Channing Pollock's melodrama, "The Sign on the Door," which opened at the Majestic Theatre on Monday night, attempts to follow the "thriller" pathway of such as "The Thirteenth Chair," "The Crimson Alibl," or "The Ouija Board." But the standard of these plays is a difficult one to maintain, and "The Sign on the Door" does not reach it. Instead, we have a murder story of rather clumsy construction, which has for its saving feature the admirable acting of Marjorie Rambeau and practically all the others in the cast.

The material of the plot is only too familiar; it is too laboriously and unconvincingly developed to send that creepy sensation up the collective spines of the audience. The play takes a prologue and one uninteresting act to get under way; but the last two acts have at least the virtue of holding fast one's attention. The action depends on the villainous Frank Devereaux's efforts to seduce innocent women and the resultant triangle of false suspicion, threats, and "evidence." In a struggle for his revolver, Devereaux is shot by "Lafe" Regan, whose wife is in the next room--she having visited Devereaux for the purpose of protecting her daughter. Regan arranges everything to look like suicide, leaves the room and locks the door on the outside, thereby imprisoning his wife. Here appears the "Sign on the door"; he fastens on the outside a piece of paper Devereaux had written for the chambermaid's benefit--"Do Not Disturb Me." Then somewhat over-dramatically, Mrs. Regan unhooks the telephone, fires two shots, screams, and when help arrives, confesses that she has killed the villain in defense of her honor. Later on, Regan acknowledges that he had committed the deed; what follows is cleverly worked out and moves rapidly to a satisfactory ending.

Miss Rambeau, as "Ann Regan," is given much opportunity to display her emotional powers, and her acting is excellent throughout, although possibly a trifle over-done in the "big scene." She is very human in her gestures and facial expressions in particular. Mr. Baker gave a consistently good interpretation of the husband, and Mr. Minturn was a self-possessed, smiling villain. Miss Beatrice Allen was a shivery, clinging type of daughter-heroine, while Mr. Slaytor did well as the landlord. One of the best pieces of acting in the entire show was done by Mr. Vivian as Ferguson, the valet. He received a liberal share of the applause, and aided in an apt characterization of his master, Devereaux, by pathetically exclaiming "You'd be such a nice man, sir, if there weren't any women in the world!" Mr. Walling as Inspector Treffy, contributes another line of truth when Mrs. Regan is found in Devereaux's room: "Its funny how often they come to a man's bedroom to fight for their honor." The first-night audience showed an unexpected tendency to laugh at the moment that tears would be appropriate; whether this had anything to do with the play itself, or simply betrayed the contrary mood of the spectators is a question. However, they did have a right to laugh at the end of the first act, when two stage-hands took the curtain-call by mistake. In spite of its defective technique, then, "The Sign on the Door" is redeemed for future audiences by the excellence of the cast, and especially by the ability of Marjorie Rambeau.