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The So uthern Israelite
Page 6
THE story
OF FRANZ MOLNAR
In one () f the most beautiul homes
„ Budapest there lives a playwright
who , t . accesses on the various stages
, t ho world are exceeded only by
Bernard Shaw. The fact that
. a j eW has not dimmed the glit-
•t-nnc* brilliance of his style, nor eaus-
1 ? he suppression of his light but
tpier-like satires on the foibles ot
, m . n and civilization. Twenty-five
wai> ugo Franz Molnar was but the
; JJ 4> f a wealthy physician, undecided
whether he would enter the field
medicine or the law. Today any
ueer in the world is glad to offer
M. lr.ar generous royalties on any play
ve*. unwritten.
Again and again criticism is leveled
those writers who direct attention
the Jewish origin of creative artists.
I he objection is offered that the re
mark is either chauvinistic or tactless.
But tm one can really understand Mol-
nar’. remarkable career unless he has
,i thorough knowledge of his back
ground, not the least of whose phases
. hi.- .Jewishness. That Franz Mol
ar should have attained world-wide
fame through work achieved in Cen-
trai Kurope, proverbially famed for
,t> suppression of Jewish genius; and
that he, a citizen of the country which
today enforcing the numerus clau-
'Un, should be known as well as any
Vmerican playwright on the Great
White Way, is a distinct tribute to
•he peculiar merit of his plays and
his own indomitable will.
The only son of a doctor, Franz was
• xpected to follow in the footsteps of
s father; but the future dramatist
hail no taste for the profession from
which Schnitzler himself entered the
• v riting field. Believing for the time
emg that law would engage his in-
'i"e>t as well as utilize his talents,
ar went to Geneva to study. It is
• "t known, but it is very likely that
•an/, did not enter the Budapest Uni-
'ity because it was closed to him,
- a Jew. But several months’ immer-
11 :n *he intricacies of jurisprudence
mfiited Molnar.
J ht turning point of his career war
'g.d conference held in Geneva
> 'Vi.« attended by some of the
• oing luminaries of Europe. Molnai
: ded all the sessions and sent hu
interest stories of the congresi
•* Budapest publication, which nol
accepted but featured them
! < u pon Molnar felt that this wai
’rue vocation, and immediately
Urru *'i back to his native town. There
' i me discouraging replies, he li
secured a minor position as «
paragrapher, or what would, in Amer
1 rt. he called a “columnist.”
I But in his spare time Molnar ha<
* en u . ntin>f Some plays. The first oj
A Doktor Ur,” was producet
• five years ago in a Budapest
P.ayhuuse, and received the acclaim ot
I au( ^*. ence an( l critics on its firsl
I This not only started Mol-
the road to international sue-
| • ut it clearly defined for hin
L ' of drama to which he was tc
lh < ^ tmself thereafter: comedy. He
n.ten variants of this type ol
Kc tk always comic, the satir
r ‘timorous predominates, wheth
Ith#. - tlfc ln L , ll> 0 m,” “The Officer ot
PlavT^’ “ The Sw «n” or “The
r lav ' the Thing.”
And IIis Views On The Jew
And The Stage
n
tty MIRIAM STERNER
H ritten for 7 he Southern Israelite
Franz Molnar, the Hungarian-Jeivish playwright, is known in
every country of the world, and his plays hare been performed on
the greatest stages of every land. Recently he created considerable
interest by declaring that he is a Jew and proud of it. This inter
view is more in the nature of a biographical sketch and quotes the
noted dramatist’s views on how Jews should regard caricatures
of themselves on the stage. —The Editor.
Molnar’s fame in America started
with “Liliom,” which also made the
reputation of Joseph Schildkraut.
“Liliom” was produced by the Theatre
Guild only about six years ago, but it
was one of the very first plays which
Molnar wrote. The first presentation
of this, perhaps his greatest, play
took place in Budapest in 1008. Wheth
er because it was poorly produced, or
because the Budapest audience was
not prepared for some of the sharp
satire which “Liliom” contains, the
play was a decided failure, and lasted
for only three nights. A year later
it was taken to Vienna, where it be
came an instantaneous success, and
from where it filtered after many
years to America.
Today Molnar is known as a great
traveler, journeying from his home
town to New York, to San Francisco,
to Buenos Aires, and back to Paris
and Vienna. His Wanderlust was ac
quired during those early years when
the need for earning a livelihood drove
him from one European city to anoth
er. Thus he was at one time the Paris
correspondent of a Budapest journal.
From there he went successively to
Rome, Munich, Vienna, London and
Brussels.
Only recently Molnar passed through
Berlin, where he paused to supervise
the production of one of his newest
plays. I visited him at his hotel to ask
him about certain statements that had
been attributed to him in the Jewish
press, in which he declared himself
equally a Jew and a Hungarian. He
declined to comment on my reference
to Jakob Wassermann, who also had
asserted that he was a good German
and a good Jew, hut who had proved
that he was not particularly zealous
in safeguarding his dignity as a Jew.
He did say, however:
"1 have always been opposed to
looking for Jewish traits in creative
artists, particularly in those who con
tribute to the esthetic arts. It is my
belief that the general cultural atmos
phere of a country is more responsi
ble for an artist’s work than any in
fluences which may be inherited
through his race. The home and its
environment is more important in this
rega rd.
“I am surprised that so much at
tention should he paid to my quite cas
ual remark that 1 could see no incom
patibility between myself as an Hun
garian citizen and a Jew. Each has
reference to a different element in a
man’s character and conduct. As in
other countries, there are in Hungary
anti-Semites who accuse me, as they
do other Jews, of lack of patriotism.
To these fanatics I do not care to re
ply. I might point out, however, that
wherever I go, whether in America,
England, or Germany, I use whatever
influence is at my disposal to enlist
interest in the fate of Hungary. I do
this not for any ulterior purpose, but
merely because I have a genuine at
tachment for the land in which I was
horn, and would like it to participate
in the advance of modern civilization.”
I asked Molnar for his impressions
of America and its drama. One of his
most interesting comments was a con
trast between certain tendencies on the
stage of the United States and on that
of Europe.
“What particularly impressed me
about the United States was the high
social status which Jews enjoy. This
is reflected in the stage very directly.
For example, the type of anti-Semitic
pranks, jokes and jabs which are in
terspersed in many of the plays pro
duced on the Continent would not be
tolerated for a moment on the other
side. The Jew has acquired a dignity,
and is given a respect which is truly
remarkable.
“I am not of those who protest
against the slightest objectionable
reference to Jews in plays. Some
times it is inherently a part of a
particular play, and cannot he avoid
ed. We Jews cannot afford to be
over sensitive. I have* heard objections
from many Jews to several of the
plays by Shalom Aseh, particularly
his ‘God of Vengeance.’ Such critics
of Asch’s plays have no artistic judg
ment. The great Jewish artists of
all time have had the right and the
duty to castigate their fellow Jews in
such forms of artistic expression as
would emphasize certain ethical and
spiritual values in contrast to some
of the more vulgar characteristics of
the race. Jews must not be too eager
to hunt for offensive references to
themselves. They must he careful to
ascertain whether these references
are viciously motivated or unneces
sary.”
That Molnar should not hesitate to
identify himself with the Jewish com
munity, for which intrinsically he
does not deserve any special credit,
is rather interesting in view of his
reputation throughout Europe as a
bon vivunt and a Bohemian. A thor
ough cosmopolitan, Molnar has been
accepted in all the artistic circles of
Europe, so that his turn to the Jews
is not forced. He has not led that
type of life which would bring him
into contact with Jewish problems and
Jewish interests. Nevertheless he did
not hesitate, when his honor as a Jew
was involved, to take his stand with
his fellow Hungarian Jews.—Copy
right 1929 by Seven Arts Feature
Syndicate.
Hestt lOe iforget
Bv PHILIP
M. RASKIN
The following poem by the
famous Anglo-Jewish
poet, P. M.
Rankin, was read at the Madison
Square Garden before
an audience
of
twenty-five thousand Jews pi
otesting against Arab
outrages in
Palestine.
By our sacred soil
With blood still wet.
We swear once more:
Lest we
forget!
By
the graves of our sons
liy the lives of our
youth
Open yet,
And the doom
they met,
We
swear once more'.
We swear once more:
Lest we forget!
Lest we forget
f
By
a Nation's trust
Let heart to heart
And a Nation's debt,
Grief-beset,
We
swear once more:
Echo our oath:
Lest we forget!
Lest we forget
9
