AMUSEMENTS.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19251, 5 March 1928, Page 6

AMUSEMENTS.

"DANCING MAD." >« "THE CRYSTAL CLP." CRYSTAL PALACE, TO-DAY. ! "With the new programme of ibis week, ! Ihi Crystal l'alace Theatre will revert to the "old time'' observed by all the theatres before the introduction oi Summer Time; \hc house will open at 0.30 this evening, and the piogiaiiime wilJ commence at 7.30. A picture, that, in its spirit of pleasure and energetic frivolities bespeaks the advent of auiumn and winter, haa been appropriately secured, "Dancing Mad,' made by the Fox Coinpanv ir. Europe, ai.<l starring Maria. Corda, held by famous artists to btt the most beautiful woman in the world. This Hungarian player baa, however, something more than beauty to commend her; luv sense of humour, delightfully evinced in "Dancing Mad," her appreciation of light drama and her exquisitely subtleties in dealing with a domesticated husband are other talents which she exploits as much as she does her charms. As a. result, this smartand "adult" comedy romance is alive with piquancy and the spirit of the night clubs; but a3 it would defeat its own ends if it closed on tiic blaring note of the horn or the wail of Hie saxophone, it presents a plot of more than average thought, a story that haa coherency and commands attention and a climax that is humorously and obviously "Continental." None but those Europeans would dream of presenting the wife sitting at the feet of the ex-mistress and learning the art of pacifying a now fractious spouse; none but thoso Europeans would throw this strange pair into transports of mirth while discussing the absent one; nor could one imagine a lord of , the north brooking all this in conjugal silence. "Dancing Mad" i 3 wonderfully refreshing, even if its Boulevard atmosphere invites at times "that tired feeling"; it is amusing, it is sometimes dramatic, it ends in an odour of romance, and always it is ptesentod with the airs and graces of the Haut Monde—well-staffed flats, and excellent restaurants and even better dance clubs; but the good old fireside, complete with elippors and newspaper ard tabby cat look good after it all. Maria Corda is the whole show in this picture; she is improvirg, so that her first American made picture, "Thu Private Life of Helen of Troy," is eagerlv looked forward to.

In "Tli'c Crystal Cup," the second picturs on the bill, admiring audiences are asked to watch Dorolhy Mackail play the part of a modern girl who is consumed with a fiery hatred of men, anything that savours of men, anything that oven looks like men. One's whole-hearted astonishment nt all this is increased when one sees Jack Mulhall fade in. and waste his smiles on the desert air "The Crystal Cup," however, is not the usual type of light comedy m which this team play; it is a drama, and a very unusual one at that, extremely clever and must surely intrigue the palate of the most seasoned theatregoer and the most blase critic. Jane Winfor., Clarissa Selwynne, and Rockliffo Followed are other distinguished players in the cast. The Symphony Orchestra, under Mr Alfred Bunz, plays the following musical programme:—Overture, "Britannia's Realm" (Sir Landon Ronald); "Violin Concerts" (Max Bruseh), "The Loreley" (Max Brusch), "Beautiful Rosemarie" (Kreisler), "Azora" (Henry Hadley), "Witches Dance" (Nemeti), "Wiitcli Scene" (Borch), "A Kiss Before the Dawn' (Perkins), (Biese); trombone solo, "Harvest Time" (Haydn Wood). The box plan 3 are at The Bristol Piano Company. With the starring picture, "Dancing Mad," there is an A certificate, so the film is recommended more for adult audiences.