"ALIAS JIMMY VALEN= TINE."

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1324, 30 December 1911, Page 6

"ALIAS JIMMY VALEN= TINE."

AND "A I'OT OK CAVIAUi;." "Alias Jimmy Valentine," a uomnilvdrama. liy I'mil Armstrong, (.'a si- • llnylv flnston Mi'i'vnlc Mi.-s Webster Miss Susie Vaughan Miss Moon: Miss ticni-gii O'Meara Hose I.aiio Jlhti Dorothy Dix Hill Avery liuiK'h IS. Alliolwoml lied Joi'olyn Leslie Victor Illii-liemlotrenbacli frcil C-innliournu lliiinllor George ]•'. llryanl, Smith Thomas Moyil Hubert. Fay ...Winter Mall lliinl.v Davis Vrllwr (Myn Dick thu Hat George Chalmers William Lone Hoyd Irwin llnliliy liiinn I:ii:li Ferguson Kitty Lane Vera Kpaull I.ce Jtuntlnll William Desmond As a writer of short; stories, the, late O. Henry stood almost alone ill Hint Held of literary emieavour. Mis work was iiiiirlii'il by crisp, clever dialogue, original situations, otlcn strungly ilraiuatie, A vivid human loucli gave llicm an individuality which lii-nnghl him fume, "Alias Jimmy Valentine," tlm jilay produced liy tho Williamson Dramatic f'onijianv at'tile Opera House last, evenini;, is a stage, edition of one of his stories—"Tile Hctricved Ketriliulion"--and thosii' who taw it !n>t evening can hardly fail (o agree thai, the, jilny lias just as much grip <uiil charm as (lie story. Indeed, Hie marvel is. that the iitanngeinent did not slap; it earlier in llio Mason. 'J'lio eris-ji-nes.s nnil originality ale preserved, and (in contrast i.o Iho Conan Do.vlo play which preceded il) tho action was full of de)i;;Mlul surprises. "Alias Jimmy Valentine" is an incursion into Aiui'ricnn criminal life. Valentine is. a keen, clo\or, young criminal of prepossessing personality, to whom tho subtle,-!, loriii of ••ciuok" lite is Iho more fascinating on account of his genius for manipulation of combination locks. Withal, ho is a young fellow somewhat, removed from degradation which his calling would imluco in time. He is introduced to lady visitors to tho Wing Sing Prison as an "exhibit." of n class of criminal of the refined order. . Olio of tho visitors recognises him as llio man who relieved her of molestation by an undesirable on a train. At her solicitation her uuole, the, State Governor, listens to Valentine's protestations of innocence of tho crimo for which ho was convicted, and, convinced that ho lias been wronged, grants him a pardon. On his release, tho young lady—Pose. Lane—obtains him a post in her lather's bank at Springfield, 111. "Jimmy," smitten with his benefactress, decides to "run straight," and induces two of his pals to do likewise, but Doyle—the sleuth of i tho force—has resolved to hunt him down because of his resolve not to supply information about u certain "wanted." In the bank, Jimmy rises to a. position of trust, and he and Koso full deeper and deeper in love. Then comes ■Doyle to blight tho retrieved one, but Jimmy, playing him very cleverly, has almost persuaded him that ho is not Iho man Valentino, when an accident happens. Tho door has all but closed on tho still doubting detective, . when Red Jocelyn, one of the old gang, now reformed, whom Jimmy has installed as watchman at tho bank rushes into the room to state that the banker's little child has been accidentally locked in a new vault of tho bank, and no one knows the combination of tho lock. Excitedly ho implores Jimmy to exercise his old art to rescue the child, who is everyouo's darling. After momentary hesitation Jimmy decides to do It —and the detective hears it all at the door. With feverish haste Jimmy gets to work, sand-papers his fingers till they bleed to restore, his sensitive touch, anil works nt tho lock until, ho "feels" the combination act. . The door is opened, and' the child falls into Red's arms. Jimmy wipes his blood-stained fingers, mops tho perspiration from his ' brow, stoops to pick up his coat, and rises to meet tho eye of Doyle, the detective. Seeing that the game is up, ho puts out hi' hands for tho bracelets, when Doyle (who has watched the whole business) reckons that the sweet young lady on tho other side of the room needs Jimmy more than ho does, and leaves them to their happiness. Such, in brief, is "Alias Jimmy Valentine," a play of quality. Valentino is played on straight pleasant lilies by Air. AVilliam Desmond; who, w;hile not suggesting, (to the degreo possible) tho subtlety and polish of the character, realised its force in the dramatic situations, particularly in the alibi scene witlr Doyle arid whilst at work on Hie. combination lock, but his hard voice and somewhat monotonous intonation wore deterrents in the lovo scenes. Jlr. Gaston Mervale, whose work is generally satisfactory, was quite effective as Doyle, whose smooth subtlety and relentlessness of purposo were capitally conveyed. Miss Dorothy Dix made a charming' Rose, naive in her light comedy touches, and attractive in manner and personality. Air., Leslie Victor gave'a clever sketch on broad coinedv lines as-Red Jocelyn, and Mr. J. 13. Atholwood as Dill Avery, a hoary old tough, gave further evidence of his versatilo artistry in character work. His performance, which.could easily have been bull'oouod, was outstandingly good., Excellent thumb-nail sketches of convicts "with specialties" were given by Mr. George Chalmers and Mr. Arthur. Glyn, and Mr. Fred Cambouruo, as tho German inventor of an unpickablo lock, was amusing on broad vaudeville lines. Miss Susie Vaughan and Miss Goorgio O'Meara.were both well placed as members of tho Gate of Hope Society, and Air. George Bryant was vivid and realistic—repellantly realistic—as Handler, the head warder at Sing .Sing. , ■ ' "Alias Jimmy Valentino" was preceded by an intensely dramatic and rather gruesome sketch, entitled "A Pot of Caviare,"' from the pen of Conan Doyle. It depicts a party of Europeans making their last stand' against a horde of Boxers in China. An aged professor of entomology has been through ono such experience before, and, when the fact is realised by him that only outrage and torturo await them all, he (at their final meal) serves out poisoned cariaro. But tho relief force has not failed as supposed, and, just as the professor dies, the advance guard breaks in to tiud them all dead except the professor, who has just enough strength and breath ,lo scream out, "Don't touch the caviare." The sketch was well acted by Messrs. Gaston Mervale, Winter Hall, Leslie Victor, and Misses Georgie O'Meara and Susie Vaughan. When played closer, the sketch will act even better than last evening.

THE FAR AND NEAR CLUB. Tho Far and >Tcar Club, recently formed by Anglican laymen to discuss tho problems arising from sncli events as tho awakening nf Japan, (lie conflict of new and old in China, ami the riso of national feeling in India, liold a dinner in London recently. Jlr. Victor Buxton presided, and explained the aims of the club. Tho Archbishop of Canterbury and Mrs. Davidson afterwards held a reception at Lambeth I'alace'. The Archbishop, in an address, said that every man who cared for civilisation, whether he cared for missions or not, ought to bo concerned with the right twining of the people's future leaders in Asia and Africa. Whether they looked at the mailer us Christians, or merely as citizens, all thoughtful people realised that this question must bo tackled, whether we wished it or not. Any man who rend a book like Mr. Chirol's "Indian Unrest" could never again talk lightly of missionary nrnblems or work. If a man could not throw himself into tho missionary way of tackling tho problem, ho was bound to tell them some other way. Tho progress and prosperity of a great part of tho world must depend on the kind nf education the men were setting who- were train!! to lw the leaders of India. The !Rev. W. K. S. Holland, Warden nf the Oxford and Cambridge Hostel, at Allahabad, and Mr. A. H. Fra?or, Principal of Trinity College, Kandy, also spoke.

j\f<\ssrs. Dnlqpty and Company. Ltd., Wellington, advertise that thev will hold an auction salu in (lie Town Hull, Olaki. on Wednesday, January 31. at 1 p.m., of ;<bouh 507 acres of excellent dairyin? country, bein}? a portion of tlio wellknown I'ahiko Kstnle. It lias been subdivided into various-sized farms, from 11 ncres up to 127, so as to suit all demands. The iiiOßrnnnnc of a concert giron.by llio Maidstone Orchestral Society to an audiciuc of -10 mnviols at Mnidsfoim Prison included works, by Mendelssohn, Ciroiy, and Schubert. All old nisLii named John Mulready dropped dead at t tia funeral seniles of onn of his grandsons in a cliurch al Cavan/ Ulster, on, 7,