Sarah Bernhardt in Adrienne Lecouvreur.
So much for Maurice Bernhardt. He was an affectionate son, and if he has not been exceptionally useful during his long life, it is the fault of his haphazard upbringing. He is now a father, a grandfather, a member of the best Paris clubs, a well-known figure in baccarat rooms and on race-courses, and he still maintains his excellent reputation as a swordsman. Sarah died in his arms.
It was in 1880, before she left for her first American tour—in October of that year—that Sarah Bernhardt first organised a company of her own. This was placed by her under the paternal direction of Félix Duquesnel, Sarah’s old friend at the Odéon, and consisted of nine artistes, who had been carefully selected for the purpose of supporting her on tour. They were Madame Kalb, Pierre Berton, Mary Jullien, Jeanne Bernhardt, Madame Devoyod, Jean Dieudonné, L. Talbot, J. Train and myself. I was, of course, the youngster of the troupe.
Our répertoire at this time consisted of eight plays: Hernani, Froufrou, La Dame aux Camélias, Le Sphinx, L’Etrangère, La Princesse George, Adrienne Lecouvreur and Phèdre. Let me now set forth the story of how La Dame aux Camélias, one of Sarah’s greatest triumphs, proved a failure until she brought her own genius to bear on the play and transformed it into a masterpiece.
La Dame aux Camélias, as a matter of fact, was in its original form written by Dumas fils after earnest consultation with Sarah. It was never played, however, and lay for some years neglected in a drawer. One day Dumas took it out and read a few pages of the second act to Sarah, for the purpose of eliciting her opinion on the piece.
“Let me take it with me!” she asked, and Dumas gave the manuscript to her.
A few days later she brought it back to him with a third of it crossed out and corrected. New lines had been added to practically all the important passages, and part of the second act had been cut out entirely.
“There!” she told him. “Your play is better like that! If you will revise it as I have marked the manuscript, I will play it and make it a success.”
“It is I who am the playwright and not you, mademoiselle!” he said angrily.