merlin will be a surprise fi -attire of the
bill. Ed Morton, pleasing singer, will bs
another element of the billf The phono
graph has been hi advance agent. A
whirlwind novelty ia to be presented by
Eary and Kary on the Kgyptain rings.
Conchas, ir., is a heavyweiMht -juggle,-.
His unusual feats of strength single him
out as amodern Samson. His assistant
is the ort'ver romedlan, Julius Newman.
Rrlght sayings, culled from the newspa
pers will be a film feature in Topics -f
I he Day, and News Events will be pic
tured by Kinosrams.
two Sania. whose skill aa funmakers plaoe
them among arlisls of high nnk. Of plot
there is ,1u.t enough io hnng the film of
fun on. Jn support it Lewis and Dody Mr.
Hurting has engaged Kliziihnth Harriner.
Billie Jliii. Margaret White, Shaw and
l.ee. Always pifsnt ia a real beauty
chorus of 30 girls, everyone a talented
singer and graceful dancer. Ladies' mat
inee begins at 3:00.
H
ARRY DAVK.M'DKT. of the cast of
"Three Wlsu Kools," inn impending
attraction at the Rrandrt.s) has u
collection of stage relics well-nigh in
valiahte. He is a. son of the famous
tragedian, K. 1,. avenport, and conse.
cjuontly a brother of Fanny. Harry Da
venport married Thyllls, daiighier of JIc
Kee Rankin, to whom he made love in
The Hello of New York." .Both' fam
ilies have been related to each other, the
lrews and the liarrymorey by severJ
marriages., Davenport's daughter, Dor
othy, is the wife of Wallace Keid, photo
play star.
THE appearance of Mrs. Fiske In a pew
nlnv ts the significant announcement
-- which the management of the Hranv
dels theater holds for omana tneater-go-ers,
beginning Thursday, May 6. for a
limited engagement of three days only.
The 'comedy has been written by I.au
ron.o Pvre directed hv Harrison Grey
I Fiske and will appear tn Omaha with the
New lorK prouueuon iniaci.
NK of the featured acts at the F.mpress
today will be the musical noveny,
A Night in Venice," to be presented
k.. i into Cnruso and company. The other
featured acts will be provided by the
Stratford Comedy Four, who give ".School I
Frolics" a replica of their own school I
frolics in their childhood days. The Rosa
King Trio, marvels of the lre, are known
for remarkable ability. Andrew Copeland, j
. . r 1 , ... , t ' who will nrnviae one oi inf iiu.;ui initi. .-
nreiia, taaea green Wlttl age, wniCtH tractions, is the composer of some popular
OR the week of May 2 the. Orpheum
to present t'hlc Sale as one of the
stellar acts. Another important head
line attraction will be contributed by
l.ouise Dresser anil .lack flardner. who
are to offer a cycle of individual songs.
i:in Uruce and Margot Duffet have a com
edy playlet in two scenes, "Through the
Keyhole.'' A darn ing and singing feature
is to be contributed by the I.ightncr Sis
ters in association with Newton Alexan
der. In this offering Winnie Llghtner is
to be featured.
he always carried.
He was extremely religious and
homes where some' member of the
family had died.
song, hits, which he features In his act.
(TTEU,0 AMERICA" will appear at
H the Oayety theater all week. Joe
Hurting is responsible for the pro
duction. Heading tho company are Sam
Lewis and Sam Dody. better known as the
Dan Desdunes Band
IN POPULAR CONCERT
BENEFIT UNIFORM FUND
Auditorium, Sun., Apr. 25
2:15 P. M.
ADMISSION 55c, 30c, 25c
War Tax Included
could as legitimately be applied to
the producer as to the leading char
acter. Frederick Arnold Kummer
w rote the play some, years ago, one
suspects, seeing that it deals with
V'.c?h new subjects as the Greenwich
villagers radicalism and their pre
tended belief m the freedom of all
things, including love, liquor, and
lfbbbed hair. 1 he attempt has been
to treat these things in a spirit of
amusing satire.
A normal young husband from
Flatbush, which is the comedian's
idea of a ioke on Brooklyn, being a
suburb in that borough, finds his
wife slipping gradually into the
ways of the villagers, io cure her
he pretends to receive the village
"message" himself, and so outdoes
her in his assumed radicalism par
ticularly as it ap'plies to his selection
of satin haired soulmates, that by
10:4a she is begging hitn to take her
back-to Flatbush.
ClSude Bcerbohm, a sou of the
late Sir Herbert Tree, made th pro
duction and plays one of the prin
cipal role5. Edwin Nicander is the
featured member of the cast, and
Myrtle Tannehill his chief assistant.
Rachel Barton Butler has taken a
part of the money she made with
her successful comedy. "Mamma's
Affair'Vind put it into the establish
ment or a children's theater. Her
first production that of "Alice in
Wonderland," done intr- a new ver
sion by herself and played rather
freely in the spirit of a movie come
dy. Audiences of children have ap
proved the .entertainment, however,
and grownups legitimately have
nothing more to say. Mabel Talia
ferro, a little mature, but still quite
successful in suggesting the. won
dering and wide-eyed Alice, plays
the heroine, tumbling into the rab
bit's hole in the prologue and emerg
ing therefrom later to find that she
has been asleep and dreaming all the
time. The play is to continue at the
Little theater for a series of special
3 o'clock matinees
Baby Carried Three Blocks i
On Trolley Fender Unhurt ;
Salina. Kan.. April 24. Horrified ,
by the shrieks of a child that seemed j
to be following mm, tne motormau
on a street car here stopped his
car the other night and started to
investigate.
On the fender he found the
3-year-old daughter of Ernest, Mil
ler. The little girl had been car
ried two blocks. She was unin
jured.' .
"OMAHA'S FUN CENTER"
tGtrmf5rT7t Daily Mat. 13-25-SOc
pOfft5'CgP Evngs., 25-S0-75C. $1
Joe Hurtig'a Patriotic Production
"HELLO, AMERICA!"
S-MJils: LEWIS & DPDY
All-Star Cast. Beauty Chorus of Giofery,
Snappy Girls.
LADIES' PIME MATINEE WEEK DAYS
The Creighton
University Stage Club
Presents
"The Hidden
Gem"
By Cardinal Wiieman
Varsity Glee Club
"Between the Acts".
25th and California
. May 3 'and 4, 1920
Parquet, 75c; Balcony, 50c
Tickets at Beaton Drug Store
15th 'and Farnam
Here's the
Reason
why so many people are
eating their meals daily at
HOTEL ROME
CAFETERIA
Because they get what they
Like and Like what they
get.
Bring the family for Sunday
Dinner and save work at
Home.
ROME MILLER
NEW SHOW TODAY
LITTLE CARUSO & CO.
In "A Night in Venice
Elaborate Musical Tabloid
STRATFORD COMEDY FOUR
; Presenting "School Frolics"
- ANDREW COPELAND
Versatile Singer of Comedy Songs -
PAUL KLEIST
Musical Clown
Photoplay
Attraction
Wm. Fox
Mason
in
"Molly and I"
The Sweetest Girl
on the screen, in
her newest triumph
Hank Mann Comedy
Screen Stars at Home and Around the
Studio Pathe Weekly
BY LORD MONTAGUE OF
' BEAULJEU.
Noted Itritixh Matosmiin and Author.
London, March 20. In a very few
years, neither streets, railways nor
subways as they exist in London to
day will be adequate to convey the
daily traffic, and the consequent
acute congestion will compel the
adoption of new remedies and ideas,
such as the erection of higher build
ings in central London and of erect
ing overhead highways for fast mo
tor traffic.
New underground railways are,
and always will be, much too expen
sive to make and work successfully,
and even the former cost of con
struction of the present subways
over $3,500 a mile, which would now
be doubled has proved unsound
financially, as witness the recent re
ports on the various underground
railways, desperately overcrowded
though they arc. i
We should have garden suburbs
connected into London by elevated
roads suitable for fast motor traffic
to average at feast twenty miles an
hour. Lx
The speed' of street traffic must
also be increased, and low traffic
rigidly kept tothc curb.
The London" county council
should jump at the chance of secur
ing a large amount of extra reve
nue by allowing higher buildings.
As it is now, thousands of people
of all classes working in London
and benefiting from trade in Lon
don are paying rates in places out
side the London County Council
area, and not one cent toward Lon
don's expenses.
As to the fear of high buildings,
knowing New York, 1 personally
think the so-called "skyscrapers"
there magnificent and strikingly
beautiful in many aspects. From a
health point of view higher build
ings are letter in every way. The
atmosphere high above the streets
is far purer and more bracing than
lower down, and anyone who has
flown over London, knows that the
more or less permanent smoke
layer is seldom higher than 150 feet
in normal weather.
And over a large area of tall
buildings such as lias been sug
gested at least 300 feet high a land
ing ground tor aeroplanes might be
made of glass, open at the sides, and
through which the light would pass
unhindered.
Blame Execution
Of Beautiful Dancer
To Envy of Women
Budapest, April 24. In Von rci;
nyi, the leader of the Budapest ballet
has, according to news received here
from Transylvania, paid a tragic
penalty for her beauty. Mile.
1'ernyi, acknowledged to be (he
most beautiful woman in Budapest,
long resisted all overtures -for her
hand. Shortly after the departure
of the Roumauians from Budapest
after a stay of several months, sle
was reported "missing."
It was rumored that a high officer
on the start of General Maderescu
had been fortunate enough to cap
ture the heart of the capricious
dancer. A short paragraph in a
Roumanian newspaper recently an
nounced her death for spying against
Rouniania.
Mlliv I'rrnvi liarl apparently ex
cited the envv and hatred of the
Ronni.miaii women, for from a letter
she wrote to a friend before Iter
death she declared she was the vi
tim of a hideous plot, and mat in
criminating document had linn
placed in her baggage, wlmh
formed so powerful an indictment
against her that even her friendship
with General Madercscu's staff offi
cer availed her nothing.
General resentment against the
Roumanians is felt in Budapest, as
Mile. I'ernyi was a universal favo
rite. Alice Cary, whose centenary was
celebrated April 20, had her x-.x
'literary efforts published when she
was IS.
WEEK STARTING SUNDAY, APRIL 25
Martin Beck Presents
The Marion Morgan Dancers
i
In a Dance Drama in the Time of Atilla
Created and Directed by MARION MORGAN
MERLIN
In
"Wit and Wonderment"
ED MORTON
Vaudeville's Pleasing
Singer
JACK KENNEDY & CO.
In
A Golf Proposal
A Coniedy of the Links
1
8
EARY & EARY
In
A Whirlwind Novelty
CONCHAS, JR. & CO.
Artistic and Heavyweight
Juggling, Assisted by
Julius Newman
Florenz Adelaide
AMES & WIHTHR0P
I"
"Caught in a Jamb"
An Episode
TOPICS OF THE PAY KINOGRAMS
Matinees, 15c, 25c, and 50c; Few at 75c Sat. and Sun.
Mights, 15c, 25c, 50c, 75c and $1.00; Few at $1.25 Sundays
LAI H C. 'a
Four Nights Starting MAY 2
Matinee Wednesday .
JOHN GOLDEN
Producer of "Lightnin," "Turn
to the Right," "Howdy Folks"
and "Dear Me," Presents
A Comedy by Austin Strong
Une Year at The Criterion, N. Y.
Original Cast Intact
PRICES:
Nights, 50c Io $2.00
Wed. Mat., 50c to $1.50
Seats 1 omorrow
Three Days Starting Thursday,
1 MAY 6
Cohan & Harris Present
Mrs. Fiske JEfii.
MIS' NELLY OF
N' ORLEANS
Under the Direction of Harrison
Grey Fiske
Mai! Orders Now, Seat Thursday
! IIJslMl!lwsiiasf .1 1 ?rV?V.;TyTSTF""''n
jl I Main Floor 50c --Balcony 25c pj
i i ii ii mi iii i fj rv--
Mat. Daily 1:15-3; Eve. 7:15-9
Main Floor 50c --Balcony 25c
It