Aside from the impossibility of most of these occurrences,--a defect which is measurably lessened by Belasco’s deft treatment of them,--and also from the blemish of intricacy in the substructure of the plot, “La Belle Russe” is an effective play, of the society-melodrama order,--the action of it being free and cumulative, the characters well drawn, and the interest sustained. It contains an interesting exposition of monstrous feminine wickedness, and stimulates thought upon the infatuation that can be caused by seductive physical beauty, and it suggests the singular spectacle of baffled depravity stumbling among its attempted self-justifications,--_Beatrice_, of course, entering various verbal pleas in extenuation which, accepted, would establish her as a victim of ruthless society instead of her own unbridled tendencies. The play possesses, likewise, the practical advantages of a small cast, implicating only nine persons and requiring for its display only three simple sets of scenery. The San Francisco production of it was abundantly successful, Miss Jeffreys-Lewis, who had previously won high praise by performances of _Stéphanie de Mohrivart_, and also of the _Countess Zicka_, in “Diplomacy,” being specially commended, one observer declaring that, though her performances of those parts were good examples of the acting required in the tense dramatic situations of a duel of keen wits, “her _Geraldine_ [_Beatrice_] _Glandore_ is more varied, more vivid, more intense, and generally powerful. Her mobile face took on every shade of expression that the human face can wear, and perhaps not the least natural was the open, artless, sunny countenance which quickly won _Sir Philip’s_ love.” Tearle as _Captain Brand_ and Gerald Eyre as _Calthorpe_ were almost equally admired, and the play had a prosperous career of two weeks,--which, in San Francisco at that time, was substantial testimony to its popularity. Belasco writes this account of the production: