HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLII, Issue 9473, 4 March 1922, Page 6

HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE.

“THE SECRET OF THE HILLS.” The large audience which attended the matinee performance at His Majesty’s Theatre this afternoon were delighted with the splendid programme of pictures submitted for their amusement and instruction. The starring attraction was “The Secret of the Hills,” a special Vitagraph feature from the story by William Garrett. Antonio Moreno’s handsome features and fiery Latin temperament are admirably suited to this romantic story of London and the hills of Scotland. Spurred on by a young English girl he met under unusual circumstances, the hero seeks to find a treasure hidden in the Scottish hills through a cryptogram found in her uncle’s effects. A gang of crooks have the same object in view. The tale has been elaborately produced and there are many spectacular sets. The London fog scenes, the Chinese restaurant, the cave scees and those laid in Scotland are particularly impressive. The unusual twists of the story are of a nature that holds the attention until the final close-out. The programme also includes another episode in the life story of Tarzan of the Apes entitled “The Jungle Trap,” another remarkable picture in this popular series. “The Knock-out,” a comedy full of extraordinarily funny situations, provides the lighter side and a topical" picture in which some splendid high diving stunts are featured is also shown. Madame Cadzow at the piano again delights her audience with a bright selection of music. The same programme will be screened this evening and again on Monday night. “BLACK PANTHER’S CUB.” In “Black Panther’s Cub,” which is coping to His Majesty’s Theatre on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, Florence Reed as the star attraction is sfeen in the most notable production of her stage career. As the story of “The Black Panther’s Cub” opens Miss Reed us seen as “Faustine,” known as the “Black Panther,” and keeper of the most notorious gambling palace in Paris. She is the shrewd temptress, the cold and calculating beauty who has all Paris at her feet. Many notables and nobles seek in vain for her love. As the story progresses there is an allegorical flasn of Swinburne’s “Faustine the Empress” whose thumb is ever turned down on the unfortunates of the gladiatorial ring. It is this “Faustine” that the “Black Panther” is said to resemble and it is because of her unrelenting greed for gold and the attention of men that she has been so named. In the role of the once beautiful “Faustine,” now a grey and wrinkled old woman, but whose heart still burns with a passion for greed, Miss Reed does some of the most wonderful acting of her long and successful career.