Word: melodrama
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Dates: during 1920-1929
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...description is in some respects more accurate than calling it a historical comedy would be, for although the interest centers about an actual historical figure in the act of accomplishing an undertaking of historic importance, the material has been so treated that the result frequently resembles more the conventional melodrama or detective play than such historical dramas as "Abraham Lincoln or "Pasteur...
...love-crazed man seeking revenge on his successful rival and the woman who refused him is the theme of "It is the Law" at the Wilbur this week. Adapted to the stage by Elmer L. Rice from Hayden Talbot's story. This melodrama thrills and surprises for the first two acts and then tapers off rather weakly in the remaining two. The play should not be confused with "Within the Law", acted at the St. James last year; it is not as good. It appeals, like all melodrama of its type, primarily in the same manner as the oldtime whooping...
Upon the time honored rock bottom of caste distinctions and the pride of the landed aristocracy Mr. Galsworthy has reared a solid superstructure of melodrama in the "Eldest Son", well constructed, as might be expected from the authorship, and free to a large degree from the usual Galsworthy flair...
...melodrama pure and simple the "Eldest Son" could be changed with slight difficulty to a startling success. Already at hand are Bill's "tense" scenes with his parents,--difficult ones for all concerned, including the audience,--his impassioned outcry, "Why anything? I didn't make myself!" There is the conventional arrival of the baronet off stage to the thrilling accompaniment of hoof-beats. There are those eternal broken sentences which may mean anything. "If I could--", "Perhaps it would be better--", "Then you mean...
...melodrama is broken up by interlarded discussions of each move from angle before it is made until one is tempted to agree heartily with Studdenham that if someone doesn't say something we're going to get nowhere. The difficulty with the "Eldest Son" from the average American view-point perhaps explains why the presentation at the Copley is the "first performance in this country". It is difficult to convince an American audience of the reality of a problem in which deep-rooted and time-rotted caste distinctions loom to such large proportions. This consideration weakens materially whatever...