THEVEMOITILIVISH
PAGE TWELVE
marked his first American appearance
he presented sketches and ono-
'agues with the ironic touch; m each
little skit was a reading of Jewish
life as Vardi sees is, Indeed, Vardi is
By THE MAN WITH A MIRROR
the satiric playwright even more than
the perfect executant of his own
(Copyright, 1924, by Seven Arts Feature Syndicate.)
works It is not too much to say
that Yard' is very close to the spirit
Maurice Schwartz is a born player. There are no stray elements in the of Shalom Aleichem himself in most
His gift of acting, natural and au- design. And then, it seems that Ben of his studies. In the story of "How
thentic, comet first as a boon of the Anti, having concluded the sketch and the Russian Revolution Reached Our
gods, and then as the result of facul- marked out every part of its area„ Village" there is a trenchant delinea-
he has
ties sharpened by assiduous self-train- carefully steps into the part
tion of Jewish communal types that
reserved for himself. Or, to put it
might have delighted the heart of the
ing. And if the gods had been con-
differently,
he
synthesizes
carefully
tent with bestowing only this talent
great Jewish humorist.
upon him he might have been a great until the mixture is ready—then he
Yet Vardi's talent is always his own
lends
it
his
own
personality,
and
the
artkt—perhaps the greatest of them
limitation. lie is the thinking—al-
Manufacturers of
But nature gave him one gift mixture forthwith becomes an artis- most the intellectual — comedian.
we many and spoiled what she set out tic compound.
Every one of his playlets not only has
ROACH DOOM, RAT DOOM, ANT DOOM,
for the great dif-
reason
the
This
is
in de, when she also made Maurice
a sharply marked idea, but the idea
ference in the fates of the Yiddish .
BEDBUG DOOM, MOTH DOOM,
Schwartz an executive.
appears to have come first to Vurdi's
FLY DOOM POWDER
In the conflict of this dual nature
mind. In this respect he creates
great
deal
of
what
might
have
been
a
more like the dramatist Pinski than
beauty has been killed of For as
the humorist Shalom Aleichem. Vardi
Ask your Druggist for Murrays Products
scion as the dreamer in him would let
does not give the impression of joy-
his fancy roam, the executive
ousness, of the over-bubbling gift of
or Phone Us.
Schwartz immediately demands effi-
fun, or of animal spirits. Ile is the
ciency. Ile happens also to be the man-
comedian-pedagogue, saved front be-
EDGEWOOD 3446
2703 GUOIN ST.
ager of his own theater and company,
coming tedious by his unusual gift of
and on opening nights it is one of
mimicry.
the sights of New York to watch
The Hebrew and Yiddish stage
Schwartz marshalling the company on
I should thrice welcome Verdi for his
the stage hither and yon, in stage
I idealistic relation to the theater, for
whispers that frequently reach the
the tine material he brings with him
gallery, the while he gives a perfunc-
I and for the astonishing cleverness of --
tory and mechanically adequate per-
his performance.
formance of his own part. And again,
.N16.117%,101 11:VIIMIIMMLIMIlaILILIIM.111.11.1hlik\ 101 11.11,711616.1e.,
A Dramatic Soubrette.
when he comes out to du a dramatic
It may be shocking to note, yet it
scene and turns his gaze full upon
is true nonetheless, that most actors,
the audience—in order to guess, if
if offered the cho ic e of appearing in
possible, the size of the house—it is
a good play with literary merit, or
again a case of too much executive.
in a cheap melodrama, would, in their 4
So it is that many of his characteriz-
heart of hearts, prefer the latter. And I
ations, supremely well worked out
this for a very simple reason.
from the standpoint of the mimetic or
Most actors are Peter Pans, and to
the impersonational, have only the
the child-like mind it is fur more
soul of a business man behind them.
rlorious to appear in a show where
Schwartz's own proficiency, too, is
you are everything, and the author
frer•entie his undoing. Fur felicity
inconsequential, than to act in a play
JACOB BEN AMI
and for the possession of all the facul-
t hat critics call good, but in which
ties necessary to the playing of a role,
nd English productions of the "Idle vou are merely an aid to the author.
he is unexcelled. Ile can—almost
nn." In the Yiddish he was master, There is no doubt that a well-con-
literally—play any part. But he gets
f his own artistic chemistry. Ile • rtructed melodrama offers the actor
so interested in the "how" of doing
ainstakingly produced the play with more opportunity for simulating
it that the essence quite escapes him.
a II the elements in the proper pro- mart to his oven aggrandizement than a
Absorbed in the tricks of impersona- portion, and when he stepped into it, does a literary play with all its logical 0
tion, he forgets that character pre- his was the last element necessary for restraints.
supposes, first of all, a soul. The making the final product. In the Eng-
One artist who is better in melo-10
executive, astride the executant, is ish version the whole thing was out Imola than in the more purely artis- 0
driving him too hard, and spoils much
if joint--wiet an Irishman playing 'is play is Celia Adler, the bright- I
that is great in Schwartz.
the Jewish grandfather and a Scotch- eyed, keen-witted, clever Celia who
woman the grandmother. And Ben not so long ago was the toast of the
A Designer of Roles.
Ben Ami is an actor of limited Ami, out of pattern, was out of the town in the Hirschbein repertory.
range but great depth, and is pos- running altogether. Once the design Notwithstanding her success in this 0
sessed of a rare talent; namely, the was spoiled , the role was a total loss , type of play, she is never so effective
feeling for pattern and design in to Hen Anti, who had not the artistic —or so happy—as in an outright
strength to lift his own role indepen. melodrama.
working out his roles.
I,
For Celia Adler represents a new
Ile is intelligent. Not merely an I tl•
.
type—the dramatic soubrette. With-
"intelligent," but intelligent. And
A Welcome.
out
singing
or
kicking
up
her
legs—
this is a handicap. For he knows
great mimic. A shrewd observer the usual way of the soubrette—she
more than he can say artistically, and of A Jewish
life, with all its foibles, can flirt with her audiences adniir-
understands more than he can ex-
grotesqueries
and inconsistencies. ably, even through the heaviest dra-
press. His own characteristic per-
PA
Above all, a satiric thinker. This is matic scenes. She is not one of those
sonality further delimits his range, David \ ardi, formerly of the Ilabi-
so that what he can articulate is only mah in Moscow, who recently made artists who seek primarily to interest
EAST MAPLE AT G. T. R. R., BIRMINGHAM, MICH.
their audience in their art—she seeks
a small portion of what he can grasp
his New York debut.
Phones Birmingham 1 and 2
only to entertain. Not "how inter-
intellectually.
His mimicry of a wide range of esting," but "how pleasing," is her
On the other hand, this understand-
4
types
is
so
flawless
as
to
be
incred-
criterion,
and
this
maxim
of
the
I
ing of his roles, which is far keener
4.•
than that of most players, gives ible. Himself of diminutive stature lighter arts applied to the legitimate
and
chubby,
childlike
face,
he
can
field results in the curious type of
greater depth to those roles which,
like "Samson," are with his poten- give the impression of height, age, dramatic soubrette.
Descendant of a theatrical family,
tialities. There is not a line in this strength and all the individual traits
of numberless and varied personages. and practically reared on the stage,
famous role over which he has not
pondered as a scholar studies a liter- As puie verisimilitude in imitating his 'he is privy to all the tricks of the
ary work, and which he did not first types—a Jew at the Friday night trade. She knows how to attract at-
Zmiros, or a Russian girl revolution- tention to herself always, no matter
intellectually measure up to his emo-
ist, or the old Jewish woman who has what else is going on around her. And
tions before giving it to the public.
just got by the quota, or the leading in melodrama she is supreme—be-
The one great distinguishing char-
acteristic of Ben Anti artistically is figures of the last generation of Yid- cause she has learned how to make
dish writers—his work is amazing. herself pleasing on the shnge, and be-
the perfection with which he creates
his parts as a patterned unit. One There is a little more than craftsman- cause, with all her special application
ship, if a little less than genius, in to melodrama, she is an artist who
who has watched Ben Ami prepare a
the art of mimicry as he practices it. can make the figures of the most
role gets the impression of a painter
But Vardi's greatest contribution senseless melodrama convincing and
working on a composition. Every
even moving.
line which goes into the making of a to the Yiddish and the Hebrew stage
picture is judged with relation to (he belongs to both) lies in the ma-
every other line entering the work. terial he presents. In the recital that
Thumbnail Sketches of Jewish Players
5685-1924
WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY NEW YEAR
— from —
Roth Hashanah Greetings
We extend our einem.e wish.. on this momentous occasion to
our friends and patrons and to the Jewish Community of Detroit, a
Happy and Prosperous New Year,
Edgar A. Murray Company
INSECTICIDES
•• . . • • , • • . • • •
Purity Beverage Co.
Phone Hemlock 7974
13428 Fleming
RON ICLE
ROSH HASHONAH GREETINGS
■ ■
■
Greenberg Insurance Agency
GENERAL INSURANCE
Lumber Co.
WE SPECIALIZE IN LIFE INSURANCE
CADILLAC 0726
520 DIME BANK BLDG.
R. C. Moulthrop
0
Rosh Hashonah Greetings
1
Wholesale and
Retail
LUMBER, INTERIOR FINISH /
BUILDERS' SUPPLIES
0
DOORS AND SASH
i g
0,
COAL AND FUEL
g
g
g
g
g
g
g
0 g
Marx Market Co.
General Office.
222 Broadway Market Bldg.
Conveniently Located
Five Pure Food Stores
2805 Baker Street
8533 Twelfth Stret
802 Michigan Avenue
8815 Linwood Avenue
6959 Gratiot Avenue
WE SOLICIT YOUR PATRONAGE
.
JOSEPH LARKINS,
Treasurer.
Year's Message
A New
PON this momentous occasion in the lives of your
people, Rosh Hashonah, 5685, we extend a message
U
of greeting and our best wishes to the Jewish men and
women of Detroit for a Happy and Prosperous
NEW YEAR
May the New Year see your hopes fulfilled and
may it be rich in the successful- accomplishment
of your highest aims.
MERCIER, BRYAN, LARKINS
BRICK COMPANY
5.
-
I,
,
g
I
■■•■■■■■■■■■■■.aw■■■■■■■■■■■•■•■•■•■■■■■■•
CHARLES H. BRYAN,
President
WASSON J. BRYAN,
Secretary.
g
ZA-4,
JO,IFk
I A
LA FOLLETTE ON KLAN
-
0
0 0
0 0
0
Senator La Follette has never made
better use of his talent for direct
statement than in his letter concern-
ing the Ku Klux Klan. Ile expresses
in downright and explicit English the
ideal attitude of any candidate for
the Presidency toward a secret or-
ganization trading in race prejudice
for wealth and political power.
That the Klan possesses immense
political power and that it threatens
to obtain a dominant position in other
states than those in which it already
dictates platforms and nominations
cannot he doubted. The candidate ,
who deliberately and definitely con-
demns the Klan and its works must
expect to cut himself off on a ques-
tion of principle from the support of
a solid minority which might easily
turn the balance in his favor in un-
certain states.
Regretting the question of religious
I and racial tolerance in a campaign
I which he would have preferred to
conduct on purely economic lines,
Senator La Follette nevertheless
names names and issues an unequivo- —
cal defiance. lie is "unalterably op-1
posed to the evident purposes of the
secret organization known as the Ku
Klux Klan, as disclosed by its public
nets." Ile believes that "it cannot
long survive," and he bases this be- I
, lief on the fate of earlier movements I
of similar character in American
politics. His stand is that of Abra- I
ham Lincoln toward the Know-SatIn-
ings and that of Thomas Jefferson to-
ward the "right of inquiry into the
' religious opinions of others." If he
has not alienated every Klansman in
•the United States from his ticket it
is not his fault.
N. candidate can blink the fact 'I
that Senator La Follette's declaration
sets a standard of candor and roar-
age in regard to an issue admitting
of no compromise which does not
lend aid and comfort to the most vi-
cious faction in the public life of this
generation.—New York World.
MOSES MAIMON — PAINTER
Moses Maimon, the distinguished .
Jewish painter, died recently in Len- •
ingrad, where he was professor of
art. A native of Wilkowisky, Maimon
tidied art at Warsaw- and Vilna. In
IsSO he entered the Academy of Fine
Arts in St. Petersburg, where he had
Ile painted sev.:
a brilliant career.
eral pictures dealing with Jewish life
and Russian history, as well as a
number of portraits, including those
of the Czar and the Czarina and of
Dr. Chwolson. His best-known paint-
ing is the "Maranos," representing a
wealthy Jewish family on Passover
night, during the Inquisition period,
who are surprised by the sudden
entry of armed and masked men.
' This was later exhibited at St. Louis
and then lost and all search for it
in America proved unavailing. Mai-
. mon also exhibited in London and'
painted there a number of portraits,
including that of liaham Dr. Gaster.
Moses Maimon, who was in his sixty- I
fOurth year, was a man of great per-
sonal charm, endowed with a keen '
sense of humor, and was a Hebrew
scholar of no mean attainments. He
leaves a widow and a daughter, his'
only span having died recently.
A Happy New Year
to the Jewish People
of Detroit
FROM THE
Belle Isle Creamery
Company
3600 FOERST AVE. E.
MELROSE 5660
Belle Isle Specialties Are:
CERTIFIED MILK
CLASS A JERSEY MILK
CERTIFIED HOLSTEIN
Sold in All Stores or Delivered to Your Home.
Detroit
Magneto
Exchange
REPAIRING OF ALL MAKES OF
STARTERS, GENERATORS, MAG-
NETOS AND COILS
2164 GRAND RIVER
CHERRY 4658
ROSH HASHONAH GREETINGS
Chas. C. Carter
Carpentry and Painting
Fire Appraisals and Repairs
426 MADISON AVENUE
CADILLAC 1552