Films and The Stage.

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 193, 10 May 1924, Page 17

Films and The Stage.

Haymond Griffith, playing in tha 'Master picture, “Poisoned Paradise,” bears tlio unique distinction of having appeared in “the silent drama” long before the first grind of tlie motion picture camera.. As a boy he was a Hiember of a French troupe of pantomime players who toured Europe.

fiir Arthur Conan Doyle has doescribed Ellie Norwood’s work as “wonderful.” This popular acto’ is in tip-top form in “The Hound of the Baskervilles.” a British Master pio ture.

Ernst Lubitsh, the famous director, has locked himself in a tower at tha Warner Brothers’ studio, well protected by a guard, and is busy cutting down the groat mass of “The Marri- ' age Circle” to a few thofiisand feet Meantime, all Hollywood is anxiously trying to see this Master picture before it is released, because the genera! assumption seems to Le that when censors finish cutting it there won’t be enough left to bother about.

The reputed home of Dick Turpin, tho celebrated highwayman, Percival or Parsifal Hall, a fine old Yorkshire mansion in the valley of tho Wharfs, is announced for sale by the London “Post.” Here it was that William Nevinson, alias Swift Nick, the original of the traditional Dick Turpin, waa wont to spend his time when not engaged in daring exploits on the road. Countless novels have been written about this romantic figure, and now comes an elaborate film production entitled “Dick Turpin’s Ride to York” to carry on the tradition. Matheson Lang is the handsome, dashing Turpin in this excellent Master picture, and Isobel Elsom is “tho ladye fay re.”

The most thrilling and picturesque aerial scenes ever seen in a motion picture, it is said, occur in the Paramount production, “The Go-Getter,” now being' shown at the Artcraft Theatre. Tho “shooting” of these scenes took pace at Curtiss Aviation Field, Mine tea. and other parts of Long Island. This particular part .of the picture entails 'thing but night scenes, the most spectacular of which is one showing a race between an aeroplane and a speeding express train. This Is one of Peter B. Kyne’s most popular stories, with T. Roy Barnes, Seena Owen, William Norris, and Tom Lewis in the cast.

Hone Hampton, accompanied by her husband, J. E. Brulatour, has just left New York for a pleasure tour of Europe. On her return she will goto California to star in two Warner films, to follow up her great success in “The Gold Diggers/’ a Master picture.

“To the Ladies,” a Paramount allstar production, listed as the leading attraction at the Queen’s Theatre this week, is described as one of the most brilliant comedy-dramas of the year. Tho cast includes Ethel Grey Terry, Theodore Roberts, and Edward Horton-

In “The Forgotten Law,” starring Milton Sills, which will be seen at the, Artcraft Theatre on Tuesday next, is a powerfully dramatic _ story possessing a theme which, in its gripping appeal, is second to none other in fiction. Motherhood and mother love are inexhaustible as sources for the dramatist and certainly no subject can have a greater or more universal attraction. This gripping photoplay contains a tremendous story of sacrifice and selfishness, and reveals how a man’s affection for his brothel blinds him to justice. “The Forgotten Law” is undoubtedly a fine and powerful picture.

To carry the honours of a big production is no slight task for u> lad of seventeen, but Wesley Barry and his freckles prove in “The Country Kid,” a Master picture, that he has a right to have his name in electrio lights, with Norman Talmadge and Charlie Chaplin and the rest of them.

Are vampire styles changing again? It begins to look as though wo were going to revert to the dark, heavy, and voluptuous type of days gone by. For a time tho little flapper siren reigned over the silent drama, but now the new vogue of Carmel Myers and Barbara La Marr, two leading stars in Master pictures, looks like a change.

The starring attraction at the King’s Theatre this week, “The Famous Mrs. Fair,” a Metro production released through Paramount, tells tho story of a woman whoso head was turned by the flame of notoriety. Her family come to mean nothing to her. It is not till almost too late that tho mother instinct asserts itself in the woman, and she saves her home from complete ruin. The allstar cast - includes Myrtle Steadman and Huntly Gordon.

Like Dame Melba, Toti dal Mont« receives many strange letters day by day, some of which cause her much amazement. One of these was from a woman who declared that the young Italian prima donna resembled to the life her long-lost daughter, whom she had not seen since she was stolen from her by gypsies while touring in Italy. “Please write me and say that you have a mole on your left shoulder, so that I will know that it is my daughter who has come back to me,” she pleaded. Toti Dal Monte, however, was unable to discover the necessary mole. A costumiers wrote to the famous singer offering her a partnership in her business. “You ought to be able to bring many customers,” she explained, “and I will halve the profits without charging you any ingoing.” The offer was was courteously, but firmly declined.

The other day. someone at Meh ’oourne His Majesty’s invited Luigi Ceresol. the baritone, to participate in a game of cards to while away an interval in the rehearsal of “The Barber of Seville.”' Ceresol politely declined. “I never gamble,” he explained, “because I war born at Monte Carlo.” Ceresol, whose charming personality has made him very popular in Melbourne, was once attacked by Bonnot, the notorious French motor bandit and murderer That was before the baritone went on the operatic stage. He was leaving Paris on his return tri Monte Carlo when his motor-car was rushed, and a revolver was presented at him by Bonnot. Two bullets went through Ceresol’s left pand. and a third knocked off the top of a finger. The youth, who pretended to be dead, had apparently been mistaken for somebody else-, but later had the satisfaction of knowing that retribution had claimed Bonnot, who was shot dead by the police.

Among th© redrnt engagements made by Sir Beniamin Fuller in London is that of Phil Bransby, a comedian whose clever impersonations of “cockneys” have delighted English audiences for. many years. Off the stage Mr. Bransbv looks no more like a Cockney than he does anything else on it. One could not mistake his make-up, accent, and manner on the stage for anything but those of a Cockney of the most pronounced type. Off the stage one could not possibly imagine this quiet, refined spoken man doing such things. Mr. Bransby explains that he really drifted into the Cockney line of business, starting at tlie age of six, pottering around a circus; eventually he found himself in a music hall stage doing “straight” business. “There were so many at that game,” he says, “that I looked around for something different, and tried Cockney impersonations.” These were a success from the outset, and he soon made a big reputation for himself in this line of the business.

George Eliot’s great story of “Silas Marner,” the miser who worshipped his gold, hoarded through the years, then sank to the depths of desolation and despair when it was stolon from him, and reached his crowning happiness through his care for a baby left motherless at his door, has been adapted for the screen in a six-reel feature play, now showing at Shortt’s Theatre with Crauford Kent in the title role. Others in tho large cast are Marguerite Courtot, Robert Kenyon, Gteorgo Fawcett, Jean Girardin, Anders Randolph, Bradley Barker, Marie Edith Wells, and John Randall.

Local vaudeville playgoers will welcome the news that the Stiffy and Mo Company are listed to reappear at His Majesty’s Theatre, Wellington, on Monday, May 19. As will Ife remembered’, their last appearance in Wellington was the scene of extraordinary enthusiasm, and since leaving Wellington they have completed 12 weeks in Dunedin and Christchurch respectively, and also a • long return season in Auckland. The personnel of the company remaons unchanged, and M. Phillips has prepared a new repertoire of revues for presentation in Wellington. The Fuller management confidently anticipates that the return to Wellington of these popular favourites will bo most successful.

‘ ‘Around the World in Eighteen Days” is the title of the big attraction, in twelve episodes, which commences at the matinee at the Artcraft Theatre this afternoon, and which will bo continued at every Saturday matinee thereafter. Careful investigation of train and boat schedules and of the speed and cruising radius of aeroplanes, flying boats, submarines, and speed boats, was made by experts before it was determined that it is now possible for a man to circle the globe in 18 days. Many of the most famous spots throughout the world, which tourists love to visit, are exploited for this production. It is claimed to 'oe the most unique and interesting serial that has ever been presented.

An, interesting study in contrasts is afforded in the settings Of “The World’s a Stage” (Elinor Glyn), pots fraying the inside life of a screen actress '■’* Hollywood, now at the 1 aromount Theatre. The spectator is first introduced to a play within a play> Shakespeare’s “Borneo and Juliet being enacted by a cheap, barnstorming troupe, in a small town “orpy” house. The scene then shifts to a studio sot in full operation as it is found in Hollywood. There sits the director and there are the players. Close ax hand is the cameraman and the continuity clerk who reads off the scenes. Then as the story progresses the studio is forgotten as the heroine is plunged into the domestic triangle of her other life—the life awnv from the studio. “The World’s a Stage” is said to bo a powerfully dramatic picture, posessing genuine novelty and capitally acted by Dorothy Phillips and an all-star cast*

“You think I’ll shoot You know well I’ll shoot!” These words, snapped out sharply and decisively, herald one of the most dramatic scenes in “Tiger Rose,” at the Empress this week. It is drama at its most dramatic, stripped of all veneer and pretentions. and as a stage play, it gave London its biggest thrill. Leuore Ulric, the dazzling stage star, surprised and delighted Now York for_ two whole years with her vivid rendering of the same role which she portrays on the film. Do not miss the best picture since “Wav Down East,” at the Empress Theatre this week.

The Jim Gerald Co., who are now playing such a successful season in Fullers’ New Theatre in Sydney, are due to open at Fullers’ Opera House in Auckland on Monday, May 19. This company has had a great run in Australia, and recently concluded a lengthy season of 26 weeks at the Bijou Theatre, where capacity business was the rule twice a day during the whole of this time. The company includes some artists already favourably known in New Zealand. Miss Essie Jennings, Miss Polly McLaren, Mr. Howard Hall, and the redoubtable Jim Gerald himself. The company is equipped with twenty original revues, and it is anticipated that this company will meet with the same success in New Zealand as followed it in Australia.

Amongst several excellent features of tlie bill at the Tivoli this week, are two which stand out as strong drawing cards—Rasponi and Sarti, who are well and pleasurably remembered as two or the popular favourites of the Sistine Soloists. Rasponi is one of the finest baritones who have visited Wellington, while Sarti is a most agreeable tenor af the lyrie typo.

Eketahuna picture-goers have a star mystery film in &i ?erlock Holmes,” upon which to feast then eyes at the Public Hall this week.

Extremes meet in the feminine east® for the forthcoming Master picture. “Poisoned Paradise.’ Clara Bow, tte Brooklyn High School athlete, who has been called ‘ the most perfect flapper,” must pit her charms against those of Carmel Myers, who, by reason of being chosen to play the “vamp ’ role in “Ben Hur,” from all the well-known screen viUainesses, has been characterised as “the most perfect screen vamp."

If you like to laugh whole-heart-edly and without reserve, here is good news. See “Winter Has Come, a Master comedy at the Empress this week, which spills laughter, like the waves spill foam.

The Aerial Lloyds, who have been engaged for a tour of the Fuller Circuit, providb one of the most thrilling acts ever seen on a vaudeville staso. Each time they appear they take their lives in their own hands, for their single, double, and treble somersaults in mid-air have to be tuned to a fraction of a second, otherwise one of the performers may have a serious accident. The Aenal Lloyds came together in Reading, Pennsylvania, TT.S.A. They were apprenticed to Harry Luken, one of tho originators of aerial work, and after a season with him, decided to go mto business on their own account. All th'eir work in America was confined to the vaudeville stage. They met with countless accidents whilst rehearsing their act, and broken ribs, arms, and legs were looked upon as every-day occurrences. They have been together for six years now.

Owing to the tremendous popularity of “Ponjola” at tlie Empress last week this Cynthia Stockley story of Paris and the African veldt, will bo shown for another weeit at the Strand. Theatre. It tells of a woman who tore aside the sex barrier to become a man and live as a man until love tempted her to don her frills again. Anna Q. Nilsson, James Kirkwood, and Tully Marshall are the players who sweep all audiences along in this sensational adventure. Also screening is “Jealous Husbands,” a powerful drama that holds a mirror before every wife and husband, and throws a new light on the age-old problem of love and jealousy.

Here is an achievement all New Zealanders can be proud to claim. The first big motion picture drama actually photographed and produced in New Zealand is “Venus of the South Seas.’- a Master picture featuring the world’s greatest wonder swimmer and cl i ven, Annette Kellerman. For the most part the scenes are set in Nelson, Takaka, Pohara Beach, and Island Bay, Wellington. In this resnect the film should have the effect of an excellent piece of publicity material for the Dominion. As a matter of fact, "Venus of the South Seas” is one of the pictures chosen to be shown in the cinema theatre connected with the New Zealand Court at the British Empire Exhibition.

Those who think n motion picture star can do nothing but look charming will be surprised to see the youngest of screen stars. Mary Astor, make up to look eighteen (her own age), thirty-five and dixtv, in the great Warner production, “Beau Brummell.” Not only does she excell in the art of make-up, but hor mode of acting changes completely with each decade she adds to her years.

One of the oddest actresses ever sent us by America is Miss Renie Riano (writes a critic). This young lady looks as if her head had strayed from that of a famous comedian on to the body of a Russian dansuese. Her various’and bizarre methods as a comedienne, jostle each other m a similar conflicting way. Elegance and awkwardness, "charm and hideousness, romping fascination, impudence and shyness run in equable and amiable partnership. Her face has a mouth and nose so assertively comical that they would fit appropriately on ajpantomime mask. Her daintiness as a dancer is equalled by an acrobatic agility before which Sir. Lunino Lane might go pale with envy. Her powers of contorting her limbs so that her toes touch her head ar.3 twisting her body into snake-like outlines, are little short of uncanny. But Miss Riano has what is far more important to any actress than physical plasticity, and that is the secret of pure fun.

Broad mesas, vast stretches of prairie land, coulees, cattle trails, cowboys, rustlers —life in the great Americiiti South-western cattle country. It’s all there, vivid and real, in Jack Hoxie’s picture, “Don Quickshot of the Rio Grande,” now on the bill at the Eketahuna Town Hall.

“Big Brother” brings to the screen a new juvenile star in the person of Mickey Bennett, who appears as the little urchin of the New York streets who is taken under the wing of a notorious gangster (played by Tom Moore). The big brother as instituted in America, is au organisation run by thousands of business men and clerks who have pledged to help and rear boys of the slums, especially those subjected to vicious influence through ]x>verty and crime—the children of the streets don’t otherwise get a chance.

A feature of the act of Marcus and D’Arma, who have just arrived in Sydney from England under engagement to the Fuller Circuit, is the introduction of a novel musical instalment described as the duciphone. This is in effect a miniature piano upon which Miss D’Arma is stated to bo able to extract most fascinating music. These artists will shortly appear in Wellington.

Zaza is a role that has been included:, in the repertoires of most of the/ world’s famous actresses. While: the stage play has been one of tho most popular in England, America, and tho Continent, “Zaza” is a real screen triumph for Gloria Swanson, and she is cast at her best amid luxury, gowns, beauty, and attention of many, men in her. best characterisation. Am old friend returns in this picture,: in the person of H. B. Warner, who will be remembered for his sterling work in “The Beggar of Cawnpore"; and “The Man Who Turned White.”He plays the role of a young diplomat who learns that there are other _ iiP. trigues in the game of life besides' those of nations.

One of the features of Lloyd/ Hughes’ new home in Beverley Hiljsj Hollywood, on which building stamen in January, is to be a complete motion picture library of the photoplays, in which he has appeared, the lasobeing the big Master picture, “Soars of Jealousy.” He has arranged Sir. the living room to be turned into;;» luxurious protection room within' »» few minutes.

Ethel Shannon, the delightful young star in “Mavtime,” a Master picture; has a new pet, and incidentally a naw, responsibility. It is a leopard cub,: who was suddenly left an orphan Tn' the Selig Zoo.

A Tealous husband is no better thin! a leaking roof or a house built upoi sand, and very often does a groan deal more damage to the home, anm the wife and the kiddies. So JS&sj Jfovak resolves never tb marry a jtoyj lons one again, as you will see ; ’-jjn “Jealous Husbands” at the StrCsrd this week.

Quite a number of screen stars;ar® married to men who a.® not in th®! profession, and it seems to work. Mae Marsh is the most devoted wite cf a young writer named Arrows, and they are so domestic that even their friends see little of them. Since they returned to Hollywood they are living in a quiet bungalow, and Mae is almost as busy seeing that hVr In/s band is not disturbed in his work, as she is making pictures. Her last Master picture is “Daddies,” and is said to be her finest work.

As the ne’er-do-well younger brother in “The Hero.” a forthcoming Master picture, Gaston GlasS', French airman, American screen star, and protege of the great Bernhardt- has a peculiar role. At one-moment he thrills by reason ot his portrayal of the dashing hero who rescues children from burning buildings a? a matter of course, and at the nbxt he disgusts . by his cold-blooded knavery.