AMUSEMENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 106, 7 May 1931, Page 3

AMUSEMENTS.

NATIONAL THEATRE. Produced among the trackless wilds of North-West Canada, "The Silent Enemy," which opens a season at the National Theatre to-morrow, is a thrilling and unusual Nature film, depicting wild animals and wild tribes in their native haunts. It is an epic of thr dying race of North American Indians, and many of the natives who take part in the picture are living the same kind of life and fighting the same battle against hunger with the same primitive weapons their ancestors used centuries ago. A lovely Indian girl is the heroine and the story is her fight to win over the man she loves from the forces of starvation and superstition. The picture is an intense. human drama, enacted in a strange environment and surrounded by most unusual circumstances. "The Santa Fe Trail," a drama of a desperate feud between cattle men and sheep owner in the Middle West, just after the Civil War, will close its season at the National Theatre this evening. • Richard Arlen and Roseta Moreno are the principals. PLAZA THEATRE. A programme arranged especially for the children's vacation, comprising Zauo Grey's adventure-romance, "Fighting Caravans," and some entertaining "supports," is being presented at the Plaza Theatre. An attraction at the main afternoon session is a stage performance by Clancey's performing dogs and monkeys, and an act by Charles Valentine, ventriloquist. Gary Cooper plays the part of a care-free prairie scout in "Fighting Caravans," and Lily Damitai gives an appealing portrayal as the orphaned French girl whom he befriends. Their caravan is attacked by Indians, who are repulsed, but there is a second thrilling battle, following which the girl j is kidnapped and the hero is called | upon to rescue her. His comrades (Ernest Torrence and Tully Marshall) die fighting in defence of the caravan. Eugene Pallette is excellent in the main comedy role. ROXY THEATRE. A compelling drama, "Lady From The Sea," and an hilarious comedy, "Why Sailors Leave Home," comprise the current programme at the Roxy Theatre. "Lady From The Sea" is the story of a young English coastguard, a member of a. lifeboat, who jilts his sweetheart in favour of a beautiful French girl whom he rescues from a wreck. The party later visits the notorious Goodwin. Sands, to view an old derelict, and in a quarrel the young man's brother is accidentally killed. • There ' are many dramatic episodes before the hero is finally reconciled to his fiancee. Mona Goya, Raymond Millara-- and Eugenie Amami are the principals. In "Why Sailors Leave Home," the inimitable Leslie Fulhjr is seen as an adventurous British sailor who wins the favour of a wealthy sheik by saving his life, and' agrees to take his place when the potentate leaves on a journey to pacify a chieftain whose daughter he has abducted. Bill' 6 rule over the court and harem gives rise to many amusing complications, and the story ends when his shipmates arrive to rescue him from polygamy.. Lola Harvey and Syd. Courteney head the supporting cast. REGENT THEATRE. Hilarious comedy and thrilling adventures are once again combined in Harold Lloyd's latest comedy, "Feet First," which will open a season at the Regent Theatre to-morrow. He plays the part of a shop assistant who poses as a millionaire in order to impress a beautiful typiste in the same city emporium. She in turn masquerades as an heiress. His efforts to "crash" a fashionable society ball are only the prelude to a succession of uproariously funny episodes, in the course of which he finds himself on board the trans-Pacific liner Malolo without, a ticket; is forced to conceal himself in a mail bag, only to be carried in it on a ship-to-shore aeroplane; and is finally deposited in a precarious position on a painters' scaffolding high above the. buildings of Honolulu. Barbara Kent is the heroine. Maurice Chevalier scores another triumph in "Playboy of Paris," which has its final screening this evening. He plays the part of a humble waiter who becomes a gay Lothario at night. Frances Dee makes a charming heroine, while the. comedy roles are filled by Eugene Pallette and Stuart Erwin. [ CRYSTAL PALACE THEATRE. "Hook, Line and Sinker," a comedy in i which Robert Wheeler and Bert "Wool- 1 sey score another success, heads the cur-' rent programme at the Crystal Palace Theatre. They are seen as two salesmen who'take charge of a hotel and are called upon to defend it from two bands of gangsters. "Queen High," a sparkling comedy, will also be shown. . EMPRESS THEATRE. Walter Huston, famous stage actor, plays the part of a witty and reckless Mexican bandit in "The Bad Man," now screening at the Empress Theatre. Dorothy Revier and 0. P. Heggie head the supporting cast. "Maybe It's Love,"! a college comedy, is the second attrac- ; tion. HOSPITAL CONCERTS. The weekly concert arranged by Mrs. Raeburn and Mr. A. Hamblin was given in Ward 2 at the Auckland Hospital'last evening. The programme was arranged by Mr. W. R. Dickson and included items by Miss Jagger Smith's Orchestra, the five Witty Sisters, Messrs. S. Parker, P. Black, V. O'Halloran, W. R. Dickson, Master Jagger Smith, and Miss O'Halloran and Miss Jagger Smith (accompanists). The Neville Carlson Revue Company provided an'excellent variety entertainment to the patients at the Evelyn Firth Home on Tuesday evening. Items were contributed by Mrs. S. Paskell, Mrs. E. C. Cussens, Mrs. J. de Rose, Misses M. Ward, L. Skinner, P. Wallace, Z. Richards, M. Hines, J. Tucker, M. Hcaildon, Messrs. J. de Rose, G. Davies, R. Hart, E. C. Cussens, G. and N. Carlsen, and Miller's Banjo Band. A vote of appreciation was passed.