Judge — November 20, 1920 — page 20: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

IOGENES with his lantern looking for an honest man might have a long quest New York today, If, on the other hand, he should chance to be look- ing only for frivolous entertainment, he could put out his light at the door of almost any New York Theatre and find himself at his journey’s end. And he would be entirely in fashion because in New York there are a great many more persons looking for frivolous entertainment than are engaged in the vain search for honest men—or for serious plays TERY far indeed from serious is “Hitchy-Koo 1920,” which rather silly title is suppose1 to be a lure for the conglomerate of various kinds of nonsense to which are prominently attached the names of Messrs. Raymond Hitch cock, G. P. Huntley and Julia Sanderson. Those artists cannot supply an entire evening's frivolity so they are spelled by features lifted bodily from vaudeville, catchy musical numbers and the inevitable background of chorus girls. No one has taken the trouble to supply even the semblance of a plot and, if those engaged could stand the strain, it might very well be played as a continuous perform ance from noon to midnight, allowing the public to drift in and out regardless of any continuity.of interest. Mr. Hitchcock's personality and methods are so familiar and fixed that it is needed to say no more than that he inspires quite as much laughter as ever. It seens a sort of come-down for Mr. Huntley to be assigned to just the kind of material allotted to him here, but his pronounced Britishness is at least a good foil for the equally pronounced Americanness of Mr. Hitchcock. It is a tribute to the fun-making abilities of. both of them that they could take the old episode of the customer buying @ postage stamp, looking over the sheet of stamps critically and then selecting one in particular, and turn it into a laughable scene of considerable length. They are equally successful in turing to mirthful account the wonderful horse, Ethel, who makes up for THIS 18 NOT “MAN-O'-WAR,” lack of pedigree in almost hu- STRED NAMED ETHEL. ETHEL NIC of RECORD FOR LAUGHS IN man intelligence and a sens JUDGE at the Play BUT AN EQUALLY CELEBRATED not found in even the most valuable of thorough- hum breds. For intellectual improvement a four years’ course at any of our leading universities is to be chosen in preference to" Hitehy Koo” but for an evening’s fun the latter has the call. MARY" is another revelation of the almost genius pos tNE cessed by Mr. George M. Cohan in the ighter sort. production of musical pieces of the There is not much about the picce itself to distinguish it from the countless others of the same kind that come and go on the New York stage in unending profusion. It is to be said for it that it has a story of more consistency and originality than usual and that two or three of its songs are of the sort that make a quick appeal to popular liking. But there is in the performante off Mary.” and in the way its points are put over, a quality of dash and vigor, best described perhaps by the com paratively new word “pep,” notable before in her productions with which the name of Mr. Cohan has been associated With the exception of the always at- tractive Georgia Caine and of Mr. Charles Judels, the members of the company are not widely known, so the agreeable impression th create in their joint effort may safely be attributed to unusval inspiration. Doubtless Messrs. Har. bach, Mandel, Hirsch , Mitchell and Forrest, whose names are on the program as responsible for “ Mary” in various capaci ties, have done the bulk of the work but judg. ing by analogy yanjonty the distinctive — Gatrsox 1 influence is that “LITTLE st of Mr. Cohan. CHARITY THE subway circuit is the ap- propriate title given to the neighberhood and outlying theatres which by the payment of a five cent fare may be reached from New York's theatrical Tenderloin. They furnish a complete new set of audiences who rarely visit. the higher priced Broadway houses. s which have had the TLY BREAKS THE “ wreny-Koo.” Attract! 20