Newspapers / Shelby Daily Star (Shelby, … / Jan. 18, 1924, edition 1 / Page 2
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iveland County Playwright, Making a Hit In New York With His Latest Success ‘ Hell-Bent Fer Heaven*’ On Broadway Not many Cleveland county people remember Hatcher Hughes, but he is a native of the Lawndale section of the county and the fact that he is a Cleveland county citizen lends inter est to the following story about him written by Mildred Harrington for the Greensboro News. Hatcher Hugh, es promises to be a second Thomas Dixon. J New "York, Jan. 12.—The theater wise claim that it is the reaction of the second-night audience which makes or breaks a play. Granting that the dictum is true and that it may be stretched to include the re action of second matinee audiences, then Hatcher Hughes, Tar Heel play wright, and Marc Klaw, New York producer, have nothing to fear for the fate of “Ilell-Bent for Heaven,” I the high spirited drama of the Caro lina mountains which hung out its sign on Broadway a week ago yesr terday. | ■— n i spent with conviction it is be cause on the afternoon of the second performance, I was one of a wrig glingf human queue which doubled twice aero>s the fairly capacious lobby of the Klaw theater bent upon (retting tickets before the S. R. O. could be shoved up on the bulletin board. A little later, 1 was one of a packed house which smiled and chuckled and applauded uproariusly during the first act, and sat tensely forward upon the edge of its collec tive seat during the second and third acts wonderihg how on earth the tangle could be straightened out. Apropos of the immediate and de cided success of “Hell-Bent fer Heav en,’’ the dignified Mr. KJaw might be forgiven for cutting a pigeon wing or so on top of the august managerial desk when he saw the initial reviews of his latest offering in Saturday’s papers. Jo in Corbin’s estimate re-1 cordpd in the Times, is a pretty fair! sample of »ho comment of the press: “A play of the first order . . . Nov- j el and interesting. . . . Warmly J human and richly humorous.” About I the most pessimistic criticism to date i is the expressed fear of one reviewer I that the play would prove too good j to uttract the public. Box office re- i ceipts, however, suggest that the j much-maligned public, is frequently j more appreciative of the real thing than it gets credit for being. Be that I at it may, Mr. Klaw is to be felici tated upo i hia astuteness_or hit; luck—in nicking a piece which is meeting with such hearty and heart ening approval from all hand*. Owning to the prevailing *th6atet shortage, the Hughes play was origU nally advertised for two special mat inees only. The morning after the first performance, it became appar ent that the public had no idea of al lowing Mr. Klaw to adhere to his an nounced pl&n. Telephone orders pour, ed in for reservations two week? ahead. They have continued to pour | in with the result that the manage- j ment has been obliged to announce that the engagement of the new play will be extended indefinitely. The Play. Even those among us who are ad mitte<My ignorant of the technical side of play writing can hardly fail to see why the critics say that “Hell Bent fer Heaven” proves Hatcher Hughes a master craftsman. To begin with the play is com pact and economical. All the action takes place in one room in the Hunt home between 4 o’clock in the after noon and 9 oflock at night of a mid summer day Thus, the Greek unities of time and place are neatly observ ed, and the audience and scene shift ers are saved a lot of trouble. In the second instance, the dia logue depends for Ur verisimilitude upon idiom rather than dialect. That is, it is true tulk-^—the natural speech and the natural expression of the folks who employ it. Anci you don’t know what a relief that can be un less you have been compelled to lis ten to the painfully distorted and ar tificial jargon purporting to be south ern dialect which is frequently per petrated upon New York theatergoers by ambitious young playwrights who were born and bred in Yonkers or the Bronx and have never been south the Brooklyn bridge. It is a safe bet that any Buncombe county mountain eer could step into the Hunt living room at any time during the progress of Mr. Hyghes’ play and join in the conversation without feeling that' he was among strangers. And when all is said and done, that is the acid test of good dialect in a piece of writing. The characterization is both sin cere and effective. Again, it is a safe bet that the average Buncombe coun ty farmer .would recognize neighbors -®r kinsmen in likable, hot-tempered young Andy Lowry, or the ready laugh, the ready oath, and the ready trigger-finger, of old man Dave Hunt with his unconscious but clear-sight ed philosophy of life and his abiding and satisfying confidence in the abil ity of the Almighty to look after us humans adequately without “gittin’ Ilisself all tuckered out over the job.” Other things being equal, a deftly maneuvered plot is always cause for thanksgiving. In “Hell-Bent fer Heav en," Mr. Hughes shows more than that he knows the value of ot a skillfully inserted clue US, of complication, of properly placed | climax. But it ;s all done with such | consummate art as to leave the im- 1 pression that the playwright hud very little to do with things. The plot, like Topsy, seems to ha^e ‘‘just growed" out of somethin^ inherent in the lives of the people. Finally, the play sparkles with clever lines. But Mr. Hughes has not made Oscar Wilde’s mistake of be stowing some of his own brilliance upon innately stupid characters. The pungent, homely wit which lends zest to the whole is unmistakably the wit of old man Dave Hunt and his grand son, young Sid, who didn’t know he waa a wur hero untjl he read about it in the papers. But there is something vastly big ger and more compelling in Mr. Hughes’ play than craftsmanship. It is vision. As the action moves for ward toward its unforseen but irre sistible conclusion, every line and every incident pile up cumulative evi dence that the young playwright from North Carolina has what old Carlyle was fond of calling “the see ing eye.” Or, to garb the same thought in the modern phrase, he gets under the skins of his charac ters because he sees past the outward show of folks into their secret selves And because he looks deep enough to discover hidden motives, he under stands and sympathizes witli actions which to the surface observer are in comprehensible, and even intolerable. That is why he is able to depict so convincingly the medly-mouthed. Uriah Ileep-ish Rufe Pryor whose warped brain saw in professed relig ion a means of making himself solid with Cod while he went busily about achieving hit. own selfish ends. Incidentally, and without being all didactic about it, “Ilell-Bent fer Heaven” drives home a salutary les sen which ali who run may read. There is ,vq sickly sentimentality about, the play, but there is plenty of honest, up-standing sentiment as wholesome and invigorating as the breeze which sweeps down a balsam dad mountain slope. Sold by Accident. In view of the fact that there are at present three plays on Broadway having to do with the lives of Caro lina mountain folk, it is interesting to know that “Hell-Bent fer Heaven” was written three years ago while Mr. Hughes was on a vacation near his old home in western North Carp tine. It is equally diverting to learn thaflt was sold to Mr. Klaw two year later quite bv accident. The sale came about in this wise: Mr. Hughes called at Mr. Klaw’s of fice one afternoon about a year ago to talk over another play of the Blue Ridge section in which the latter was at that time interested. During the interview, Mr. Hughes mentioned that he naa just been looking over the first rough draft of a second piece using the sarhe locale. At Mr. Klaw’s request Mr. Hughes briefly outlined the plot and touched upon the theme of the unfinished play. Mr. Klaw was very much interested and demanded to see the manuscript which he observed obtruding from the playwright's overcoat pofket. Mr. Hughes surrendered the manuscript to the prouucer under protest. The next morning he received a telephdne message from Mr. Klaw saying that he was ready to sign a contract for the unfinished play. And the fiction writers would have us believe that the young playwright] must spend weary years and much shoe leathed peddling his wares from one heartless producer to another But qt that, the quality of the prof fered wares may have something to «do with the success of the peddling business! The Playwright. If I were preparing a sketch o Hatcher Hughes* career to date fo “Who’s Woo,” I should probably be gin in somewhat this fashion: Native of Cleveland county, Nortl Carolina. Family moved to Soutl Carolina when young Hughe:; was ir his seventh year. He later returner to North* Carolina to enter the Stat< university from which he was gradu ated with the class of 1907. Follow 4ng graduation, he taught in thi English department of his almi mater for two years. The interveninj year until 1912 were spent in study, ing and writing. In 1912 Mr. Hugher became lecturer in play writing a Columbia university in which connec tion he has served with eonspicuou: success to this good day with the ex ception of Two years spent in the army. At this point I should probably grow desperately tired of unem-; broidered facts and revert to type—| and adejetives. At any rate, I know! I could never sustain the above en cyclopedic style for more than a paragraph at a,time. I To resume. Mr. Hughes likes to write plays. He told me himself that he had a good time writing “Hell-Bent fer Heaven.” I believe him. Everybody had so mueh fun seeing the play on the stage that it stands a reason it must have been fun to write it. When a man gets- famous, or stands on the ragged edge of be. coming so ,the folks who read news papers always want to know how he got his start. As nearly as I can make out, Hatcher Hughes began his literary career by writing stories of Blue Ridge mountain life while he was still an undergraduate at the Univer sity of North Carolina. Along about 1904 or 1905, the Charlotte Observer published one of his tales called “When Buncombe Went Dry." It must have been a pretty good .story. At any rate, it netted the youthful writer congratulatory letters from the editor and other prominent per sons scattered throughout the state. Mr. Hughes 'made his initial ‘how to the* Broadway public two years ago with “Wake Up, .fonothnn!”, ‘in which Mrs. Fi- ke was starred. At present he is engaged on a third play which may 'see ^production be fore the dog days arrive. llow Hughes Got His Idea. • The story of how Mr. Hughes got his idea for ‘‘Hell-Bent fer Heaven” is a good yarn m. itself. It all came about during the'Suiii-' mer of the terrible floods in the west ern part of the state. In company with a horse, a light road wagon, and a lighter camping outfit. Mr. Hughes set out from Boone the day before the rainy spoil set in, deter mined ^o, climb every considerable mountain peak in western North Carolina. And he carried out his pro gram fiot’.vith.dandeng the fact that it rained 119 /‘ays of the 40 which he had rlanncd to devote to mountain climb ing. Nor did his intrepidity end here. When lie got ready to rrtake the re turn trip he fotfhd that every bridg-. between Asheville and Del Bio, Ten nessee, had Peen washed away by the rapidly rising rivers. It was impera tive that Mr. Hughes get hack to Asheville in time to make railway connection t oNew York by a certain date. Failing in eofTrtr, to persuade the ferryman to take him across the river, Mr. Hughes announced that he would have to swim it then. The scan dalized ferryman said it couldn’t be done. Mr. Hurfhes said it cotild be done. The ferryman maintained that it couldn’t bt done. To settle the ar gument, Mr. Hughe* plunged into the river and f.awm to the other aide and back. When he climbed out of the water, he informed the ferryman that he would be lack at four in the after noon with liia camping outfit which he would expect to have ferried across. By 4 o’clock, the entire village was gathered on the river bank to see ‘he syazj man from New York get his just deserts in a watery grave. “And to tell you the truth,” laughed Mr. Hughes when I asked The Home Provsion Co. is now located in the same room with the Piedmont Grocery Co. and is in a position to fill your Grocery, Meat, Poultry, Fish and Oyster orders. Call 576 and let me person ally take’' care of your meat orders. • Ernest Johnson Manager of Market. PHONE 570. A Remedy for Piles Ask your Druggist (whom you know) what he knows about PAZO OINTMENT as a Remedy for Itching, Blind, Bleeding or Pro truding Piles. 60c. I -• • Sales '2'? times as much as that ot anv other CALUMET The Economy BAKING POWDER .the next time you bake — give it just one honest and fair trial. One test in your own kitchen will prove to you that there is a big difference between Calumet and any other brand—that for uniform and wholesome bak _ing it has no equal. I B=s.ByTe#e EST BAKING POWDER zu IN SCHEDULE N DIVISION .ock Hill 7:16 a.m. Marion 9:57 a.m. ock Kill 6:36 p.m. Marion 8:08 p.m. Blacksburg with No. 38 for N, Agent, \ N. C. RAPUWAY, .COMPANY >f Passenger Trains at N.C. NO. Ar. 7:40a 34 Rutherfordton-Raleigh 34 7:40a and Wilmington 5:47p 31 Wihnington-Raleigh 91 , 5:47p and Rutherforuton 4 50p 1R Monw*-ftutaherfnrdton 10- 4:R0p 11:02a 1G Rutherfordton-Monrot* 16 11:02a Schedules published as information and are not guaranteed. , E. W. LONG, D. P. A~, Charlotte, N. C. or G. SMART, Local Ticket Agent him about it, “I think they were all terribly disappointed that I escaped with my noise and my life.” It was in the course of the return trip to Asheville that Mr. Hughes got his idea for “Hell-Bent fer Heaven." Everybody remembers, of course, how houses and even whole villages were swept loose from their moorings as the water from the swelling rivers crept higher and high- i er. , Mr. Hughes says that the thing’* that, struck him most forcefully at this time was the number of people who were willing to take a chance on their spiritual welfare but were un tiring in their appeals to the Al mighty to concern Himself with their physical and material well-being. It was this peculiar psychological slant that suggested the character of Rufe Pryor, the central figure and moving force in “Hell-Bent fer Heaven.” nn*. DR. R. C- HICKS i, DENTIST Office Shelby National Bank Building. Phone 421 Shelby, N. C. T.W. Ebeltoft Grocer and Book Seller Phone— #2 A Standard External Renedj. Backache, < Rheumatism, Lumbago, —Any Local Pain. Inti ft on ALLCOCK’S— tkt Original. FRESH MEATS m .Always the choicest, because I select my cattle and hogs and sec what I get for iny customers. All meats go to you from my refrigerator, which assures quality. ' ! " T ' «■ ’ Oyster.1};and game in season. e. f. McKinney Phone 5. We Hurry Orders Out. Every Man’s Aim Should be to own his homo. The home owner makes a better man. He does not desert his wife and children, he takes a strong interest in his community. Being permanently locat ed he is a better husband, better father, better citizen, better worker. The purchase of his home arouses his ambition, his thrift and his industry. The strength of small towns like Shelby is rooted in home ownership, and without stretching the truth, it may be said the unrest in large cities is due to lack of home ownership. The Building & Loan has mCd£ it possible for every man to own his home, it may be small and inexpensive but he can own his home. Your income may be smaH~but you can own your home. It is up to'you. No man can afford luxury until his future and the future of his family is amply provided for. It is better to do without luxuries than to be without a home and face old age with an empty pocketbook. Take Out A Few Shares In This Building & Loan and put aside a little week by week and you wont be depend ent upon friends and relatives. You ca?T own your own home by starting now. ' . . „ / \ The Plan Is Easy And Simple Come in and talk to us about how easy it is toY>wn your own home, by paying a small sum week by week. \ Tuesday January 22nd \ Is Own Your Home Day during Thrift Week. Ifvery man who does not own his home should make the stapt by taking out Building and Loan shares. Young men should start shares for his future home. WE INVITE YOU TO START— . J A WARM WELCOME AWAITS YOU HERE.- OTHERS ARE, WHY NOT YOU? OWN YOUR HOME-^ START TODAY. 1 Cleveland Building & Loan Association Office. With The CLEVELAND BANK & TRUST COMPANY Shelby, N. C.
Shelby Daily Star (Shelby, N.C.)
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Jan. 18, 1924, edition 1
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