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Show I ""With The First Nighters ' I "ON TRIAL" B The worth of a new Idea successfully exploited H through the medium of an analytical mind, a rare H knowledge of the technic of the stage and dra- H matia instinct such as conies to few, Is exempli- m iied in "On Trial" tho play iby young Elmer L. H Rizenstein being seen at tho Salt Lake theatre H this week. It is founded on a simple murder B trial and in written backwards, so to speak, be- M ginning with the actual murder and going back M in alternate scenes to a time in the youth of the H wife of the accused man, leading inversely up to H the motive of the crime, involving another in the IB startling denouement, and from beginning to end IH holding the audience breathless with interest and H suppressed excitement. M Just as with other simple inventions which M elicit the mental question. "Why did no one think H of that before," the method of unfolding the story M causes one to wonder why In all these years in M wliich stagecraft has come to perfection, no one H ever thought of doing what Mr. Rizenstein has H done. It takes a certain ability to carry out an H idea in any phase of life, but the idea is the thing H as effectively demonstrated by what has been M accomplished with "On Trial." M iSoon after Uie raising of the curtain, the wife H of the murdered man is called to the stand, and 1 as she begins her testimony, the stage is dark- H ened and then by a sudden and remarkable Ht change of scene, her story is acted in the flesh, fl and after the murder is committed, the scene is H changed as quickly again. As the curtain de- Mt cends, the court is shown just as it was when flj the testimony began. In like manner in the next V act, when the little daughter of the defendant be- M gins her story, the scene in his home is shown 1 wherein he draiws part of the story of the rela- ' tions of his unfortunate wife with the murdered M man from her; and still further along when his M wife testifies, the scene is laid thirteen years M previously, showing where she has been tricked M by the murdered man when a mere slip of a girl. H The novelty of the man being murdered in the M beginning and then ibeing shown successively M upon previous occasions in his career, Is a new M order of things in stageland to say the least. It H is all very gripping and all very real. H True to their tenets, Cohan and Harris are presenting the play with a company which in H every detail closely approaches perfection. With H all of the opportunities presented for the mum- B imers to overdraw the characters they represent H or to cant in the old fashioned way in places call- M dng for deep emotional work, not one oversteps M the bounds and the result Is a performance artis- M tic to the last degree. H iThe care with which these people have 'been 1 chosen is Immediately apparent when the court W room is shown at the beginning of the play. The W 'jury Is typical of any jury made up of citizens in M every day life, for instead of depending upon m twelve men whom they might pick up in any town, these have been chosen with a descrlmlnat- M Jng eye for contrast and the result but adds to M the realism of the situation. M Perhaps the most striking personality among the strong men in the cast, is Lee Baker as the M defendant who now and then makes a powerful M appeal to the court to protect his wife and little H one and at other times must remain silent, sup- H pressing his emotions while the state's attorney H pillories him when addressing the jury. Douglas K Wood (the murdered man) fulfills all of the re- H qulrements exacted of him as the contemptible H pad portrayed and Charles Jliegel a M district H attorney and Hal Mordaunt as the Pendant's M counsel are strikingly effective. Of the ladies In the company, Pauline Lord aB the wife of the defendant, readily proves that she possesses exceptional ability, the role requiring a display and a suppression of the emotions so quick In their rapid transitions that few could do It justice. Maxlne Hodges as the defendant's child gave a remarkable exhibition showing complete com-plete understanding of the part and an ability to play it convincingly. It is scarcely necessary to mention everyone In the cast, suffice to say that it is a pleasure to find a company so evenly balanced. "On Trial" grows on one, at least that is the expressed opinion of so many that we believe It is general, and if you saw it early In the week, isn't it true that it appeals to you now more than it did immediately after the performance? But there is this about it: once is enough to see it, though it shouldn't be missed. PANTAGES "How old did you say you were little girl?" "I'm just eighteen." "Ah dearie, that lingerie couldn't get that dirty in eighteen years." Reminiscent of that little yarn of a lovely lady is "The Haberdashery" heading the bill at Pantages this week, a sketch which serves to show the cleverness of Harrington Reynolds and a lot of other things displayed by a cluster or gals apparently careless and indifferent to the powers of observation of the Johnnies in front. There is plenty of fun in the act, but it is sandwiched sand-wiched with coarseness and vulgarity and the display of bum underwear is enough to scare a fellow to death. Preceding the procession of knickers and combinations, Princess "Nana" ty pulls the first real hoochie koochie made in America Am-erica since the Seeley dinner, and it is some hooch. Evidently the royal household from which Nana halls, does not neglect to see that its children chil-dren are highly accomplished, and Nana is wig- im gllng her way to glory along lines that put other dancers in the shade and make a monkey of a j snake. Nana is dressed in clinging black and lj spangles and all that stuff, but in spite of the covering, cov-ering, Nana herself is very; much In evidence. The Rondas trio open the bill with the usual bicycle act and are followed by Dow and Dow who pull a burlesque on the sailor (boys. It is . apparent that their country is not at war, but one wishes that they were at the front. Harry Van Fossen Is responsible for some fun in black face, the hit of which is his impromptu speech making and the Rev. Frank W. Gorham, billed as "The Singing Parson" has a fairly good voice but would be better if he ducked the cloth providing pro-viding he is entitled to wear it. But then he is handicapped a little. A singing parson on a hill with the Princess "Nana" and Pantages pantie parade hasn't much of a chance. ORPHEUM Charlie Howard and his inimitable jag accom- panted by Kornan Cripps and Margaret Taylor has returned to our Bhores and a royal and up roarlouB -welcome has been his at overy performance. perform-ance. There Is no one In the world who can come so near falling and stay on his feet as Charlie Howard and his Is one of those acts that can be repeated year after year without tiring his audiences. audi-ences. Things start off with some remarkable pictures pic-tures In the Travel Weekly and the orchestra puts over a little treat with numerous selections from "Watch Your Step." Vaudeville audiences require sprightly music more than they do the classics and the orchestra this week is exactly lining the bill. Queenle Dunedln dances ibetter on the stage and a tight wire than she sings and Vlollnsuy, billed as an eccentric genius of the violin and piano, is just that. His performance Is all the more pleasing ibecause he doesn't intersperse it with a lot of Inane chatter. Besides his perfectly good playing he has a pleasing novelty or two. Jed and Ethel Dooley are responsible for some fair stuff on the bicycle and with the lariat, but do nothing extra. ex-tra. Charles and Fanny Van In "A Case of Emergency" Emer-gency" are positively awful and the real emergency emer-gency was the one the audience found it was In while they were on the stage. Toots Paka with her time honored hula hula dance, native singers and instrumentalists of Hawaii has an act principally attractive because of the playing of one of the number. Ralph Lohse and Nana Sterling in their athletic feats, have incorporated a number of thrillers In their fast work. The four Marx Brothers will appear as the "Big Act" at the Orpheum, the week starting tomorrow to-morrow afternoon. Theh work is said to be the acme of versatility. They will ibe supported iby a company of fifteen, and their offering will be known as "At Home." Frank Milton and the DeLong sisters will be seen in one of their famous comedy offerings this time a new one never before presented here. Other acts will be Miss Una Fairweather In songs and the popular and grand opera; Nina Payne and Joe Niemeyer in dances and songs; musical Johnsons; Plplfax and Panlo, otherwise known as "Humpstl-Bumpstl"; Brown and Mc-Cormack Mc-Cormack with their novelty offering, and the Travel Weekly. "THE CHORUS LADY" Marjorle Daw, who is so rapidly gaining favor as a moving picture star, is seen at her best in the production of "The Chorus Lady," now at the American. The star part of the play Is in the hands of Cleo Ridgeley and the two with an excellent ex-cellent company are attracting great crowds. The possibilities to stage a hundred details of a drama which are too numerous to be seen in the actual play through the medium of a film production, make It doubly interesting and Rose Stahl's famous 'The Chorus Lady" is no exception. excep-tion. Another J. Rufus Wallingford film, the Pathe Weekly and the American concert orchestra rendering ren-dering an exceptional program, complete a great entertainment. THE ARGYLE CASE Anthony J. Smythe is mainly responsible for the disappointment patrons of the Ernest Wilkes stock company experienced in seeing "The Argyle Case," but there were others in the cast who did not have a much better conception of their roles than did the leading man, particularly Guy Hlt-ner Hlt-ner as the lawyer. Of all the crook plays that experienced ex-perienced such a run two or three seasons back, "The Argyle Case" was one of the big thrillers, and while it was not expected that Mr. Smythe H, would play it with tho force, understanding and H gripping interest that Robert Milliard put into H it, he could at least .have come to life when H the occasion required and helped the others who H ', were endeavoring to make the production a fine H The great part of James T. Hurley was slight- H ed by Mr. Hitner and the unseqmly levity in- H dulged in by Clifford Thompson throughout the H play ruined even the comedy of his part. Huron H L. Blyden as Daniel Colt, a government expert in H ' the secret service, is the real star of the produc- H tion and created the most favorable impression H he has made since his arrival here. The role in Hj his hands is absolutely perfect. The ladies of H the company were uniformly better than the men H and acquitted themselves with great credit, par- H ticularly Miss Bryant and Miss Sinclair. But H there was no pep in the performance, it was placid H as a summer sea and those who saw the play for the first time with Mr. Smytho as Asche Kayton, I" haven't seen it yet. REX There is a fashion show scheduled for tlio first three days of this week at the Rex theatre. Valeska Suratt, is the bright particular star of the monster Fox production "The Soul of Broadway" Broad-way" which is to play that theatre Sunday, Monday Mon-day and Tuesday. Said the producer when he prepared for tho production to Miss Suratt, "We want a complete exposition of the latest fashions in all manner of gowns for women." Said Miss Suratt: "You shall have everything that the market affords." Says the press agent for the production: "Miss Suratt wears one hundred and forty different costumes cos-tumes during the progress of the story." All of which ought, to make some picture. "The Soul of Broadway" is -built on life on New York's famed "Great White Way," a thoroughfare thor-oughfare that has had more advertising than any other section of the globe. It is the wonder of the stranger in the metropolis and the pride of the native. Plays of life on Broadway, for some 'u, reason that no person has ever ibeen able to ac-C ac-C urately ascribe, are supposed to ibe naughty, or at least to have a; hazy background of wickedness. And so with this film story. Salt Lakers "will have a chance to form their own judgment on it Sunday, Monday and Teusday at the Rex. The last half of the week the Rex is to have another star who is known locally in Arnold Daly who produced und enacted the leading role in "An Affair of Three Nations," a story of international inter-national politics. "A PAIR OF SIXES" j ' "A Pair of Sixes," Edward Peple's laughing festival, -under the direction of H. H. Frazee, is announced as the offering at the iSalt Lake theatre the-atre for three nights and Wednesday matinee, beginning be-ginning Monday, November 1st, witih Oscar Fig-onan Fig-onan and the company that made such a pronounced pro-nounced success during the last visit to this city. In the local presentation will appear besides Oscar Figman Kate Guyon, Jack Raffael, Rita Oarlyle, 'George Lefflingwell, Ethel Wilson, Richard Rich-ard Earle, Hilda Graham and others. CHANGE AT THE ORPHEUM Jack Stratton, whose pen pictures of the people peo-ple and things scheduled for the local house on the Orpheum circuit have given added zest to the theatrical columns of the papers during his residence in the city the past year, has resigned to take a position 1n Los Angeles. Ho will be succeeded by Lee Haney, one of the best known writers In the local newspaper field. It is a matter mat-ter of regret among the many friends Mr. Stratton Strat-ton has made here that he is departing, but as his new iplace is one of advancement, the regrets i are mingled with congratulations and best wishes for him in his new field. He is one of the most popular .press agents who has ever been connected con-nected with the local houses and the best testimonial testi-monial for his work is the fact that the men in the game who have handled his copy are all sorry that he is leaving. In Mr. Haney the Orpheum has secured an excellent ex-cellent representative who will fill the bill In every particular. He will assume his new duties a week from today. AMERICAN Two film stars of the first magnitude are an-)p an-)p nounced for the American theatre program for I next week, both being featured in productions of the Paramount company. For the first four days of the' week Blanche Sweet, who has a score of successes to her credit, will be seen in "The Secret Sec-ret Sin." The last part of the week will feature ' Blanche Ring in "The Yankee Girl." i "The Secret Sin" tells the story of Edith and Grace Martin, twin sisters, and the daughters of a poor man. One of the girls who is of a sickly nature, listens to 'the story of a drug fiend and becomes a user of opium. The fortune of the father changes and he grows wealthy through the discovery of oil. His partner falls In love with one of the twins which arouses the jealousy of the other the drug user. The plot Is claimed to i include a correct portrayal of the custom of ped dling drugs ibefore the late federal statute, known as the Harrison law, went into effect. Miss Sweet plays a dual role that of both sister a partic- ularly difficult piece of business because of the exegencles of the story. "The Yankee Girl" is said to toe especially adapted to the character of work in which Miss Ring is supremo. There is a happy voin of comedy com-edy running through the story which has to do with the settlement of a copper fued In the tropics. Beautiful marine scenes and those taken at the Fernandez Sanchez ranch house, a California Cali-fornia landmark, one hundred and fifty years old, situated between Los Angeles and San Gabriel, are particular features of the production. LIBERTY Arizona and the Apache country are locations for many of the stirring scenes which feature "Fatherhood" in which the eminent actor Hobart Bosworth is the star. The photodrama will be seen at the Liberty theatre for the first three days of next week. Mr. Hobart is the author or the scenario and the producer of the story. Sentiment Sen-timent is the predominating feature of the play, which has for its moral the necessity for a man to give his wife the care and attention which she deserves, rather than to ome engrossed In business busi-ness and leave her to for herself. The latter part of iu ek, beginning Wednesday Wednes-day "Fatherhood" will be succeeded by "The Brink," a Mutual masterpiece which introduces the celebrated star ForreBt Winant supported by Rhea Mitchell and a brilliant company of players. "The Brink" is a vivid story of social life and organized or-ganized crime. |
