ENTERTAINMENTS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 197, 15 May 1920, Page 9

ENTERTAINMENTS

• "THE HOODLUM^" Had only one picture bean screened at the King's last night it would havo mattered little, provided that that picture \va9 "Tlio Hoodlum." ' Mary Pickford ...has appeared'in many very fine produc-. " tions, and to write that on this occasion sho has excelled herself is to risk .enoounterins a little .ecenticism. But tlio , fact remains: "The Hoodlum" stnudß out as something that the brilliant little: actress has never- surpassed;- as some'' thing that she -is not likely to outdo in . years of effort. .The. story, is improb- ~ able. (So, of courso, is tho afiry-tale . that with its .beauty, can haunt a man v from his_ youth up.) But it is brilliant, ly conceived and thoroughly consistent; and in its coßsistency and its compactness. lies its salvation. A millionaire's' ~. grand-daughter—pehilant, irrepressible, cyclonic in the terrible'swiftness and un-' expectednesa of" hor actions and reactions—suddenly ,finds herself .living in : the Ixiwer i City of New York. Her placo of abode for a time is Craigen Street;:' and in and about the quarter •'... of which' Craigen Street is 'typical, life ;. knows 6carco one of the restraints that : , bound Fifth Avenue. The queer and , fascinating thing about the picture is .". the.utter'strangeness of all that Craigen . - Street is made to represent. The .spectator reared in this small country is confronted with a spectacle foreign to his ..-.'experience, but marvellous in the vivid- . ness of its humour and its pathos. The story grips the imagination, and holds it till' the. denouenVent is reached. Among, the tilings' that probably every member of last night' 6 big attendance will remember are a certain whirlwind, , feather-scattering motor drive that culminates in a somersault into a dry. load of. hay; the Isaacs-O'Shaughnessy affair, from the brickbats to (the hand handshakes; Mary Pickford' acknowledging ' , vegetable tribute thrown from a third floor after her street burlesque of America's most daring dance; andi particular- ; 'ly .Mary Pickford in the coal-hole, with only her teeth and eyeballs showing ; ; ■white. . Tho mounting throughout is extraordinarily good; the photography perfect. ■ Not only" was "The Hoodlum" an unqualified. success, but the' King's orches- , -tra also had its triumph. A rendering . of selections from ' "Going. Up"- was greeted with a salvo of hand-clapping, that had. to .be interpreted as a request for more. \ The encore number was the' ■ ■ pizzicato from "Sylvia," played so: charmingly 'that the audience again gave ; unmistakable manifestations of its 'plea-' .". sure. Mr. W. Gondie's'singing of "The Queen o' Connemara," "The .Little Irish Girl," and "Hadfield Bells" was well received.. "The Hoodlum" will hold the screen for the next.week.,/ . EVERYBODY'S THEATRE. j Warren Kerrigan:is featured in the lat- I est Paralta play, "One Dolar Bid," and the story'will appeal to most people be-' . ; cause of its unusual theme, Kerrigan ;takes ■ tho role of l'oby, a young. lawyer who goes,to the'dog's through drink. He is a vagrant, the jest of the white folk, ■ and the butt .of the' Kentucky negroes. According to an old Kentucky statut6 a ■ vagrant may be sold by public auction, , and the successful'bidder, has the right to a year's labour of the slave. Toby is reduced to the; indignity of being offered . at auction, and the only bid was one dollar,' made by a girl who made the offeT but of a strango pity. for a forlorn and hopeless drunkard. But the Vagrant, in his new suroundings, : gives up the drink, V . recovers his self-respect and manhood, - . and Eventually marries the girl who made the "one dollar bid." This romantic . story,, which, is full of heart interest, is being screenedat Everybody's Theatre ..... this week,, and is surei to attract crowds. The-actiiig is . superb, arid some of the . ■ scenes are exceedingly fine. Lois Wilson : plitfs the part of Colonel Dare's niece, who makes the. one dollar bid, and plays ' the part admirably. An educational'film; . .aid the Pathe Gazette, are.also screened. EMPRESS THEATRE. ' ' A picture that makes a special claim upon the attention of the public ivas .. -'-'shown for the first time, at the Empress Theatre yesterday, Norma Talmadge, one ' of the most popular of nil the. famous.. picture ' player* has. produced a ■ film." " dramatisation of the' well-known' novel, i .'"Poppy," by Cynthia Stockley. This tense and moving story of South African i life has had a wide 1 popularity, and the . 'film version in" not likely' to be less, suc- '. cessf ul.Poppy -.is,'a.gftl who escapes ' from a life of hardship and servitude, ; onfy to' he tricked'into'a strange mar-. riage. Then she .has her "night of mad-- . . ness," when she meets in r the moonlit . garden tho fever-stricken Evelyn Carson, explorer and lover. Carson believes afterwards that tho.m'eefing was nothing more than a dream of his deiiriiim. Poppy belieVes that she been-: betrayed • and de- . the years of her, struggle for • literary success. separate her' from the day when the tangle of tragedy and misunderstanding is unravelled. 'The story . makes a. great picture.' Mt is screened amid th'e semi-tropical scenery of Africa, . and Miss' Norma Talmadge is a vivid and , beautiful Poppy. The 6tory covers a , considerable period of ,yeaKj, and the actress shows .'her versatility by her ' adaptation to the stages of childhood and womanhood. She' ifj.u great player in a • greal;. role. The part 'of ■ Sir Evelyn . Carson, the African explorer, is taken by .'.-'Mr. Eugene,'O'Brien, and .several other successful screen.'players are included in the cast/ Tile supporting films include another instalment of the highly-senSa-tional serial, "A -Man of Slight," featuring William Duncan. Aftor (thrilling adventures, the herd . and': members of his party are left glissading down" into the crater of, an active volcano, where their 'rescue obviously is going -to be a matter • of extreme difficulty. ' A good Gazette number is included 'in the programme. 'Poppy" is to be! shown daily at the , Empress Theatre ■ until next Friday. ;NAZIMOVA. ; ' "The Bed Lantern," to be screened;at the . Grand Opera, House this evening, . features the great 6tar- Nazimova, who appears.as Mahlee, a Eurasian; Mahlee is .taken to the Christian Mission in' Peking, where she ..grows into womnn- .-. hood--a strango combination of the . white and yellow races—a prey to discordant and Conflicting 'emotions. Hei<6 she falls in love with Andrew Templeton, a young clergyman. He admires her, but the knowledgo of her yellow blood stands as a barrier between thein. At Ti too, lives Sam Wang, a Eurasian doctor, who professes. Christianbut who, in reality, is a Boxer : leader. One day Blanche Sackville, ■ i l l? hter of an English diplomat, comes to the'mission. She bears a strange resemblance to Mahlee, noticeable to all. Alahlee observes with jealousy tho growing attachment between Blanche and Andrew. Sam Wang sees the jealousy and •tries.to persuade Mahlee to return to the faith of her mother's ancestors. At first she repulses him, but as tho love botween Blancho and 'Andrew grows, she "leaves the mission and returns to her own people, who hail her as tho war : maiden of China—tho goddess of tho Ted lantern light. In this guiso she leads them in a rebellion against' the whites. Mahlee. still, feels the witter conflict, of tho bvo raccs which mingles in iter blood, and cvin while leading tho-.Boxers she cannot bear tlio thought that those she loves shall perish. Sho attempts to warn Ithem, but being repulsed burns with- hatred against tho •?v . hails Wang ns hor raato, and' joins him in fighting against the whites. Exciting street fighting scenes follow, ending in the disordered flight of the Chinese and., tho'death of Wang and Mahlee. TUB DANDIES. That large portion of tho. public who appreciate the entertainment supplied by costumo comedy companies will welcomo the appearance of "Tlio Dandies of 1320" at the Town Hall Concert Chamber tonight. Dandies" hold a Dominion record ior regularity of appearances. It was in 1912 that fliey made themselves known through the famous "Beds." Many similar companies have sinco been seen, and each has succecded in maintaining , the favour of tho public by tho excellence ■of its efforts. The' artists who will appear to-night are: Miss Rosa Walton, a .talented exponent of songs at the jiiano; Miss Annette Lang, danseuso; Miss Hazel . Fuller, 6oprano; Miss Wyn Faulknor, con- ■ tralto; Miss May Joyce, solo violinist; Miss Paulino Brown, elocutionist; anil. Messrs. George Sharratt, an English comedian; Kewa Millar, basso; Kennedy Black, baritone and musical director; and .George Skeet, light comedian. The plan

. " — - '■■■[ 1 l is nt the Bristol till noon, and afterwards at Ned Perry's, Manners Street. ORGANS RECITAL. The following items constitute the programme for to-night's, organ recital, to bo given by Mr. Bernard F. Pago (C'ity Organist) at tho Town Hall:— "Ciacona" (Pachelbel, 1G53-1706); Lemare's Arcadian-Idyll, "Serenade," "Musette," "Solitude" "Priere" in C 6harp minor (op. 20), Cesar Franelc (1822-90); Prelude and Fugue in F Minor, by Handel (ICBS- - MacDowell's "In Passing Moods" (by requost) (1) "Prologue," (2) ' "An Old Love Story," (3) "A Deserted Farm," (4) "Told at Sunset," and psychological poem, ,"Lo Genie et la Mori," op. 11 (No. 6), by RebikoiF. A grand concert is to be given by leading Wellington artists on Sunday, May 23, in aid of the "Wellington Stage Employees' Sick and Benefit Society. An programme being larranged, and a highly interesting concert is anticipated.