REGENT THEATRE.

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 142, 20 June 1927, Page 5

REGENT THEATRE.

'"'The Magician," the chief picture at the 'Recent Theatre, deals with the struggle between a girl who loves a young surgeon, who saved her from being a helpless cripple, and the evil forces of a magician. The cast, with the exception of one American, are chiefly Continental players. It is certainly a production hot to be missed^ In the vaudeville section Donald Stuart,- "the high and mighty magician," is distinctly original and clever. It is not so much the tricks that he does as the way that he does them. His unceasing flow of patter and weird antics keep the audience in a state of great merriment. The supporting films and the musical programme all help to make a first-class entertainment.

An unusual war drama, "Hotel Imperial," starring Pola Negri, opens on Friday next at the Regent Theatre. The re alisation of war is present every moment, yet the drama is centred upon a small group of individuals rather than the battle fronts. The battles that form the story's background are suggested rather than pictured. The three central figures are the chambermaid of the Hotel Imperial, in a town on the Austro-Russian fron tier, captured by the'invading Russians; the Russian general and a fugitive Hungarian officer. These portray one of the tensest dramas that has yet • reached the screen. A diversion of unusual importance will be the appearance on the stage of the beauty finalists of the Miss New Zealand 1927 competition. Box plans are now on view at the theatre and The Bristol. , ■