AMUSEMENTS.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19286, 16 April 1928, Page 4

AMUSEMENTS.

"THE LIFE OF RILEY." ♦ CHARLIE MURRAY AND GEORGE SIDNEY.

CRYSTAL PALACK. TO-DAY. Alter » week o! melodrama, the Crystal Palace Theatre returns this week to its accustomed, and more popular, policy of comedy. "The Lifo o! Riley" is » comedy sufficient in itself to demand no auxiliary film, so Monday's bill will fcaturo hut gazettes and suchlike short complements, which, together with the musical programme to be played by the Symphony Orchestra, should constitute as pleasurable a programme as has been submitted at Crvstal Palace for an age P«t. ™ Charlie Murray and George Sidney.are the famous stars of "McFaddcn s 1 lots and one or two lesser glories but it is in us Kilev affair that they burst forth nice meteors, flash for a space across the screen and after indulging in their amazing pranks and various fooHsfnesses for the delec at.on of the audience, sink into temporary oblivion to venture forth again with perhaps "better comedy. It is but tiresome reiteration to say that the story is bright and amusing, that the acting eclipses all that has gone before it in comedy, that the two stars shine, with greater brilliance than they have ever done before, that the sub-titles are hugely -unny. and that the wholo thing is such a wild laugh that words fail one. Tiresome reiteration, but at the expense of tiring the pic-ture-going public, all these admirable aspects .of good comedy must be once more, mentioned. Reviewing a comedy film is like reeling off a proposition in Euclid: "all comedies are the same comedy; the angle of one comedy is equal to the angle of another; they all come from the same basis." They are all mado with the intention of amusing, but some get there" better than others, and The Life ot Kiley" finishes well. Though it has the most incongruous, and'therefore the most riotous team, of the screen in the leading roles, that alone, without a genuinely funny story, would not do the trick. Murray and Sidney gambol ingenuously through every reel, say the most delightful things, quarrel with the most fervent fervour, but those reels are fraught with ideal incidents for them, and their path is consequently smoothed for them. The Fire Chief and the Chief of Police are more interested in wooing the one widow than in quelling outbursts, fiery or criminal, and it would appear that widows are of almost as endless a source of fun as mothers-in-law. Myrtle Stedman i 3 the widow, and as not even such a comedy as this would be complete without its youthful romantic interest, we have June Marlowe and Stephen Carr sitting pretty 'neath the summer moon. All in all, "The Life of Riley," by Murray and Sidney, is going to rival "The Life of Johnson," bR Boswell, in popularity. Mr Alfred Bun's'b Symphony Orchestra will play the following musical programme: Overture,- "Polonaise Militaire" (Chopin); "Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes" (words by Ben Jonson, music by Quilter), "Fireman'i Frolic" (Day), "Policeman's Holiday" (Knight), "Irish Eyes" (Ball), "Irish Melodies" (Myddleton), "Papillon D'Or" (Siede), "Journey to Fortune" (Jessel), "The Fountain" (Davidoff), "My Irish Home" (Honley). The box plans are now open Bt The Bristol Piano Co., where seats may be reserved. ...

"THE THIRTEENTH JUROR." A CLEVER DRAMA. ■ LIBERTY THEATRE, TO-DAY. Simultaneously with hi* return to the screen' as "Ben Hur," Francis X. Bushman renewed his old standing.with his public, as well as contributing one of the finest pieces of acting seen on the screen. Sinco then he has appeared in one or two indifferent photoplays, only in "The Thirteenth Juror" appearing as the Bushman of long ago, strong, virile, a little hard. With Anna Q. Nilsson opposite him in this picture, which' will bo the main attraction at Liberty Theatre week, he succeeds in instilling an. atmosphere of capability into this drama, which is the ecreen version of Henry, Irving Dodge's stage play, "Counsel for the Defence." *'Tho Thirteenth Juror" is the figurative title for : "counsel's conscience." It is a good story, extremely well done, The buildipg up of the ingenious plot, with its essential technical-applications and intricacies of the profession, is as skilful as the general unravelling of the story; always it intrigues,- often' thrills, sometimes launches out on the paths of middle-aged romance and '-\ slender humour. It is never melodramatic ■ nor maudlin, and the ending is .logical, hu-; "nianely possible, and as.far removed from-.' the accustomed climax as the Poles are', asunder/ As the counsel for the defence, who knows so much and may speak so little, Francis Bushman shows sparks of that strength which he displayed so ably in "Ben Hur"; and, at the end, when it appears even lawyers may indulge in a little emotion, he is equally .effective. Miss Anna Nilsson, who was last seen jn Christchurch in "Sorrell and Son," is leading woman in, the drama, acting creditably, while George Siegmann,' Martha Mattox, and Walter Pid-, geon are also among the players. Supporting "The Thirteenth Juror' on the i-bill is "Spiders' of \hs West," in whicii: Colonel' Tim McCoy rides hard, fights hard. and, one supposes, makes hard love. Colonel McCoy is not the usual Western actor uot by a long shot. He is a soldier, and he makes everything move somewhat while he is out West. A good story this, the very great virtue of. originality. The Concert Orohostra, with Mr Ernest Jamieson conducting, will contribute the following musical programme'.—Overture, "Sixth Symphony" (Mozart). "Rienzi" (Wagner), BelsaMr Suite" (Sibelius), "Boherman Girl "(Balfe), "Gems frorrv Schumann" /GoldeuV "Hungarian Rhapsody" (Liszt), "11 Iraviati" (Verdi); • "Vaudeville Hits" (Howard), ' "Mignon" " (Thomas). * <'The Doll Dance. (Brown), The box plans are at The Bristol i Piino 'Company, where seat« may be reserved.