ENTERTAINMENTS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3119, 25 June 1917, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

"THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT." At Saturday's matinee, and on Saturday eveiliug, niauy. people were turned away from the performance of "The ilouso That, Juck Built." The pantomime is bcyoud doubt one of the best which has ever visited Wellington. The finest features., are the scenery and the tableaux, but Ihe other phases, too, are Rood. The piece will bo presented again this evening.

HIS MAJESTY'S T HEAT KB. ~ Full house.* have .sheen the order of lousiness ever'since the opening of the Johnson Itevue Company's Season at, His Majesty's Theatre. As musical revues go, those presented by the company in quesrent piece, which is entitled "The Flirting Widow." met wiih an excellent reception from Saturday's audience, and if the-sat-isfaction of the attendance is to he the only criterion it must be prouounced very good indeed. The faintest semblance of plot serves as a, pretext for the presentment of song hits and passages of diverting dialogue. Somehow, between the irrelevant interludes, the story moves along. A list of the dramatis personac will servo to give an idea of the nature of the whole. First, there are college • boys, and tho greatest thereof is "Freddie." Freddie is a strange youth. He is equipped witli a Yiddish parent, who proves very useful when things are quiet and fun of a particular brand is required. There is chiirniing Molly M'Cabe, who enjoys all tho social advantages of descent from one Mr. Michael M'Cabe, a caretaker; there is tho aforesaid Mr. M'Cabe, alive and looking well; and there are a college girl (described on the programme as "typical"), a •mysterious woman, and the College Widow. With these materials, the producer has succeeded in putting on a show that is the delight of rovue-lovcrs. There arc tn all twenty-five musical and dance numbers iu the production, as well as four purely vaudeville diversions. The ballets are particularly smart and well arranged. Some of the, star scenes are: "The Sixty-milc-an-hour Train," "The Girls Walking the Plank," "The Big Ship at Sea," "Tho Grand Opera Burlesque," and "The Minstrel l'arade." The staging in general has been carried out with evident skill. On UipvvaiHlcvillp.' bill, Violet Trevenyon rerru ..-L'Uip Ukdinß attraction. The Tnttys, .■.issuer Hal. and Sterling and Love are billed also for highly entertaining turns, 10-mptlit an act said to be oven more wonderful than (hat of the. great Manchurians will appear. This will be the performance of the Xioyal Togos, who have just been secured for tho Fullers by their American representative.

THE ENGJiIBH PIEEIiOTS. Tho Concert Chamber was packed on Saturday night, and the members of this delightful company roueed the audience to a high pitch of enthusiasm. The present programme is the last one of the season, but it is equal to if not better than any of its predecessors. Amusement •lovers in Wellington have enjoyed every programme with a keen relish, and will, no doubt, regret (hat on Wednesday next the I'iorrots give their farewell entertainment, when some of the favourite items produced early in the season will be heard. 'Ihe box plains are at the Bristol, and patrons are advised to reserve their seats.

THE KING'S THEATRE. If proof were needed of the popularity of Olara Kimbull Youug among picturegoers, it was to do had at the King's Theatre on Saturday, when the latest fllui in which that lady is,featured underwent its initial screenings in Wellington. Despite the unpleasant weather the matinco was well attended, and in thn evening the theatre was too small to accommodate all those desiring admission. The story also is a "popular" one—"The Price She Palfl," by David Graham Phillips. The theme— that of a beautiful young girl forced by ambitious parents into a marriage with a wealthy roue, and in the background ypunger (but poorer) would-be lovers-is probably not a, very original one; but in the hands of one. so skilled in the writing of this particular class' of fiction as is Mr. Phillips, the result is a passably good story, which has boon retold on the" screen in a manner, that i.r nearly always excellent nnd perhaps is in parts an improvement on the book. Briefly; the story tells of the fortunes of Mildred Gower (Clara Kimball Yonng), who is persuaded into marrying-a wealthy but ruthless man. During ,the course'of. the."honeymoon" tn Pans the young wife finds her situation intolerable, and she leaves Eer husband and returns to America. Here she is greeted with the tears, reproaches, and supplications of her parents; but her mind is made up-shtihas left her husband forever. Mildred is now thrown on her own resources, and goc3 through a series of eovore.trials (of which persecution at. Hie hands of her husbnud is not the least) before she finally achieves a triumph as an d r. i n^ria S a^w^ i n l „r i3 l ■ 'i O o£! "ianytf X t?nor !£&£*% the play arc excellently played, and the interior and outdoor scenes are above the average. "The Price She Paid" win he screened twice daily throughout the week.

EVERYBODY'S THEATRE. "Tho Lust of the Ingraras," a,'lilorv of life in a New England fishing village, is a stirring melodrama that is-certain to attract natrons to Everybody's, where the picture is now being screened. According to the story, the ingrams have always ruled over the little fwhing village of lngrani's Ooye, but Jules, Ilk last of the race, rebela against the cramped life and takes to strong drink to help him forget his surroundings. Drink gradually masters the man, and lUifus Moore, the unscrupulous banker of the village, secures the properties of Jules for the proverbial song and prepares to foreclose, mere is one other person in the village loading t , solitary life, a woman named Mercy Heed, whp as a young girl erred in an unforgivable way in the eyes of her Puritan neighbours. She bravely faces tho jeel-s and lives her simple life. Jules having wrecked his fortune, determines to give up drink, and start/ life us a new man. I" this he is greatly helped by Mercy Beed Meanwhile the villagers conspire to drive Jules and Mercy out of the ""ase. ?nd, headed by Bufus Moore, the nunil attack Mercy s cottage. Jules who

learns of (lie attack, defends Mercy and forces Jioorc, who was the cause of the girl's transgression, to apologise iind beg jor forgiveness in the presence of the villagers and his jealous wife. Moore eventually fulls into the hands of the police Tor some crooked financial deal, and Jules and Mercy leave for California. William -Desmond, who was at one time with the .1. L. Williamson Company, and Margery Wilson, who sustained the part of Brown Byes in "Intolerance." play the leading roles in "The Last of the Ingrains." in the eighteenth chapter of "Gloria's Eoinanee, Billio Hurke lenrne "Tho Bitter Truth" her acting in this scene being very forceful. The supporting pictures are attractive, and the Topical Budget is in-

KM PRESS THEATRE. The chaiiso of programme on Saturday at the above popular theatre attracted a pod attendance. The bright leading niim-t ..m'L lc P rcvio "s "'celt made way for' Jhe Angel of Mercy." a picture of a ™>'y different type, but certainly no lees delightful. "The Augel of Mercy" damns in a succession of powerful acts the corruption ot the lSussian Court. Alice Brady is the heroine, and- she appears to have found dier part exceptionally well suited to the intensely emotional acting which is hci forte. She is a young violinist, who becomes entangled in the mesh of Nihilist jiiti gue, and is finally sent, to Siberia. Dealing as it does with intrigue both s"n ? l'vf m an 'h" Olitica V- Ule st °'-y is'aeces" sauiy somewhat complicated, and the spectator s interest, is .kept up throughout by mi.n!T eS Ai? f r'?! , ' 1 anc^ developments. All of tlic characters play for hiecSs C Ter nd th ° SC morally billed to suetlie end, however, matters arrangiT'thcn?. cr of" }h D °f ine raßhi0 "' and the fol 'o" : ' nr .) thc ,. talc S° os away satisfied. Much "Tl,rf a J T" f ~ T- h e A,l?el of Mercy," or Darkest Russia," is laid in Siberia, and W» a ni r *5 0,0 f r,l nnic effects have Been got, of the desolate snow wastes ami he heart-breaking loneliness of the coimiry to which so many hich-sniritpri "Pi.V slans have been The' »Sfai?dSr 6[aX P d rOerammo ' 8 quite " p , t0 thc «*«••" J. C. WILLIAMSON COMEDY COY.

ii, oll ,'.'? ? n Mcitit >ff scene was witnessed nfc J O hUrCh F catre Boj,al "hen tho tLhTfi 1 ?™ Comedy Company, lownv ,L ? JCrt Grciß aDd Beatrice Ho'lS a !,," 10 "embers of the "fovea th k < "i 11 ' 1 '*? 10 Company, produced for v/,-1 r* U T "! n Au stralasie., the big New lork Comedy, "Baby Mine."' An cnthnsiastic reccpUon was accorded the popular have"been "'V n °" ««>«&" a,tt™,H ™A^, a au « cs ßf"J comedy •Utiaction. .At tne close of the perform. m! waß rccaJled a S«n and dgain. and tho stage was I'torally covered m floral tributes. "Baby Mine" ha.s proi" J",.,' 0 bc one of the. greatest i aug i, rr voKing comedies ever staged in the Dominion. According to the "Press," "Baby l\Z C 'f s n a^ C 0? edy ™, hiah D,ilkca the anliS ..n a s^ pb l? from continuous laughter. "Baby Mine" is a, farce iu its broadest sense, and is described os one continiions scream. The complications tl at ensue are ( endless /until one wonders what, is commonest. ("Baby "Mine" will be produced hero on .'Saturday next at the Grand Opera Houfc. The box plans foi the season are announced to be <ineucd ot the Bristol on Thursday next '