Judge — April 14, 1928 — page 23: what you’re looking at

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

JUDGE (or ThE “HOW Se | BY GEORG GLORGLSEAN NATHAN Pelanger)—Dull | Garrick)—Bruno Frank's mounted. —For sebocl. (Stabert)—Zoe Akins’ tin formance. He lectures the seript instead of playing it, and, due to his direction, his supporting apany follows hiy lead. It is always Hampden figged out in a tasco)—With age. the faney costume that one feels be- fore one, never for a moment the character he is engaging to. in- | | terpret. His exhibit is thus all — | | right for schoolboys and school- girls, but hardly the thing for the ation of more adult) audi | ur two recent Shakespear- | n revivals, “King Henry V" and “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” because of inferior acting proved to be profound | bores. ‘The former was advanced peel by Walter Hampden and the extitat of the seasc latter by a road company com- posed of Otis Skinner, Mrs. Fiske ii yc and Henrietta Crosman, After | sect puin” theothy the Ge a Ae etal’ vengs. of half hours of ques some seven or eight 3 minute exclamation “The Buzzard” (Broadburst)—Tripe. The Royal Family” (Selwyn))—A Wellwnitten, weiltaged and we M. Belasco acy 0) —The st: (Masur) —To be Divorce a le Cas doubt, the local reviewers seem at lust to have come to the con- clusion that Hampden isn’t much of an actor, a conclusion duly reached long since by most every body else. Just how the idea ever came to be bruited about | that he was an actor is not en- tirely clear. A guess would be that the legend proceeded from the circumstance that he has a Betidel Gobdi’s formances disturbingly embroid- very good speaking voice and a | comical ose. Dine . ered with all those idiosyncrasies fair degree of extra-theatrical “Rain or Shine” (Coban)—An evening full of * telligence, a combination which | led the une to believe that, | since he enjoyed these two un- | usual attributes, he must ' sarily also enjoy what should go with them. Unfortunately, how- ever, Hampden does not enjoy those other qualities that go to pele Ace kaa | make a valid actor, His emo- os bis expert hand at tag tional equipment is frosted o'er with self-consciousness( his ges- vectacle of “The Merry on view at) the r, was slipshod and ank Skinner was a Prohibition Falstaff, fellow with no more of the Falstaf- | tian juices in him than Mr. gcaco)—All the mystery John S. Sumner. Mrs. Fiske — | gave another of her familiar per ‘cep Shufftin’™ (Daly's) —A lively metzotint Ina Claire brings back decidedly comedy j bassader’ To be reviewed sh that convert her successive réles } acting an into a mere series of tributes to her sniffish and pseudo-intellee tual disinclination to submerge f)—Another ereelleot | herself in them. Miss Crosman (Maybouse)—Weak- managed better and, save for a wholesale injection of dismaying | grins into her performance, did her job fairly well, The diree- tion was jerky and badly pacec the settings were seedy; and the whole enterprise bore unmistak- Flliott)—Some very @ ttle play, Hustsoo)—Grorge M. #° (Winter Ganden)— reet)—A fart and funny tures are mechanical, he reads his | ,,“Fersy Fee” (Alvia) The dascing + able marks of a Shakespearian lines rather than acts them, and “The Trial of Mary Dugan” (National) —A goca! turkey show. he misses almost entirely the gift ‘ of making what he does take on Sal Many ta ome II. (Repablie)—Paul Ay of life a Robrson and a ng the South Carolina | an air of persuasiveness and con- vietion. ne Brwavior or Mrs. weth}—Wheewm abe Crank,” by a Mr. Segall, so one has the feeling that one is in | "Ezcem Bagoaor” (Rita)—More wheeres abot | seemed cheap stuff. It is. im- a sehwolreany a peg a a Td Coenen Vanterbilt)—Lively possible that many of ihe ins theatre anc nat one had better gare tha 1e mumme swa © to avoid some spitball-blowing “The Ladder” (Belmont)—At the foot of the reached my ears, but of that I from the rear. The same old |“ can obviously venture no opinion, tutor touch is visible in his per- (Continued on page 26) comicbooks.com