AMUSEMENTS.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18670, 20 April 1926, Page 10

AMUSEMENTS.

EVERYBODY'S THEATRE.

A TALE OF SPAIN. REAL BULL FIGHT SCREENED. Gay Seville, historic Madrid, enchanting Granada —in such a setting ij "The Bandolero," tho current release at Everybody's. Not the tinsel Spain of Hollywood, nor the Americanised Spaniards of Los Angeles, arc featured, but tho old world slumbering land of sunlight and men and women of Castilian blood. "The Bandolero" was produced in Spain, and the leading players are Spanish, the natural result being that the picture is permeated with such an atmosphere as could never be obtained in crowded and artificial

"set*" in an American motion picture studio. Itonee Adoree is not new to picture-goers, and this talented actress, with the mysterious eyes, has lost none of her charm. Pedro dc Cordoba is a newcomer, with such languid grace as only tho Spanish Don possesses, and such smouldering passion as only the warm blood of that little-known romantic country can inspire. An all-powerful Marques has only one passion—for his tiny sou. Dissipated and without conscience or scruple, he lavishes on the boy all his love, and turns to tho world a mask of cruelty. In the hills lurks the famous Carrcra, once a gallant soldier, but now head of a feared gang of cut-throat bandits, robbing and ravaging where they list. The Marques' son is kidnapped by the Bandolero and his men, and from that timo on the wretched lord knows no peace of mind. Earh year comes to him a lock of his sou's hair—first the golden curl of youth, and as years go by, the dark, straight lock of a virile man. In these years the son, brought up by a peasant woman, meets and falls in love ivith the Bandolero's daughter. Such an intimacy is the last thing desired by the bandit chief, whose wife had suffered outrage at the hands of the Marques. The son, separated from his loved one, goes to Seville and there wins fame as a matador. Then comes that splendid flight in which man and maddened beast test out strength and skill alone in the flower-strewn arena. Tho unsuspecting Marques, for the whim of a woman, gives tho signal which means tho death of his son. Thus this powerful story develops to a, most fitting climax.

Blanche Sweet brings her mature charm to tho screen once more in a drama of the sea and its sacrifices. Playing tho part of a faithful girl who waits for the return of her seafaring lover, Blanche Sweet has a powerful role in which to display her ability for tense dramatic acting. Robert Eraser, well known in lighter roles, proves himself an actor of distinction in his characterisation of the captain who has stayed away too long. "Why Women Love" is an intensely stirring picture Under Conductor W. J. Bellingham, F.S.M., Everybody's Select Orchestra is heard in some excellent studies. Appropriate to the Spanish sotting of "The Bandolero," Bizet'a "Toreador Song," the "Habanera," Lozano's "Cordoba" and Rimsky-Korsakov's "Cappriccio Eepagnole," and "Scheherazada" are played, while several lighter melodies including "In Old Manila." "Marcheta,'' and "Tell All the World," make a popular appeal.