Secret Service

Review in 'Surrey Advertiser' Wednesday 30 December 1914 " "On Secret Service" is the title of a topical and sensational dramatic sketch by A.S. Hardy in which the leading part of Jean Jacques Bonheur, chief of the International Service, is cleverly filled by the well-known actor, Mr. Henri de Vries. He is supported by a numerous company of capable artists, and the working out of the admirably constructed plot in an episode such as might have occurred after the declaration of the great war is followed with keen interest by the audiences. The play throws some light on the ramifications of the Germany spy system in this country."

Review in 'The Stage' January 7 1915 "On Monday evening, January 4, 1915, was produced here a melodramatic War sketch, in one scene, by A.S. Hardy, entitled:- On Secret Service. Jean Jacques Bonheur - Mr. Henri de Vries Richard Bellamy - Mr. Kendrew Milson Carl Steiner - Mr. Juan D'Alberti Chris. Matthewson - Mr. R. Marius St. John Sergeant Taylor - Mr. A. Bowerman Batts - Mr. Charles Brooke Bob - Master Donald Buckley Moggs - Mr. H. Wrightson Sergeant Carter - Mr. G.R. Saunders Nurse Phillips - Miss Dorothy Drake Scene, Richard Bellamy's Flat. Period, August, 1914. Mr. Henri de Vries's latest music-hall sketch will exercise a certain grip upon those who are not too well acquainted with the methods of the deadly calm detective who plays his quarry with all the cool-blooded assurance of a cat with a mouse, but to the initiated, it is to be feared, it will prove to be nothing but a little piece of deft stage machinery with the inevitable pointing all one way. It is far too full of obvious devices, for one thing, and gives one the impression all along that the malefactors who are being pursued by the detective have left a trail of clues behind them with the express object of having them discovered and explained by him in order that he can prove what a smart fellow he really is. This detective is a certain Jean Jacques Bonheur, the chief of the International Secret Service, and his first exploit is to enter, by the wrong way, the flat occupied by an old man named Richard Bellamy, and to get himself and his accomplice, a real cracksman, arrested for burglary. Great is the surprise of Chris. Matthewson, a Scotland Yard man, when Bonheur whips off his burglar's disguise, and reveals himself as his, Matthewson's, hated rival sleuth; but there are greater surprised to follow. Bonheur, in fact, is after no smaller game than a gang of German spies who are arranging to blow up a whole host of high British Naval Military and Civil officials; but it would serve no useful purpose to explain at length how he emerges triumphant at the finish through a dense cloud of smoke, and with the inevitable cigar between his teeth. It is necessary to explain Bonheur's presence in the flat, however, and the reason for his being there at all will be apparent when it is stated that the flat is next door to a church, and that the said high British officials are to attend a wedding there in full force on the morrow - on the eve or the very day - of the declaration of War, in fact! The German spies have already managed to make a hole in the wall big enough for the passage of a bomb, and it is eventually by means of this bomb that Bonheur is able to raise an alarm - after neatly plugging the ring-leader of the gang, a German ex-valet named Carl Steiner, who with true Teutonic effrontery declares that he is really a naturalised Scotsman named McDonald! Mr. Henri de Vries plays capitally throughout as Bonheur, as do also Messrs. Juan D'Alberti and Kendrew Milsom, as the German spy and the elderly owner of the flat, while Miss Dorothy Drake, in the rest of the cast, is excellent as a nurse who has been "betrayed" by the German, but finally helps in his undoing. The piece is finely staged, but its author should not spoil its several good points by refraining to subject it to drastic revision. As may perhaps be gathered from the above description of the plot, it would gain immensely in probability if no references to the War were made in it at all." Review in 'The Standard' Tuesday January 5 1915 "There are more than the conventional number of thrills in the sketch, "On Secret Service," written by Mr. S.A. Hardy, and produced at the Pavilion yesterday. The story hinges on a plot to blow up the heads of the British Army, Navy, and Government. The audience is held in breathless suspense till M. Henri de Vries, like Hawkshaw, confronts the conspirators with conclusive evidence of their guilt. It is a clever playlet, acted with splendid skill and power."