Helen Menken (1922)

Helen Menken first appeared at Elitch during the summer of 1922. Following the season, she was cast in the Broadway long-running play, Seventh Heaven. John Mulvihill had contacted her prior to the 1924 season and had invited her back to perform in some of the plays. She was not certain, as she had plans to travel to Europe during the summer for a period of time to rest before returning to her role in Seventh Heaven.

June Walker, Elitch’s leading lady, was invited to try out two new plays with producers of her last two New York engagements. Her scheduled departure after her fourth play at Elitch created the necessity for a new leading lady to replace her. John Mulvihill again contacted Helen Menken and invited her to return to Elitch to star in the final seven plays of the season. Simply stated, the choice was whether to go to Europe for a rest or return to Denver for seven weeks of hard work in summer stock. The following were her comments:

After Seventh Heaven closed, I thought I would like to do absolutely nothing for months. I arranged to go to Europe, and had made arrangements for quite a long stay in Italy. Then I got a wire from Mr. Mulvihill, asking me if I could come for a longer time than we had considered when we talked about Elitch in New York last winter.

The desire for work grew very strong. I had almost been thrown out of John Golden’s office (her manager) after having gone in four times to ask how soon Seventh Heaven was going to open again. But I went back when I heard from Elitch, and asked his advice. He told me that playing at Elitch under Rollo Lloyd was just the thing for me to do. Then I wired Mr. (David) Belasco. He wired back the same advice – said it would be the wisest thing I could do and that he wished me well and hoped he and I might do big things together in the near future.

That settled it, and I wired Mr. Mulvihill that I would come out right away.

[Denver Post, July 6, 1924.]

Upon her arrival by train in Denver, Ms. Menken was met by John Mulvihill. As she hopped from the steps of the train into his arms, she stated, “I am as excited and as happy as a child at coming back.” Mulvihill admitted he was glad to see her.

The opening play for Miss Menken at Elitch was Drifting, in which she had scored a notable hit in the role of Cassie Cook in the play’s successful New York run, making her a star overnight….

In a review of Helen Menken’s performance in the role in the Elitch presentation, the drama critic wrote:

We who have watched her for a summer at the Gardens have thought we knew all about her acting, but Sunday night she turned loose things that are beyond anything she ever showed before and much that was superior to her best work in the plays two years ago. (Denver Post, July 14, 1924)

[Borrillo, Theodore A., (2012). Denver’s historic Elitch Theatre : a nostalgic journey (a history of its times). pp. 131-132.]

When she appeared at HET, Menken was just getting her start as a star! Several years after her 1924 season at the theatre she married Humphrey Bogart. A year later her performance as Irene De Montcel in the first English-language production of The Captive, Edouard Bourdet’s lesbian-themed drama, led to her arrest (along with the rest of the cast, including Basil Rathbone) on February 9, 1927.