| OCR Text |
Show AMUiEMENTS SATr TjAKE Otis SIclnncr In "Kismet." "Kis-met." All week. Mallnee3 Wednesday Wed-nesday and Saturday. UTAJ-I Willard Made aid Jfarjorla Itambeau In "In Mlzzoum." ' All week. Matinees Thuraday and Saturday, Sat-urday, ORPILBUM Vaudcvlllo. Performance every afternoon and evening. PANTAGBS "Vaudeville. Performance everj" afternoon and two performances perform-ances at night. EMPRESS Vaudeville. Performance ovory afternoon and two performances perform-ances at night. MOTION PICTURES. REX Continuous performance. Today's To-day's feature, "An American Citizen. Citi-zen. " ATiTETRICAN Continuous performance. perform-ance. Today's feature, "The Great L,enp." MBHESY Continuous performance. Today's feature, "Too Lvite." i6jr ISMET," that Is to say fate, waits J.Y. for no man nor for tho ladles neither. Promptly on tho stroke of eight the curtain rose for tho musical prologue to "Kismet." tho great spectacle play, at the Salt Lake theater last night. Not a third of tlie audience had arrived. For nearly twenty minutes the-late arrival moved like wraiths In tho neml-dark-ness, searching for seats. For throe houni thereafter they remained In thoir scats to watch the unfolding of the wondrous wond-rous story of IlaJJ, the beggar of Bagdad. Bag-dad. It is a sort of Thousand and Ono Nights crowded Into one. It Is divided into three acts and each act Is prefaced hv a prologue which a lady and gcntlo-niau gcntlo-niau in beautiful sliver gray costumes fHiic; to tho accompaniment of silver, gray lutes. In the first prologue there Is alPo a storv idler; In tho second u juggler who performs trlckn that arc now bc-eauso bc-eauso they wore old In thn days of Hnroun-Al-Rachld; in the third a dnncor. who evidently tries to symbollso a hieroglyphic. hiero-glyphic. And. by tho way, a hieroglyphic In notion is much more gracerul than In reposa on tho sldo of a pyramid or one of those stono billboards that may still bo found on or under the banks of tho rlle chief attraction of "Kismet" is Otis SklnnGr, who shares honors with the gorgeous scenery. Indeed, ho Is gorgeous sencrv himself, when ho rises ubovo the rank of beggar. Tlw part he pla'3 is strangely reminiscent of one that he played yearn ago with much romantic fire, Francois Villon. IlaJJ. tho beggar, Is a ?ort of Arabian Villon, "a mad. glad, bad poet," as Swinburne called tho divine di-vine vagabond of medieval Franco. TlnJJ Is a strango conception. Not nil tho lingers lin-gers on tho right hand, nor eko on th left, cari number tho characteristics of Flajj. In tho brlof period of twelve hours he is a beggar, a fakir, a charlatan, u poet, nn oriental dandy, a lover, a thief, a conspirator, a murderer, n nomeslH, a beggar again and finally a pilgrim hound for Mecca and repentance. Without With-out wishing to call Mr. Skinner innucs w desire to stale Ihnt ho fits Uic part splendidly. Idea- fi wt3 miijiiiwnt.i'ii. iwwl bo convoyed without giving It In detail. Fortunately tho programme has supplied this want In a clear and concise resume, which 13 as follows: For many years Ilnjj, the beggar, who sits before the mosque of the Carpenters, had waited to meet and wreak vengcunco upon his oiiomy. In wan, who killed HaJJ's son and stole his wife away- Jnwait, now become wealthy, comes this duv to tho lnohfiim. I lo taunts ,irll wth Ids poverty, and contniupt-uonslv contniupt-uonslv throws him a purse of gold. Hajj takes iho gold, not ar, alms, but as weapon that Allah has sent to his hnnd to bo used In his ven-gouiu'o ven-gouiu'o upon .hiwnn. In thu bazaar HnJJ choose rlrh raiment for himself and trinkets for his daughter, Marsllitih. To avoid pavmont he Incites a quarrel between tbo tailor, and lurlng the cxclle-mftnt cxclle-mftnt runs away with thp merchandise. merchan-dise. 1 1n II Is arrested nnd Is taken bo-fore bo-fore the AVnzIr Mansur, chief of po- "x'uw Mansur is n tyrant, a profligate, profli-gate, a squanderer of the public inonovs, and the now caliph has declared de-clared thnt If ho cannot render a just accounting his life shall bo tukct. n? n forfeit. Thcrcforo, Mansur plots the assassination or the cnllph. When JlaJJ is brought before him Mansur pardons hlni, but demuudo H al In return for this favor Ha j must kill the caliph. IlaJJ consents to do the. murder only upon Mansur's promise that he will wed Marsinah and protect her. Now Marsinah Is In love with the caliph sho being Ignorant of his ex-alterl ex-alterl station and thoy arc betrothed. Therefore, Marsinah refuses to wed Mansur. But sho is taken lo the harem of Mansur by force. Hajj fails In his attempt to kill the caliph, is mado prisoner, sentenced to death and cast into a dungeon. In this same dungeon. Is .Tawan. his enemy. Hail kills him. Upon the breast of tho dead. Jawnn Is an amulet, a broken hand of Fatima. 1-lajJ lakes this amulet, and robing himself In tho garments of Jawan, makes his escape es-cape Ho desires now to rescue Marsinah Mar-sinah from the hands of Mansur, who has threalened to make her his bride of a night and then put her to death. Hajj gains entrance to the harem through an Intrigue with Kut-al-Kulub, Mansur'a wife, who loves him. Yet when ICut-al-Kulub discovers dis-covers that her lover Is Hajj, the Beggar, she bursts into a great rage and summons Mansur. Mansur, Infuriated over tho eacape of Hajj, and over his presence In tho barcm. rushes upon him to kill him. But his eyes fall upon tho amulet, the broken, hand of Fatlmn. which was Jawan's. He drops his sword and reveals to Hajj the other half of tho broken hand. This was given to him by his father who In truth was Jawan when they were parted many yearn bofore. Hajj perceives that fate again has placed a weapon in his hand He oeciaros mat no Is the father of Mansur: Man-sur: and ns Mansur kneels to receive a father's blessing, Hajj stabs him and throws him into (he harem hath and drowns him there. Nov comes tho caliph seeking Marsinah, Mar-sinah, his beloved, and. finding Hajj In the harem, ho Is wroth, and orders bis men to cast Hajj again Into tho dungeon. To tho astonishment of tho caliph, I lajji proclaims that hn Is tho father of Marsinah. Thereupon lh caliph revokes tho sentonco of death and banishes Hajj from Bagdad for nil time. Tho beautiful Mni-slnah becomes the bride of tho caliph, and Hajj the Beggar is to set out upon a pllgrlm-nge pllgrlm-nge to Mecca, there to wash away his sins in tho well of Zomzcni. Thus la Hajj a plaything, as aro all men, In tbo hands of Fate and Fate. in tho Arabic, Is called Kismet. While the play has much that Is poetic, po-etic, fascinating and picturesque. It also has sonio repellent qualities. Wo do not i rnmomber to 'nave seen anything quite so abhorrently grotesque as tho sceno In which Hajj hurls tho wounded Mansur Into tho pool and sputters wicked jests while holding his victim's head under water till death comos. Perhaps tho scene Is conceived In the true spirit of Oriontal cruelty and pltllcssnoss. but It has little, music for western cars. Tho scenes are many and bewildering. Perhaps thn most striking aro tho bazaa'r ueono where tho tradesmen chaffer their wares while slaves and potentates from Egypt, from tho vnrlous countries of Asia Minor, from farthest India nnd even from Tartary and Mongolia, pass by, and thq sceno or the llamman baths In Mausur's ' mansion, Among the associates of Mr. &klnner those deserving epcrlnl mention aro George Gaul as Mansur; Richard Scott, as the Ethiopian sword-bcnror of Mansur: Man-sur: Owen Mccch as the Sheik of Jawan; Ja-wan; Julian Myers ns thn caliph; Merlo Maddern as Marsinah, Hajj's daughter: Genevieve Dolaro as Narjle, the nurse; Grace Hampton an the wlfo of Mansur; P.osa Contcs as the dancing girl and Nannie Palmer a? Miskah, a slave. Additional Ad-ditional luterob'l was lent lo the rol of Ml.skah by the fact that Miss Palmer Is a Salt Lake girl wlto has won distinction In her stngo career. Sho possessci an admirable voice and reads her lines with excellent effect. "Kismet" will be hero all week with matinees on Wednesday and Saturdav. the bloody battles, Iho thrilling eacapos and the inhumanities of Iho feudal dayn In I hi wild and plcturesquo mountains . K;xliil'Uy . recalling the. days of Woody Brest thill." aro portrayed In the four-reel feature lllni, "The Great Leap " which had Its llrst run In this cllv at the American last, night. The story opens with the love-making of the youngest children of the Glbbs and Pnwson families, two feudal clans simultaneously simul-taneously with tho reopening of Dip fond. In thn battles that follow the nlIro Daw. son clan, with the exception of tho voting lover, Is wiped out. He nnd his s'v.-oct-I heart escape after a desperate chase bv ! riding over a llfty-foot cliff. The onlv sign of humanity shown by tho elder Glbbs s tho forgiveness of the young lovers when they. arc captured the following fol-lowing day. The cast Is wt-ll chosen, the nconerv beautiful nnd tho pictures aro romarkably clear and lifelike. Tho excellent nniHltvd ( programme arranged by Professor Mo- Clcllan to strengthen the climaxes Is one I of tho main attractions of the show. In addition lo tho featuro illm, "Sonny "Son-ny JIm'a Search for a Mother" Is on tho bill. Ills search Is humormiH as well as pathetic, and whllo it lacks tho thrills of "The Great Leap," It probably appeals lo those with llttlo ones In the household house-hold morn than tho headline)'. A Vbiindiutc of line comedy, with munv strong dramatic situations, is to be folintl in the Frohman production of "An American Citizen," with John Barrymore and the Famous players, which opened at the Rex thuater yesterday. Tho picture pic-ture Is in four reels, with elaborate settings, set-tings, notably the presentation of the house of lords In London, the hotel front In Nice, and tho scones about the office building elevator. Mr. Barrymore more than makes good on tho screen. His performance In the role of "Bercsford Crugcr,"' the patriotic, chivalrous young American, has rare ruiuHtv Tin llm i it.i.ii li'mrtco r youth, the skill that comes through training, and the talent that he inherits. Evelyn Moore, who plays "Beatrice Ca-rew," Ca-rew," ban a charming personality and stage Intelligence that enable her to inako a most effective presentation of the woman who is wife in name only. The rest of the cast Is uniformly good. The story holds throughout in the screen production. It Is straight comedy In the beginning, with dozens of scenes full of rollicking fun, leading up to strong dramatic situations which moke a definite appeal to the omolious and to the patriotic sentiments of good Americans. Ameri-cans. 1 Olio King, 'cellist of the Rex theater nll-sololst orchestra, gave "Berceuse" fGodard). accompanied by Miss Estollc Jenecn,. during the performance. "An American Citizen ' will continue today and tomorrow at the Rex. Th following Uieater notlcis ar marlcod "adTertliemeat" In ordir to comply rrlth a ilrlct Intcrpretatloa of the neir federal nans-paper nans-paper larr. In no reus ar? they paid advar- I tljmonU. Thj aro ltome furnished by th preas agaata of th Ttrloui the iters. Maeterlinck's "The Blue Bird," coming to the Salt .Lake theater soon, lolls of two small children named Tyltyl and Mytyl. who went In quest of tho Blue Bird, which. In tho folk-lore of northern Franco and Normandy, sign! lies happiness. happi-ness. The poet carries them through many weird or splendid scenes, in which their companions are Light, tho Dog, tho Cat, Bread, Fire. Water, and other everyday every-day objects miraculously endowed with human shapes and speech. At tho end tho Bluo Bird is found within their own cottngo door. Lilian Tfcrloln. one of the headliners at tho Orphcuni this week, is an exceptionally exception-ally charming actress who appears to good advantage in tho most sophisticated gowns, and brings a refreshing draught of life amid the white lights. Her rendition rendi-tion of selections from light opera of t'ie typical Low Fields variety Is mooting with unstinted applause twice dally. Her songs arc rendered to perfection. In addition addi-tion to being somewhat out of tho stereotyped stereo-typed lino of popular or classical offer- I lnss. The best rural play over presumed at the Utah thealer holds tho hoards this week, arid big business is resulting.. "In Mlzzourn," a story of Missouri by the noted playwright. Augustus Thomas'. In a delight lo all who seo It. The drama Is ono of character and the many types are cleverly portrayed. Wlllnrd Mack and Marjorle Ramboau are seen at thulr host and are supported by a comiwtny of players play-ers that few stock stars have tho advantage ad-vantage of. Today's three performances at Iho Empress Em-press mark the closo of one of the most popular blll3 that, has played that house In weeks. The new programme opens Wednesday afternoon, nnd this will be the bill, headed by Iho Six Diving Nymphs, that will be given for four days j only this week, Wednesday. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The show closer, Saturday night, and, beginning next Sunday Sun-day afternoon, all new Empress bills will open with the. Sunday matinee and close Saturduy nights. The Canoo Girls head the bill closing tonight. After Lhrco performances today, the Pantages closes Us engagement with Peter Taylor's eight African Hons. The ' act ha3 been scoring a big hit. Arneseu provides thrills noor boforo seen In this country when ho slides down a wiro from the balcony lo tho stago whllo tho aerinl-Ist aerinl-Ist balances on his head. WHJard Mack's t "Whon I Was With Otis Skinner," tho ' Tony Corncttn trio of comedy singers ( and dancers. Porslmy brothers, whistling ' Imitators; Beldlng and Sounders. In i "Cabaret Capers." complete the bill j Harry Lauder will mnko lib appear-; ancc at the Colonlnl-Puntages on Satur- i day. February -'l, matinee and night onlv. ,i while on his trip around the world. Lau- . dor's prp.:ent visit to this country marks i his sixth annual tour in America under ' i no direction oi uiinin Mortis. UiikIt has a number of new songs In his reper- 1 toirc, such ns "It's Nlco to Got Up In tho i Mornln'. but Nicer to Lie In Hed, Pa I !r.l , Bol,Illfi MngPlo Darlln' " and "TI19 Lodger." j "Too Late" Is a two-reel mythical dra- ', ma by the Sollg company, tolling tbo I story of a famous composer who marries a butterfly of fashion, only to find that she usks him to give up hU musical ca- ' reer and devote his time to social affairs. 1 Thn plcturt! Includes character portrayals of Mendelssohn. Schumann. Chopin and I others. This dramatic masterpiece will bo shown at tho Mehesy today and tomorrow. to-morrow. A Lubln drama and two Blo-grnph Blo-grnph comedies ate nlso on tho bill, j |