Judge, 1923-01-20 · page 14 of 36
Judge — January 20, 1923 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page reviews David Belasco's theatrical production of Shakespeare's *The Merchant of Venice*. Ralph Barton's caricatures satirize how the production has reframed the play's moral landscape. The critic argues that David Warfield's portrayal of Shylock has become so sympathetic—playing him as a humble, innocent "Uncle Shylock"—that the Christian characters (Antonio, Portia, Gratiano, Lorenzo) now appear as villains. Antonio refuses to repay a debt; Portia uses legal trickery; Lorenzo steals Shylock's jewels and converts his daughter Jessica to Christianity. The satire's point: by making Shylock pathetic rather than villainous, Belasco's production accidentally reveals the Christian characters as genuinely dishonorable. The final crack—calling it "a Moslem version of the Crusades"—suggests the production inadvertently exposes Christian characters as religiously motivated cheaters and thieves.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Ralph Barton’s Caricatures and Comments on Mr. Belasco’s Production the old fellow. Bassanio (Mr. Philip Merivale) is a party to the scheme to VER SINCE THE DAYS when Shylock was played by the Ben Welshes of their time, the old usurer has become more and more a sympathetic character. Mr. David Warfield’s sweet, humble, amazingly lifelike and not too incredibly thrifty Uncle Shylock is easily the hero of the comedy, while all the Christian chara villains. He presents a sort of Jewish Uncle Tom and one leaves the theater choked by sobs of indignation at the failure of his sound business project to cut the heart out of a competitor. Antonio (Mr. Ian MacLaren) seems a slippery rascal who coolly refuses to meet a ninety-day note with a rib roast from his ters seem to be the 12 bosom for no better reason than to cheat defraud and only incidentally Portia’s young man. Portia (Miss Mary Servoss) is an unscrupulous hussy who does not hesitate to stoop to the meanest sort of cl nery to thwart him. Gratiano (Mr. W. I. Percival) and Lorenzo (Mr. Hoi Braham) are as insolent and despic pair of rogues as ev paddled the streets of Venice—the latter of whom makes « with the old man’s jewels and ducats and leads his daughter Jessica (Miss Julia Adler) to the baptismal font. The whole business sounds like a Moslem version of the Crusades. comichooks.qom