"THE LOVE THIEF."

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18855, 22 November 1926, Page 6

"THE LOVE THIEF."

"THE GIRL FROM MONTMARTRE" EVERYBODY'S, TODAY. Lots is a fine'art—reduced to » business. The latter is by far. the more difficult of the ivo premisos, .as "The- Love Thief." the featured attraction , at. Everybody's Theatre this week, will endeavour to prove." A popular, writer of the present • day -ba3 stated that "most of us are.more or les3 mercenary, especially .with regard'.to affairs of the heart," and (he number of amusing and fascinating ways in which love, the fine art, can be twisted into a rather delightful business, forms ths seemingly frail basis of tiiis comedy-drama.. It is ' a light,--frothy htory of political intrigues and court loves—alcays an interesting .__ subject—and'-, is treated with all the ; deft airiness and graceful comedy that characterises most European writers when they turn their facetious hands 10 royal romances. Most people • have an insatiable- curiosity concerning things that nro beyond their ken, and which very likely will be impossible for them to acrually experience. Thercfote. for those .who love "talcs of courtly conspiracies and' the private affairs which rock kingdoms. "The. Love Thief" comes as a ' most welcome photoplay. It naturally adds zest and piquancy to a picture of this nature when it is learnt that the.se stories are usually actual facts, events, .which have occurred at European courts. -..Amazing things used to happen in the French royal household during the reigns of some of the more romantic of the Bourbons, and as kings and princes are like the rest of men, what more natural than a prince of the blood, when commanded to. wed the dourest of royal women, should arise and assert himself! There is no dramatic tragedy in "Tho Love Thief," despite, tho fact that a deeply dramatic story could have been woven around it. It ".a always a delicate and mirthful romance, the final scene even taking on dimensions of a faint farco. A most authentic atmosphere has been captured by the director in the making of this picture, the mellow soul of tho Old World making Us presence felt in a quietly insistent manner. . It is most gorgeously produced, the throne-room set being a reproduction of a certain European royai chamber. Morman Kerry, the leading romantic actor of tho screen, plays the title role, a gay Lothario who finds the tables turned against him in humorous and unmistakable fashion. Greta Nissen heads the supporting cast, and acts with her customary easy grace and charm of manner. Marc McDermott and Cissy Fitzgerald also appear. The exotic Barbara la Marr heads Ilia cast of "Tho Girl from Montmatre," the second attraction on the programme. This colourful drama of tho most romantic corner of Paris is adapted from "Spanish Sunlight," a story of the cafes and cabarets of the French capital, and the heavy hearts thet aro hidden under the bantering masks of dancing girls. It is a very simple matter to wax commonplace ovor such a theme, but this picture is conspicuous for its absence of the ordinary. Everything, from the plot down to the merest detail, is brilliantly new, and the superb acting of Miss la Marr. accentuates, at every turn, the undoubted ' power aud appeal of the picture. Lewis Stone,' the actor who stands alone in the field of leading men, appears in support .of the star. , The Select Orchestra, under Mr W. J. Bellingham,-. will, play a special orchestral programme, including the following:—Overture, "Porta Westfalia" (von Blon); suite, "Prelude et Cortege" (Debussy); "Scenes Alsacicnnei" (Massenet); opera, "Werther" (Massenet), "La Boheme" (Puccini), ballet music, "La Korrigane" (Widor); entr'acte, "Humoresquc" (Dvorak); light selections, "The Gondoliers" (Sullivan), "Maid of the East" (Neale). Box plans are at The' Bristol Piano Company, where s«ats may bo reserved.