Judge — October 8, 1927 — page 18: what you’re looking at

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

JUDGE IM Ts dramatization by Maurine Watkins of Samuel Hopkins Adams’ novel, “Revelry,” is good theater, al- though it is anything but a good play. It is good theater because it s the characters of old- time pistol and cuss melodrama and, keeping them largely intact, rechristens them in a way to pop the audience. Thus, Jack Dalton becomes President of the United States, Sing Hi, his Chinese side- kick, becomes Secretary of the Interior, and Fedora Vladovna, the Russian adventuress, becomes —but let us remember that we are gentlemen and not betray the identity of the President’s private cutie. This device, of course, is enormously successful in making the audience believe that it is being let in on some- thing hot and racy, instead of just a plain bad-man melodrama minus only a treadmill race. I confess freely that, in this regard, I am pretty much like the rest of the customers. And so, “Revelry” entertained me almost as much as it did them, including my colleagues who the next morning dutifully denied that they had had a good time. The spectacle of an actor made up to look like the late lamented Warren Gamaliel and assisting in low swindles, to say nothing of entering into anatomical excur- sions with a sweet one, is much more amusing to me than the spectacle of an actor made up to resemble merely an actor and doing the same thing. It gives my 100 per cent patriotism a salutary cathartic, and so im- my cosmopolitanism and in the spread of inter- n That it all may be true or not true does not con- cern me greatly; for several hours simple BY GLORELATAN NATHAN | ing M. Revelry’” (Masque)—See this issue. “The Wild Man of Borneo” (Bijou)—Ditt (Miller)—A mild bi han farce. “The Baby Cyclone verting George M. “My Maryl produce a big melodies. 2" (Jolson)—The Shuberts ag: jeal exbibit with some stirring )—Tiresome Dic “ Yellow Sands” (Fulton)—A very dull E1 importation. “Good News" (Chanin)—The liveliest musical ebow that bas hit the town in along time. ‘omen Go On Forever" ten play with two goo to gr alist a jolly evening. “Blood Money" (Hudson) Orthodox melo- ar Burlesque” (Plyn authentic. “Tenth Avenue” “The Letter" beautifi “The * Broad Still the melodra- matic ace. “The La (Cort)—Still the booby prize winner. low “The Road to Rom paraphrase of b “Her Firt A Bayes)—Nothing in this one. “Half a c" —Or in thie, Or in this. And less in this. For future re " (National)—See next wee “The Command to “Four Walls” (Golde “Grand Stre ity in this o cal show. Hit the Deck’ (Belasco)—S “Rio Rita” (Ziegfeld)—Lovely to look“at, but not much to listen to. “Padlocks of 1927" (Shubert)—Neither to look at nor to listen to. “The Triumphant Bachelor” (Biltmore)—By Owen Davis. “The Mika (Royale)—Another of Wi Ames’ agreeable Gilbert and Sullivan reviva “The Spider” (Musie Box)- amu: ent qualities. “Saturday's Children” (Booth)—A charming American comedy. re" (Longacre)—Same bere. —And here. lies" (Little) —There's ori Ann” (Vanderbilt)—Amateurish_musi- ped ditto throp “Rang Tang” i stestie) Coven: show. Some divert ystery show with VN Ge “Re GION Se it seems to be true, I hope that it is true, and the gaiety of na- tions is thus furthered. There are no less than three effective situations in the pls some of the lines hav kick; the acting above the and Robert Milton’s direction is excellent. So if you want a good, low show and are not too particular about the critical merits of it, go around to the Masque Theater. Among other things, you will hear the loudest lot of profanity that has been heard hereabouts since I last informed the editor of this periodical that I wanted more money. a sprightly in general is average; II HE Witp Man or Borneo,” by the MM. Connelly and Mankiewicz, has a first act so long and so excessively dull that I didn’t hang around to learn what genius the authors were holding up their sleeves for use later in the evening. That first act, given over chiefly to a mono- logue by George Hassell in the role of a carnival faker of other lays posing as a crony of Richard Mansfield, as bad enough to have killed “Hamlet.” My watch showed that it ran only an hour, so I conclude from my personal sense of time that these dollar watches aren’t as reliable as the ements say. > of the exhibit that I listened to seemed to indicate that the authors had thought up a character without thinking up a play into which to fit it. And as the character was acted by Has- sell, one had the feeling that un- less Poodles Hanneford, George Bickel and the Foster dancing girls were added to the show the following night, the box-office (Continued on page 28) 16 actin comicbooks.com