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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