"LADIES AT PLAY."

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18924, 12 February 1927, Page 19

"LADIES AT PLAY."

SOME SLY HUMOUR. EVERYBODY'S THEATRE. MONDAY. Maidon ladies, two of them, "a little over thirty," of flirtatious and frolicsome temperament, disporting themselves coyly around a fashionahle hostelry at, say, Atlantic City or even Waipukurau, must, of a necessity, present themselves all unwittingly as targets for the facetious and the unkind. For know, ye phihstines of love, that if any maiden lady "a little over thirty' transports herself to eo inviting a place, she hai orefound plans up her sleeve, or, doubtless being without sleeves, in her head, which delicate and discreetly amusing situation is the theme proper of "Ladies at Play," the First National picture which heads the proframme at Everybody'* Theatre next week, his is a film to wonder at. Indeed, the meditation is so great that one instinctively pull* one's forelock in speechless marvel at such airy ingenuity and really smart wit which evolve a merry comedy out of merely two maiden ladies, a little over thirty. Of demure mein, which but accentuates their fell designs, these ladies are, in thair particular area, gems, as it were, of the purest ray serene. The havoo they cause, not precisely of the rcoro romantic type, ia tho cause of limitless comedy, uproarious thrills, and the end, romance of the most roseate due—but whether or no-for the enterprising ladies we decline to reveal. "Ladies at Play" may be eaid to be unique, and we use the word advisedly. Nearly all photoplays are related, hut this one is the founder of a bouse. Its plot has never, to our extensive knowledge, .been used before—we speak, of course, of the purely pictorial aspect of tbo drama—although it may be plnved any dnv in real life. Th» exmi's'fe discretion' and merry humour of its treatment, give it a dash and a tans and 11 colour which are altogether irresistible and wholly intriguing. As for these maiden ladies. Doris Kenyon, Louise Fatenda, and Ethel Wales play the leading characters, all with that indescribable touch of coyness and faintly panic-stricken fear which is the peculiar heritage of these oft-mentioned ladies a little over thirty. Their acting in this pioture is flecked with a very natural abandon, which, coupled to a frequent burst of youthful danng, gives the comedy touch supreme to their art. Lloyd Hushes makes a. disarming hero, sad Philo MeCallougb. for the nonce deserting his meddlesome and noisome tactics 11 a happy home-breaker, is vastlv amusing as a nonplussed hotel clerk, tin against those ladies. John Patrick and Halls m Cooley are inimitable as the fwo young men who elect to initiate the ladies into the mysteries and delights of modern life, and the audience enjoy the "tour" just as much as the ''guides." Viola Dana, in "The Great Love," is the second big attraction on the bill. "The Great Love" is an engrossing and oceasoinally a sensational drama of show life, with all its tragedies "and comedies, loves and hates. Although there has been a surfeit of this type of picture of late, this Jletro-Ooldwyn production has- a distinction all its own, a subtle charm and cultured appeal which make it unusually interesting fare. A 'aree and talented _ east support Mies Dana, who, aa a dramatic actress, unqnestionablv discovers her forte. The Select Orchestra, under Mr W. J. Bellingham, F.S.M., will play a special orchestral programme of incidental music, classic and popular music being well represented thereon. The box plans are now open nt The Bristol Piano Company, where seats may te reserved.