"MY OFFICIAL WIFE."

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19612, 7 May 1929, Page 15

"MY OFFICIAL WIFE."

♦ - A ROMANCE OF OLD RUSSIA. UHKRTY THEATRE' 9u»d on the •'*«• P 1 oI the s * mo n * m °' •M T OuMal Wife," » romance o< old and ~„ Buasia, i» the main attraction »t the Liberty Tht.tr* thin week. With auch a Mtling. anv n.cture would be interring, with a good .tor, and «M*lU»t Mting, "My Official Wife" « doubly eo. _ The »«>»•» change rapidly, from the apien- *«««! tt. Kuw.u Court to the gay lif* L Venire, and b*ok again to Kumw. A* tenia deughl«r of the ancic.it Uottso »f &« l«n. Uich act. with «r*e. ConT»Lrl» who uiukm a very welcome rerZwroner,' play* the part ol the m of toOran I Du)u, Alexander. Tho story opens It a to. wU.i ItuMift ii » seething mass * poSl inlrisuo. Among .ho officer, of Ik. Royal Guard ia Sascha. a *on ol the Or»d t>«k». and five other young men. . jo iSw famiHea at high rank. Their motto for all -AU *»r one." On. evening t h. CounUM Homy. leave for. masquerade Ct on the war her sleigh is capaiised by ?'.," the merry •*«*•«*. Th. yuung »«u Miw the girl and compel her to journey with them to u country mn. \vhero_ they later *k«.«.-lf.« h»r 'l'o avenge their Honour, the twX. d.«M-i that the officers implicated be uilad to Siberia. However, the leader of the raiiit%ry tribunal finds that to banish ti>e young men would create a political upheaval to ho refuses tho demand. In a moment of linger the Count**, states that ■K* "will find men in Russia who will carry out her wishes, even against ihe Czar. Ii»t«, .he finds that her word, have been taken aeiioualy, and the V.ranofla are entiled. But M.n the Grand lake's ion h,»re of the r*«ult ol hi. eacapade, h. delude. *« •»»« the YerunoffH, and succeeds m W. plltlt to enable them *o reach Austria. A y**r pan-un, ajid S««cha i» in \ eiuco, 'i;'. ,; ' who. be I. carrying out a 'diplomatic im»- } 'H'.inn. Tb.r.l he meet, a beautiful Russian Mil., who is winging in a cabaret, and fall* in lev* with h.r. But he don. not recogm** tit. ainger a. tho Countess Soma. Then follow a ••tie* of intriguing events, for the Counted. 1<»» .worn to avenge h*r«elf • aca.HAi the man who insulted her. llowivm, th.ro is a happy ending when the two an feconciled. The splendour of the Russian Court of the old regime in realistically portrayed, while the story does not lug for •d instant. As a play, "My Official Wife" waa very poi'uUr, and it loewi nothing in thn tran*pu*itiun to the ecreen. fa support i* .hown "The I'liantom City." with the oopuUr Weatem star. Ken Maynard, in the leaifin-r nde. It ia an uxcitiutr piclure, in winch "gho*t*" form the centre of Dm plot. Maynard give* an excellent ejthiftitiMi of horeemanahip, while his horse, Tftrimn. elxo pla.v. a big part in the etory. It i* a romance of an old wining town, wh*M there is a haunted mine. There is • nog of desperado*, and a helples. girl in the town, and Muynard'a arrival to find out th. eecret of the mine starts a series of •»oiti*g events, which, however, conclude happily t-i( the young man and the girl. The result, are often thrilling in the extreme, vaA an interesting »tory is evolved from a •aval the mo. The musical portion of Ihti programme as flayed by tho Liberty Conrert Orchestra. »»der the baton of Mr Rrnett Jamieson, was •li entertainment in ilself. Included in their fteertoire were "Erciea Symphony" <B*ethoven>, "Fourth Oeneration" (Lach- •*?), "Setnirandd*"* (Bossini), and "MasriTka" (Chopin). The entr'acte, which 1»4 to be repeated, wai "Tjove's Old Sweet