6 D
THE BEE: OMAHA, SUNDAY, JULY SI, 1921.
Temple to the
Illessed, IVccessary
Second Rate Art
Empress Bill Shows
Four Varied Acts
By JAMES WHITTAKER.
PARIS, July 30. The Comnlie
Francaise, llie Opera, the
Opera C'oini(iic, the l.ouvre,
the I.umchiirg museum and a half
hundred more of these French insti
tutes in which you tuay relish the
embalmed flavor of the great past,
Kive their greatest service, not in the
conservation of the first rated that
like good wine, conserves itself but
in the perpetuation of the good sec
ond rate.
H there were no Louvre the
Venus de Milo could nave found
notnei inVir.e. It is the things
which just miss being masterpieces
which nerd homes for ageing art.
It we had a Comedie Auiericainc in
Xew York, or make it Washing
ton, drama center, if you care to
tiuarrcl about the location our best
UrtJ. UkMIIU 1UI- a 7tiw, ixim i.iv.v.
respectable decline than the usual
second season plunge straight from
a last night in Providence, R. I.,
to t ain's storehouse.
There would be something to do
with "Romance" on the distant day
when Doris Keane shall have done
with it. Some of August Thomas, a
l it of Clare Kummcr, two of the
Theater Guild's plays of this year,
and short-lived "Debtuau," to men
tion a few plays and playwrights that
may still be remembered, could be
kept, like real books, fof a future re
reading. It was a good second-rate play
that was billed at the Comedie Fran
c;.ise the night of my first visit there
this summer. "The bud" is the best
work of Henri Lavedan, member of
the Forty Immortals, until he died
after all and an honest workman.
It is the supreme effort of a man
who had no genius. The night was
also the occasion of the return of a
prodigal son to the fold of the Com
edie Francaise actors. This l.e
Bargy, as excellent a second-rater
as th Lavedan play, had once vio
lated some sacred trust of the aus
tere dramatic faiths if the Comedie.
I gathered that his sin had been to
play for some real money in a
theater, oh! shame! on the Boule
vards, which are Paris' Broadway.
He had been exiled for IS years.
Now he had made appropriate and
due genuflexion and confession of
sin. lie was welcomed thunder
ously. Bear in mind that I if. was no more
than a good second-rater and you
have, in the tears and shouts of his
welcome, a simple demonstration of I
the spirit of the Frenchman with his
institutions. It is a rapacity for en
joyment of art so generous, that, far
from spent in the building of cathe
drals to the great gods, it further
spends itself in the erection of altars
to the' lesser gods.
The subject of th? play was old
fashioned. Not very long ago it
was feverishly new, and all Paris
seethed because Lavedan had put a
priest on the stage and proved him
a in an.
The priest fought his brother, a
doctor and an atheist, for a woman.
The priest wanted her soul, the doc
tor her body. The priest ami all the
array of moral sentiment won, but
-ji-Jtfaicoiice a very daring departure,
this putting the will of the church
into a tigiy place ftid making it
fight.
But in the 20 years which have
rasscd since the writing of "Lc
Duel" theology has quieted down
tremendously. Tt moved me not a
bit to see the Duchessc de Chailles
hesitate between the chambers of
the doctor and the confessional of
his brother.
One wonders why the second-raters
choose perishable subjects. Per
haps it is part of their second rate
ness. Brieuse seizing on disease, too
short-sighted to perceive that the
Ivockcfellcr institute will surely
medicate his pleas out of existence.
The interest in Lavedan's subject
was thin. The main interest was the
Floyd Kathburn heads the cast
who are to present as the stellar
act of the new show opening at the
Empress today, an offering de
scribed as "Syncopated Feet." Soft
shoe, hard shoe, jazz and eccentric
dances in solos, trios and quartets
are exhibited in addition to many
new, graceful and intricate move
ments. An introduction of singing,
dancing and music is to be presented
by Johnny and Wise, who possess
youth, ability and personality. Sen
sational gymnatic feats are to be ex
hibited by Frazcr and Peck, who
perform a major portion of their ex
hibition with the assistance of the
trampoline. Completing the vaude
ville program are a duo of black
face comedians, Leonard and Far
nell, whose' elucidation of a line of
patter is conceded to be one of the
real comedy screams of vaudeville.
THE OAK FROM
THE ACORN
performance which was consummate,
too consummate. First-raters could
not be turned to the precisions
which governed the presence of
these r.ctors on the stage of the
Comedie Francaise. There was a
geometry of relative positions of
actors and furniture as exact as a
proposition of Euclid. This was en
joyable after some of the scramble
and collisions of our American act
or folk in competition for stage
center. It was enjoyable until the
busy, though graceful, movements
from chair to chair and from. sofa
to desk began to resemble a minuet.
The audience recognizes the
Comedie Francaise performances
for the mere displays of virtuosity
that they are. It frets and applauds
hke an opera audience. The play,
indeed, is done like an opera. Every
scene is like an aria, with prepara
tion, climax and final cadence.
The usual mistake is to enter the
doors of the Comedie with hands
reverently folded over stomach and
downcast eyes, as if the visit were
a pilgrim's to Mecca. Then it is
a place of amusement, not prayer.
The truth of the matter is that it is
not st all first rate, but it was a
bright inspiration of the French
mind that engendered a national
theater, where innumerable bits of
technical thought are mortared to
gether into a perfect temple to the
immortal, necessary, blessed second
rate.
(Continued From I'age Que.)
I would suRgest the Ulue lXUge
mountains. They will stimulate her
egotism without overwhelming it.
And you don't know, but you are
breaking down. You need to Kct
nway as much ns nh does. You
can't stand much more of it. (Jet
her it way and yourself quickly."
The doctor would not take a fee
"What you needed yos a friend to
tell you this, be said.
"I didn't know I had one," Jea-
3op said.
He went home hopelessly.
To take Mollie away! lo go
away! The Blue Kidge! He was
l.rnken In spirit and uurse. llow
p.idilv doctors cive advice. He hud
been warmed by the doctor's friend
liness, but a doctor knew no limita
tions. He considered only the Ideal
good. If for a pauper it were a year
in southern France, and with the
irreconcilability of the two eondi
tions the advice had little to do.
Jessop's despair was dull, not des
perate. It did not animate him. It
flattened him out. He did wonder
for a minute where he could get
money. Friends? He felt there
was none to whom he could sub
mit his need. A chattel mortgage
on their furniture? That would not
bring1 enough money, and if was an
expedient which would mak,e them
really vagabonds, without money to
pay their bills and with paupers'
prospects.
He let himself into the cheerless
flat, to the desolation of which he
had become dulled. He went Into
the dining room and sat down at the
table. His misery had "one eompen
Fating quality. He was not trying to
escape it. He was submitting. His
hopelessness, his unhappiness, wor
ry, and loneliness, continuing so
long, made him look haggard in his
attitude of dejection at the table.
Mrs. Jessop passed through the
room to the kitchen. He did not
look up. He no longer expected his
presence to be recognized and did
not ask that it should be.
Mrs. Jessop went into the kitchen,
but stood where she could see him.
She looked at him for several mo
ments as if noting all the signifi
cance of his attitude and expression.
She might have been satisfying her
dislike. She moved forward a few
steps and stood in the doorway and
gazed at him a moment longer.
Then for the first time, without
necessity, she spoke to him.
Mr. Roscoe called you up," she
said.
Jessop looked at her in dull as
tonishment, but did not reply. She
had at last answered a telephone
call, but that was not suggestion to
him.' She continued to look at him.
"You don't look well," she said.
This astonished him still more,
but he made nothing of it.
"I have been to the doctor," he
said.
She came in the dining room and
sat down opposite him.
"What did the doctor say?" she
asked.
lie hesitated before replying.
"He said if 'you would let me I
ought to take you away, to the Blue
Ridge mountains."
"What did he say about you?"
That suggested some of the old
solicitude with which she had noted
the slightest ailment.
"I didn't go for myself," he said.
Her lips and chin quivered and
her eyes grew moist.
"I didn't know you had lost
your position," she said. He did not
reply. He did not ask her how she
had found it out.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"I haven't "been able to find any
thing," he said.
She stared at him intently, and
he flinched at what he thought was
the challenge in her eyes.
"I'll try," he raid. "I haven't
been able to get my mind on it. I
have been too unhappy."
He did not think of their conver
sation ns suggestive of a reconcilia
tion. "The doctor said you ought
to go 'to the Blue liidiro, but I don't
Know where to get the money even
if you would let me take you."
Her lips and chin quivered again.
"Haven't you any money?"
He shook his head and then turned
from her to look out of the window.
As his head was averted the ex
pression of her face began to soften.
She arose and left the room. He
thought their moment of explana
tion had come and gone.
She returned presently and out of
his despair ho mude another rally
which he thought must be the last
he could attempt.
''Mollie," he said, "please, dear,
won't you let me try to take you to
the Blue Ridge, ' where you can
forgive and we can forget?"
She went to his side and rested
her hands on the back of his chair.
"l'oor Don," she said, and he was
almost stupefied by the tenderness
in her tone. "You really have been
thinking of me and doing all these
things for me and suffering for mo
and, you poor boy, you're ill."
She put one hand lightly on his
hair. He did not dure to move or
speak. She continued to speak,
s'owly at first, but with increasing
emotion.
"Mr. Roscoe told me you had lost
your position. Ho said it was
shameful and he was ashamed, and
if you would take it again it would
be yours. I have not understood,
Hon. I thought you didn't care. I
thought you had made me some
cheap thing that" men would joke
about in a soloon and had shamed
me before everybody. I couldn't
stand it. I had lost everything. I
had lost you. I had lost your pro
tection. You had exposed me. But
you do care, Don. Y'ou have suffered
as much as I have. You have lost
everything for me and done every
thing for me. You might have left
me, Don, if you hadn't cared. You
do care, you do care. Don, I'm hap
py again."
She suddenly put both arms about
his neck and pressed her cheek
tightly against his. The cheek
which pressed his was wet. He
twisted around suddenly in his chair
to put his arms" around her and
drew her into his embrace.
"Mollie," he cried. "Mollie,
you'll go to the Blue Ridge. I'll get
the money."
"The Blue Ridge is right here
now." she said in alone subdued by
emotion. "'We'll stay here and work.
We'll work and be happy because 1
haven't lost you. I don't care for
anything else."
His emergence from misery was so
sudden he was inarticulate.
He felt ther hand placing some
thing within his palm.
"There is the money for our fresh
start," she said.
He looked down wonderingly, rais
ing his head to look beyond her head
which rested on his shoulder. In his
hand was sparkling the diamond
ring.
(Copyright. 1921. by Clifford Raymutd.)
All Is Not Play for
Petite Screen Star
"
"Fool's Paradise."'
Cecil Li. DeMillc, alter a brief
business trip to New York, has rc
tulrrncd to the Lasky studio in Cali
fornia to proceed with the cutting
and assembling of his recently com
pleted production "books' Paradise."
The picture was suggested by "The
Laurels and The Lady," by Leonard
Merrick, ami the photoplay is the
work of Bculah Marie Dix and Sada
Cowan.
DANCE!
3 to 5:308 to 11 P. M.
SWIM!
World's Finest Pool
PICNICS!
NEXT SUNDAY
The Imperial Machine
By F. BRITTEN AUSTIN.
Krug Park Plans Giving
Big Bahy Show Friday
A baby show will be staged in the
Krug park ballroom on Friday
night, August 5, in which babies
from 3 to 5 may be entered by moth
ers. Prizes will be given the pret
tiest babies. The feature of the eve
ning will be the giving of ''an or
phan for adoption."
On Sunday a season's .swimming
pass will be given to some lucky
bath key number, and also 40 sea
swing rides, at 4 o'clock. Gold pieces
will be awarded at S o'clock to the
largest family in the park.
The coining week's picnics and
outings arc:
Monday School outing all day,
and Omaha printing firms, outing
and dance at night.
Tuesday Evans Model Launch y
r.o.'npany. All Omaha electrical
firms.
Wednesday The last of the Pa
rochial school out'ngs. World-Iler-
; i
m
TO
0?
mm
VIOLA DANA
Pretty Viola Dana is quit; as clever
a house-maid as she is a film star.
She herself vouches for this.
She can wield a . broom and a
duster as neatly as she can curve a
smile from her ruby lips.
Her latest film production is "Pup
pets of Fate," playing the first four
days of this week at the Sun theater.
aid carriers, Scott-Omaha Tent and
Awning, Western Paper company.
Thursday Coal dealers, wholesale
and retail.
Friday School outing, insurance
men, "Baby night."
NEW
SHOW
TODAY
SYNCOPATED FEET
A Terpsichorean Treat featuring
Roy P.alhburn.
Monday School Outing, All
Printing Companies.
Tuesday Evans-Model Laun
dry. Wednesday World Herald
Carriers, Scott-Omaha Tent
Co., Western Printing Co.
Thursday All "Coal Men.
Nite."
Friday "Baby Nite," All In
surance Men's Nite.
These are cool, delightful days at the clean,
sandy beach at Lake Manawa."
Boating, dancing, rides, games, free movies,
picnics, roller-coar-tcr, roller skating, swings,
playground, Palace of Fun, merry-go-'round
and many other attractions.
Has your bunch held a picnic?
Park
(Admission Free)
ZOth and Paul
Omaha, Neb.
. Aug. 10
2 Shows only at 2 p. m. 8 p. m.
largest Circus in the World
Giving a Street Parade II A. M.
JOHNNY & WISE
A Melange of Singing, Dancing and
Music.
LEE BARTH
Dialect Comedian
FRAZER ft PECK
"Cymnaets De Luxe"
Photoplay Attraction, "Blackbirds"
Featuring Justine Johnscn.
ZOO -12 HEKPS F
ANX THE GREATEST"
CL9WN" RIPER 9K EARTH
WW mf PAriOUS HANKEFOPD rAJtlLY
DIVIXT rfcon THE Ntw VORK HIPPODROrtE
Seat Sale at Beaton's Drug Store
Each day brings forth new fun at
LAKEVIEW PARK
Spend one 6
Day at g
g Lakeview. tj
I Exhilarating fi
. Refreshing M
fi to both H
I nvnd and H
fcj Body. El
ASK ANYBODY
EVERYBODY GOES
DANCING
LEONARD JACOBS'
Orchestra
Every Evening at 8. Every Sunday
Matinee at 3.
And a whole train load of attractions
from the world's greatest storehouse
of fun.
August
Days Are
Vacation
Days.
Spend
One of
Them at
Lakeview.
CHAMPIONSHIP DANCING CONTESTS AGAIN THIS WEEK
Second Elimination Contest Tuesday Night Third Elimination
Thursday Night Enter Any Time. Contest Open to Everyone.
Grand Final Contest August 9.
rt f" (Tk CASH PRIZES AND jf fm f
5PECUUYENORAVED $5Q
BUEHLER BROS. PICNIC MONDAY, AUGUST 1
EATTY'S
Co-Operative
Cafeterias
We Appreciate Your
Patronage.
Base Ball Today
Doubleheader
First Game, 2:00 P. M.
OMAHA VS. TULSA
Seats on Sale at Barkalow Bros.
bAY
AltTkis
it ike ii"$i$e f Two
few
SA "ci "XJ-Z .a.
uui- or me cuii'iv "
unseen kand seizing witk.
mystic power a score of
human, lives. Hurling ihew.
into tke testing five of V
astoundiits events SxT
MOVING ALVAYS AT THE 0x
STROKE OF TWO.
$itk a pOMJul supporting cast in.
tl
A miiWH sbvy oFunforetiable
love. Set in tne twilteftt zone
of life and tke Great Unknown
Ulade from the famous drama
that plaued to countlessus--aitdsikroughout
America.
ItMSS&y IymaklLHows A
A RUNAWAY TwAlN
4
famous
MORNING TELEGRAPH (N. Y.)
Merc is a picture that makes you
erSD voTir rat and crow iliz7v. o reiT
i the sfnration of tarin along in c
train ovir n eccentric track, nhnotin
through tunnels, over tre.it !es and end- '
in? (tp in a shocking ban? that mifrh
he eternity if it wete real.
4
scream of" Ae screen itc
Ats
TJiatto umphcum "Werners A Julius tt. Johnsosx,
Viarly&rader.Dtrector. Jk Wre.mie.r- Organist
Overture OrplLUS Offenbach. Mk 12 lalto NOVS KlltDgTRms
h