4.9. Anatol
yli
box 9/4
HEMSTREET
96 WARREN STREET
NEW YORK CITY
NY TIMES
193
en la mar a la
THE PLAY
By J. BROOKS ATKINSON.
Schnitzler’s Anatomy of Love.
a play in our acts and a
ANA
acting version
ne de leur a
tage
Granville-Barker
Marc Connelly and Gabriel Beer-Hofmann
setting by Jo Mielziner; revived by Bela
Blau, Inc. At the Lyceum Theatre.
Max Walter Connoll
Anatol Joseph Schild
.....................
..................... For
nen
an Sonn¬
...............
ger Ramsell
Frans
Lona Ruthelm Stevens
Although Arthur Schnitzler is the
author of "Anatol," which was re¬
vived at the Lyceum last evening
he is not the source of all its love¬
liness. Bela Blau has mounted it
handsomely, not forgetting the Vien-
nese waltzes and the concertina,
which is the most heartening of all
musical instruments. And Joe Miel¬
ziner has lavished upon Schnitzlers
anatomy of love some of the most
alluring settings in years magic vis¬
tas, exquisite interiors, and a spark¬
ling evening snowstorm beyond the
arch of a Vienna arcade.
With the actors, Mr. Blau's for¬
tunes have been mixed. As Anatol,
Joseph Schildkraut is mechanical and
constricted in a part that should be
romantically exhilarating. He has
little of the free improvisation that is
the charm of Schnitzlers bundle of
episodes. But Walter Connolly is
quietly merry as Anatols navish
comrade. Patricia Collinge has one
huntingly beautiful scene as the
wistful married lady who did not
succumb to Anatol. There are lively
scenes with Miram Hopins, Anne
Forrest, Elena Miramova and Ruth¬
elma Stevens, If, as a playgoer, you
are as shameless a gourmet as
Anatol, you will find enough beauty
and comedy in Mr. Blau's ravishing
production to balance the wooden¬
ness of some of the acting and some
of the duller scenes.
When Anatole was first mounted
here nearly twenty years ago with
John Barrymore it was puted to be
audacious. Anatol is a sinner. But
not to Schnitzler, and hardly to the
pernicious player of today, for
Anatol is a sybarite of love. He is
punctilious about the department of
conquest. He loves love. The six
scenes in his affairs reveal his sus
ceptibilities his anxiety over the
fidelity of Hilda, his wounded vanity
when Bianca, no longer remembers
him, his anger when he discovers one
of his trollos covering the booty of
previous amours or another planning
to supplant him with a chorus boy,
For to Schnitzler love is full of savor
and deception, honeyed tenderness
and sweet languor. None of the hot¬
blooded passion of the modern thea¬
tre bursts into his amoros ho¬
house. There is hardly a kiss visible
to the naked eye. Silken in the writ¬
ing, it is overing in the acting. If
it were half as long it would be twice
as good in the theatre. Certainly this
production would be brisker amuse¬
ment if a half hour were taken out
of it.
Schildkraut lacks
our
yli
box 9/4
HEMSTREET
96 WARREN STREET
NEW YORK CITY
NY TIMES
193
en la mar a la
THE PLAY
By J. BROOKS ATKINSON.
Schnitzler’s Anatomy of Love.
a play in our acts and a
ANA
acting version
ne de leur a
tage
Granville-Barker
Marc Connelly and Gabriel Beer-Hofmann
setting by Jo Mielziner; revived by Bela
Blau, Inc. At the Lyceum Theatre.
Max Walter Connoll
Anatol Joseph Schild
.....................
..................... For
nen
an Sonn¬
...............
ger Ramsell
Frans
Lona Ruthelm Stevens
Although Arthur Schnitzler is the
author of "Anatol," which was re¬
vived at the Lyceum last evening
he is not the source of all its love¬
liness. Bela Blau has mounted it
handsomely, not forgetting the Vien-
nese waltzes and the concertina,
which is the most heartening of all
musical instruments. And Joe Miel¬
ziner has lavished upon Schnitzlers
anatomy of love some of the most
alluring settings in years magic vis¬
tas, exquisite interiors, and a spark¬
ling evening snowstorm beyond the
arch of a Vienna arcade.
With the actors, Mr. Blau's for¬
tunes have been mixed. As Anatol,
Joseph Schildkraut is mechanical and
constricted in a part that should be
romantically exhilarating. He has
little of the free improvisation that is
the charm of Schnitzlers bundle of
episodes. But Walter Connolly is
quietly merry as Anatols navish
comrade. Patricia Collinge has one
huntingly beautiful scene as the
wistful married lady who did not
succumb to Anatol. There are lively
scenes with Miram Hopins, Anne
Forrest, Elena Miramova and Ruth¬
elma Stevens, If, as a playgoer, you
are as shameless a gourmet as
Anatol, you will find enough beauty
and comedy in Mr. Blau's ravishing
production to balance the wooden¬
ness of some of the acting and some
of the duller scenes.
When Anatole was first mounted
here nearly twenty years ago with
John Barrymore it was puted to be
audacious. Anatol is a sinner. But
not to Schnitzler, and hardly to the
pernicious player of today, for
Anatol is a sybarite of love. He is
punctilious about the department of
conquest. He loves love. The six
scenes in his affairs reveal his sus
ceptibilities his anxiety over the
fidelity of Hilda, his wounded vanity
when Bianca, no longer remembers
him, his anger when he discovers one
of his trollos covering the booty of
previous amours or another planning
to supplant him with a chorus boy,
For to Schnitzler love is full of savor
and deception, honeyed tenderness
and sweet languor. None of the hot¬
blooded passion of the modern thea¬
tre bursts into his amoros ho¬
house. There is hardly a kiss visible
to the naked eye. Silken in the writ¬
ing, it is overing in the acting. If
it were half as long it would be twice
as good in the theatre. Certainly this
production would be brisker amuse¬
ment if a half hour were taken out
of it.
Schildkraut lacks
our