ART EXHIBITION.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18462, 17 August 1925, Page 7

ART EXHIBITION.

MISS WILDING'S PICTURES. On account of a number of hav ing bens received by people vtho na unable to attend last week because bad weather, Miss C. N. Wilding * cided to keep her exhibition •of pictu the Art Gallery oijen for a further wees.

LIBERTY THEATRE. "DOWX TO THE SEA. IN SHIPS" AND ' "THE BREATH OF SCANDAL." Congratulations are duo to Ihe management of the Liberty Theatre fcr the excellent programme of motion pictures and orchestral music it offers the public this week. At the initial night session on Saturday. hundreds of peop.e were turned aw.i> frcm the doors at an ear';.' hour and the "full hcu?e" sign w«3 hur.g cut be:orc the Ecreening of the programme was commenced. Billed as being "United Allots 19-5 special attraction,'' the picture "Down to tlie Sea in Ships" heads t'-e currert programme. It is 6eidsm thi't the public of Ch'.istcliurch has the opportunity to vitucsi suc.i an attraction 5.3 "Down to the Sea .n Ships." For the whole production is founded on truth and yet, such strange trutn that any audience corld almost o" P 3 l" doned f.r thinking it fiction. The liim is realism rai«td to a degree that lies heretofore been undreamed of in screen p'.'cduc- | tion : it is the sort of picture that «ilj never pro-baby be mode again because ot the great dinger that musi attend it«. production. of the action_ r.rd all tne thrills (and they are take j>l'ce , on the high seas—in shaik and whale infested minis. Thrills, romance, and adventure permeate every sceno. Those who love dare-devil exploits and red-blooded a:l----ventu:e and those who love sweet romances were more than pleased with the pictuie on Safurdav; they were deliehted and enthralled. right from the first flash to the final fade-rut. Or.e of the excihnri scenes is the fight between a liandfu' of daring seamen and a giant whale. Captain Raymond McKee, and his crew of rough but honest whalers, had put out from the peaceful port of New Bedfo d, and it wa3 days later that tliev had saile-1 nton the fens in which were the ma m iv' i h bull whale?. And it was there in lh°, temoesluous waters o; the rrf'.d-Atbntic that they enraged _ a leviathan of the deep by Bpearing it. with a long haipoon. Stung to furv by the sudden and unexpected thruet cf the weapon, the monster swam fast, away from the blosd-tinted waters, dragging the frail craft with it at the speed r' an express train. Then, apparently idealising that escape from the trailing boat wa3 futile, it turned swiftly and crashed, into the boat, casting the terrified men into the tea, which swarmed w.th man-eating shatke. The whale, freed from the., craft, but squirming with pain from the harpoon thrust, la,shed the sea ab:>ut it into a foam while it stunned the almost drowning men. But through it all there 13 a pretty love tale, and old-fashioned Quaker wedding and the quaint frocks and frills worn at the ceremony were acitr.rrd by the feminine section of the audience. Second on the programme is the much heralded "Breath of Scandal" featuring the ever-welcome Patsy Ruth' Miller (who iw to fame in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"), Lou Tellegen, Betty Blythe, and Jack Mulhall. The "Breath of Scandal' is an entirely new kind of problem play. It tells how whispered rumours can swell into a roar cf condemnation. Although the story moves into the select circles of New York high society, it has a moral which, can be applied to all classes. Besides the two big attractions, the management presented tno film depicting the arrival of the United States HTleet in the Dominion's cap : tal city. The Liberty Quality Orohestra, under the direction of Mr Howard Moody, provided a fine programme of incidental music. The entr'acte th's week is the popular Barcarolle from "Tales of Hoffman" (Offenbach), and the number captivated the audience. A selection from the "Quaker Girl" containin" its most popular numbers, fitted m well with the big pictures. "The Earl King' (Schubert), was another greatly appreciated item* arid the cornet solo waa excellently played by Mr Chapman. Two new fox trots this week are "Cold Mamma's and Just Cause." As a piano solo, Mr Mcody p.ays "To 3. Wandering Iceberg" (McDowell), obtaining a beautiful tone from the instrument and giving the sola a fino intorpretaticm Other numbers include: Suites, ' (Coleridge-Taylor); "Petite Suite, Moderne (Rosse); comic opera, "Jumble Sale (Brahm); ballot, "Faust/' (Gounod); opera, "Reminiscences of Verdi ; symphony No. 7 ib G (Hadyn).