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24 Mins. (Special Drops and Setting). In their newest vaudeville offering, “The Masher,” Mr. and Mrs. Carter DeHaven are getting further away from singing and dancing. In fact, the entire strength of “The Master” rests on the dialog between the diminutive pair and the “situations” arising from the young stage door Johnny’s determination to show the actress a good time. There are several song numbers, to be sure, and well handled in the usual DeHavenesque style; yet they are secondary considerations in the summing up of the act’s impression. In “one” Miss Parker, looking younger and prettier than ever, is singing front stage. Carter interrupts from the box. She promises to meet him at the stage door and go out for the cats. A stage door drop then is used. Carter does a song and dance while waiting and also chins the stage doorman. He and Flora then taxi to a quiet restaurant room in “three,” where Flora proceeds to make Carter’s roll like a thimbleful of ashes. Here the DeHavens sing two numbers, the most effective and snappy being the “Marriage Is a Grab Bag.” This is a neat, gingery little conceit, with the DeHavens and the waiter, doubling as the preacher, doing a trotting dance around and off the stage in bridal procession. For the end, following their ejection from the private dining room because they were not married, the masher takes Miss Parker home to New Rochelle. She enters and does a disrobing “bit” before a transparent window. The masher, broke, sings a little soliquoy and starts to walk back to the city as a lightning and rain effect is used in “one.” The act is away from anything previously offered by the DeHavens. It’s light and airy but sufficiently molded to give satisfaction. DeHaven is the accredited author, but the song, lyrics and music sounded suspiciously like Gene Buck and Dave Stamper.
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Variety, Volume XXXVI, no.6, October 10, 1914