funny and bear down upon or isolate what is not.
I suspect that in any playing of "Anatol" it is the
more elusive and more serious side of it that will
suffer. Anything so sharply witty, so full of comi¬
surprises, will tempt the actors to play it for the
laugh. There is a tendency toward this in the
present production. Sometimes it goes even further
than a pardonable exaggeration.
In the character of Anatol there is now and then
a touch of the ridiculous which he himself acknow¬
edges. This "toy philosophen" looks in the mirror
off and on and is amused, though what he sees there
is too personal for his amusement to be unalloyed.
Sometimes Mr. Bildkraut gets this admirably, as in
the scene called "Episode," where Anatol puts be¬
fore Max the collection of tiny parcels that are his
past. At other times, as in "Keepsakes," he seems
too much to be Mr. Schildkraut, the actor, making
fun, very obvious fun, of Anatol, the character
which, together with the way Miss Forrest insists on
crying, carries the scene away from Schnitzler to¬
ward the Hoboken manner of kidding revivals.
The scene in which the mixture of dark and light,
of the gay and brooding, is perfectly balanced, is
Christmas Present to my mind the best of them
all, and as beautiful a piece of acting as one could
wish for. A chance meeting of the toy philosopher
(on his way to buy a present for the nice little girl
who always says the right thing) and the lady of
fashion, so quick to take mock offense at words she
half wishes she had the courage to lead into some¬
thing more than words. The way Miss Collinge be¬
trayed this ladys uncertain heart, the accurate,
shaded beauty of her speech, the excitement behind
the neat verbal fencing, the throb of controlled fee¬
ing underneath the banter, and Mr. Schildkraut
quiet warmth and esse, made it one of the few
memorable moments of the season.
In this scene M. Schildkraut was at his very best.
In the earlier scenes especially in the first two-
played in larger type than was necessary, and dis¬
turbed one by a stiffness of gesture, a periodic lock¬
ing out over te audience, and other mannerisme.
But as a whole it is a rich, varied Anatol, and in
at least two scenes easily the most impressive per¬
formance that I have seen Mr. Schildkraut give.
A complete contrast to les Colinge, perform
ance, and in its own way quite a remarkable, is the
Mimi of Miriam Hopins. An uproariously funny
splash of animal life and color, brillantly vulgar.
disarmingly young, frank and greedy. This Mimi
ought to be kept permanently in a cage, so we can
all go when we are feeling depressed and watch her
gobble up the oysters, or fall asleep heavily in the
middle of the party, or dig into the souffle with her
eyes still streaming with tears.
I have now seen Anator twice (it was auch
smoother a day or two later than on the opening
night) and bits of it, stray thoughts about it, keep
irrepressibly coming back. The lovely pictures
made by Jo Mieliner sets, exactly right for Mar¬
room, too beautiful to be quite right for the scene
with Emily, breathtaking in the snowstorm under
the arcade.... But need the Rathaus have stood
out quite so clear and picture postcard; need the
excellent snow have gone on falling with such a
resolute counterfeit of nature all through that scene?
The writing of the scene in Maxis room, which
says more, and more kinds of things, than the others,
but does not say them so loud. How Miss For¬
rest and Mr. Schildkraut hurried the end of their
scene, when the final, bitter, angry note comes into
what might have turned out just another silly quar¬
rel. . . . Mr. Schildkraut fantastic dressing gown
in the last scene.... And those comio-opera
guardsmen's uniforms of his and Mr. Connolly's al¬
most tipping what was already te farce enough
into burlesque.... And the perhaps foolish ques¬
tion, when it is all over, and one wants to see half
of it all over again did Schnitzler ever ask himself
what "Anatol" did with his time, his thoughts, when
they weren't occupied with his preoccupation? It
Schnitzler had written a scene between Max and
Anatol in which they do not talk about women, but
about work, politics, horses or life, would these two
characters have shrunk in our eyes or would they
be color fast
4.9. Anatol - Zykle
box 9/4
American Hebrew
Jan 30-31
the Prompt Book
By MILDRED EDELHERTZ FISHER
-
BREATH of old Vienna, the Vienna that is gone, has been waited over to
Broadway, in the revival of Granville Barkers version of Schnitzler’s
Anatol. The play, when only read, gives one the clearest and truest impres¬
sion of that delightful city, but in the present production, the atmosphere
which Schnitzler created has been even more enhanced by the authenticity and
taste of the settings which were done by Jo Mielziner. Each of the six scenes,
aside from their intrinsic charm, are set and painted in such perfect recreation
of all that is Viennese, that we forgot, for the time, the Lyceum Theatre and
Times Square outside it. It is not necessary to say that Mr. Joseph Schild¬
kraut was ideally cast as Anatol, for those who know him and his background
will comprehend how fully capable he is to interpret the character. An
American actor would never have been able to give to the part that subtle
touch of effeminacy which is so typical of the Viennese dandy. Mr. Schild¬
kraut has naturally understood this, and still more, he has known how to con¬
vey the impression, as the piece progresses, that Anatol the naive, Anatol the
debonair, is gradually growing older, wiser and sadder. Of the six women
who symbolized the six affairs, the best performances were given by Patricia
Collinge and Miriam Hopkins, which was to be expected.
I suspect that in any playing of "Anatol" it is the
more elusive and more serious side of it that will
suffer. Anything so sharply witty, so full of comi¬
surprises, will tempt the actors to play it for the
laugh. There is a tendency toward this in the
present production. Sometimes it goes even further
than a pardonable exaggeration.
In the character of Anatol there is now and then
a touch of the ridiculous which he himself acknow¬
edges. This "toy philosophen" looks in the mirror
off and on and is amused, though what he sees there
is too personal for his amusement to be unalloyed.
Sometimes Mr. Bildkraut gets this admirably, as in
the scene called "Episode," where Anatol puts be¬
fore Max the collection of tiny parcels that are his
past. At other times, as in "Keepsakes," he seems
too much to be Mr. Schildkraut, the actor, making
fun, very obvious fun, of Anatol, the character
which, together with the way Miss Forrest insists on
crying, carries the scene away from Schnitzler to¬
ward the Hoboken manner of kidding revivals.
The scene in which the mixture of dark and light,
of the gay and brooding, is perfectly balanced, is
Christmas Present to my mind the best of them
all, and as beautiful a piece of acting as one could
wish for. A chance meeting of the toy philosopher
(on his way to buy a present for the nice little girl
who always says the right thing) and the lady of
fashion, so quick to take mock offense at words she
half wishes she had the courage to lead into some¬
thing more than words. The way Miss Collinge be¬
trayed this ladys uncertain heart, the accurate,
shaded beauty of her speech, the excitement behind
the neat verbal fencing, the throb of controlled fee¬
ing underneath the banter, and Mr. Schildkraut
quiet warmth and esse, made it one of the few
memorable moments of the season.
In this scene M. Schildkraut was at his very best.
In the earlier scenes especially in the first two-
played in larger type than was necessary, and dis¬
turbed one by a stiffness of gesture, a periodic lock¬
ing out over te audience, and other mannerisme.
But as a whole it is a rich, varied Anatol, and in
at least two scenes easily the most impressive per¬
formance that I have seen Mr. Schildkraut give.
A complete contrast to les Colinge, perform
ance, and in its own way quite a remarkable, is the
Mimi of Miriam Hopins. An uproariously funny
splash of animal life and color, brillantly vulgar.
disarmingly young, frank and greedy. This Mimi
ought to be kept permanently in a cage, so we can
all go when we are feeling depressed and watch her
gobble up the oysters, or fall asleep heavily in the
middle of the party, or dig into the souffle with her
eyes still streaming with tears.
I have now seen Anator twice (it was auch
smoother a day or two later than on the opening
night) and bits of it, stray thoughts about it, keep
irrepressibly coming back. The lovely pictures
made by Jo Mieliner sets, exactly right for Mar¬
room, too beautiful to be quite right for the scene
with Emily, breathtaking in the snowstorm under
the arcade.... But need the Rathaus have stood
out quite so clear and picture postcard; need the
excellent snow have gone on falling with such a
resolute counterfeit of nature all through that scene?
The writing of the scene in Maxis room, which
says more, and more kinds of things, than the others,
but does not say them so loud. How Miss For¬
rest and Mr. Schildkraut hurried the end of their
scene, when the final, bitter, angry note comes into
what might have turned out just another silly quar¬
rel. . . . Mr. Schildkraut fantastic dressing gown
in the last scene.... And those comio-opera
guardsmen's uniforms of his and Mr. Connolly's al¬
most tipping what was already te farce enough
into burlesque.... And the perhaps foolish ques¬
tion, when it is all over, and one wants to see half
of it all over again did Schnitzler ever ask himself
what "Anatol" did with his time, his thoughts, when
they weren't occupied with his preoccupation? It
Schnitzler had written a scene between Max and
Anatol in which they do not talk about women, but
about work, politics, horses or life, would these two
characters have shrunk in our eyes or would they
be color fast
4.9. Anatol - Zykle
box 9/4
American Hebrew
Jan 30-31
the Prompt Book
By MILDRED EDELHERTZ FISHER
-
BREATH of old Vienna, the Vienna that is gone, has been waited over to
Broadway, in the revival of Granville Barkers version of Schnitzler’s
Anatol. The play, when only read, gives one the clearest and truest impres¬
sion of that delightful city, but in the present production, the atmosphere
which Schnitzler created has been even more enhanced by the authenticity and
taste of the settings which were done by Jo Mielziner. Each of the six scenes,
aside from their intrinsic charm, are set and painted in such perfect recreation
of all that is Viennese, that we forgot, for the time, the Lyceum Theatre and
Times Square outside it. It is not necessary to say that Mr. Joseph Schild¬
kraut was ideally cast as Anatol, for those who know him and his background
will comprehend how fully capable he is to interpret the character. An
American actor would never have been able to give to the part that subtle
touch of effeminacy which is so typical of the Viennese dandy. Mr. Schild¬
kraut has naturally understood this, and still more, he has known how to con¬
vey the impression, as the piece progresses, that Anatol the naive, Anatol the
debonair, is gradually growing older, wiser and sadder. Of the six women
who symbolized the six affairs, the best performances were given by Patricia
Collinge and Miriam Hopkins, which was to be expected.