Life — December 15, 1904 — page 34: what you’re looking at

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

eLIFE= An American Girl. F all the charming things there are O To make this world a bright one, I choose—and know Iam not far From picking out the right one— A girl of seventeen or so, American completely, A figure trim from head to toe, Gowned tastefully and neatly. Look in her eyes— what wells of truth, Of sympathy and kindness ! But not too long, enraptured youth, Lest looking bring love's blindness. An angel? Yes; but any one Who knows gold is not copper, Can see that she is full of fun, Provided it is proper I must confess, if Father Time Would only let me stay so, I'd stop at XX1., and I'm Not half ashamed to say so: lenvy much the lucky man The joy of his beginning To love this fair American— His wooing and his winning. O who can lose his faith in this Our best beloved nation! Here is our hope: she cannot miss Applause and approbation. One dare not quite disparage one's Own country until others Can show such prizes for their sons, And such prospective mothers ! Felix Carmen, A Widely Varied Assortment of Attractions. HERE is mighty little backbone of any kind in “ Brother Jacques,” the play from the French in which Annie Rus- sell appears this season. It has one or two tolerably amus- ing comedy scenes, but the basis of the whole fabric is so flimsy that these too lose effectiveness through their tone of impossibility. Annie Russell is the Annie Russell of yore, sweet, plaintive, girlish and naive in her appreciation of the humorous. The author shows her to us through the earlier part of the play a most ingenuous and inpocent maiden ; then suddenly, through the mere performance of the marriage ceremony, she be- comes a very knowing, worldly-wise woman, quite conversant with the sub-liminal life which all French husbands are commonly supposed to live outside of their own households. Her absolute conversance and familiarity with that sort of thing comes upon the audience very ab- ruptly and strains the imagination, It ‘Strikes the spectator that the actress makes the heroine either too innocent just before marriage, or too knowing an hour or two after, These sudden transitions may occur in France, but this one challenges our credulity, Mr. Joseph Wheel- ock, Jr., is the young husband, and aids materially in the comedg scenes, but he, too, is incredible as a living possibility. His father, the dissolute Marguis, scheming for the heitess’s millions through the marriage, is a more conventional character, for the portrayal of which Mr. Grant Stewart is badly miscast. “Brother Jacques” is a crude contraption dramatically, and its cast deserves better material, S we write, it has not yet been determined whether the Theat- A tical Trust owns the United States Government or not, By all the underground means at its command the Trust has tried to keep Mr. David Belasco from presenting Mrs. Carter in his new play, ‘+ Adrea,” at the national capital, Mr, Belasco secured a convention hall in Washington at large expense, turned it into a theatre, and it seemed likely that he might be permitted to carry on his legiti- mate enterprise without further interference, But now it appears that the Trust is attempting to use a pull with the Government officials in the District of Columbia and get them to prevent the per- formance on technical and trivial legal grounds, It will be interest ing to see whether the Trust can work its schemes practically under the nose of the Chief Executive and in the very shadow of the Capitol. * * * OME years ago Mr. Richard Mansfield gave us a very elaborate and impressive production of “Richard IIL,” with the title part very badly acted, Mr. Robert Mantell’s production of the same play was about as unimpressive as inade- quacy of setting and support could make it, In face : of this, his individual impersonation of the crafty Rickard brought the entire performance up to an interesting level. Mr, Mantell finds it difficult to distort his manly build into the de- formity of the part, and in the more subtle and serpentine passages he lacks the insinuating qualities which mark the contrasts in this wonderful piece of character drawing, His readings, though, are ex- cellent throughout, and to them he brings the advantage of a resonant and musical voice. It is a misfortune that so well-equipped an actor as Mr, Mantell is not oftener seen in New York and amid surround- ings better fitted to his abilities Mr, Mantell’s acting In Mr. Mansfield’s setting would have given us almost an ideal performance of the great tragedy. as HE FORTUNES OF THE KING "is a melodrama with a large part of the melodrama left out. For these omissions of vigor- ous action we have substituted generous portions of stilted language, comicbooks.com