PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 18808, 5 December 1924, Page 1

PICTURE THEATRES

- FINE NEW FEATURES. i ; OCTAGON. ■ That much-anticipated picture sensa- ■ lion, ‘Tim Green Goddess,’ starring : George Arliss, comes to the Octagon Thea- ; fre to-night for an engagement of six days. ; It is one of the best pictures of the year ■ or of any other yeai, being really an art ; achievement for the screen—big in story, ■ investiture, and melodramatic value. ■ George Arliss, the distinguished actor re- • membered for his remarkable portrayals ■ in ‘ Disraeli,’ ‘ Tho Ruling Passion,’ and ‘The Man Who Played God,’ in ‘The , Green Goddess ’ outshines his _ previous performances. Tho leading feminine role is played by Alice Joyce, making her very welcome return to the screen alter a long absence. The supporting cast is of especially high calibre, with David Powell and Harry T. Morey having outstanding roles, and witli Jetta'Goudal, Ivan Simpson, and William Worthington doing splendid work. Distinctive Pictures Corporation produced the photo-play, an adaptation of William Archer’s play of tire same name, on au i exceptionally lavish scahv | The story deals with the adventures of i a young Englishwoman who, through an airplane accident, has fallen into the hands of a particularly unscrupulous Indian Ra-, jah. It seems that three brothers of the I Rajah, who rules over the kingdom of j RuFh, in the wilds of the Himalaya Moun- J tains, have been condemned to death by | the British Government. As a means of j revenge the Rajah decides to put his unex- 1 peeled visitors to death. He convinces ' his ignorant subjects that these English people have been sent by their deity, the Green Goddess, as compensation for the j loss of their princes, his brothers. The i people demand that tho victims be sacrificed, but the Rajah is attracted by the 1 young Englishwoman (Alice Joyce), whose life he offers to spare if she consents to be his wife, Upon this general situation a vehicle of great dramatic strength has j been built. No discerning entertainment- j seiker should overlook ‘The Green God-j ! dess.’ | The musical programme for presentation | |by the orchestra suits the picture’s j j atmosphere. The overture is Gruenwold's | j 'The Light Brigade.’ j EMPIRE. ( Dorothy Dalton, in Paramount’s ‘ The! Moral Sinner,’ is seen as the most famous girl “ crook ” in Europe. Famous, too, ’ because her beauty always allowed her to escape from the men she robbed. She might have maintained her position had not love found the combination to her , heart, and at the time when her father i sent her, unwittingly, to rob the man of I her affections. The story has climaxes of 1 smashing force, following quickly upon , each other, these set in a new location. , James Rennie is the leading man. j Motion picture directors of to-day, j among them Ralph luce, have acquired a j mania for the real thing and a dislike ; for faking. In Ince’s ‘The Moral Sinner’ ; one finds a film in which gems worth , 150,003d0l were used. The story called j for the theft of some diamonds from the I safe of a French general, so the property ] man was induce.! to secure real ic'-Ds. From then on his troubles of safeguarding them began, though no attempt at then was made. During the sequence of the production a gripping adapt.u.on of tho j stage success ‘ Leah Kie.schna,’ Miss j Dalton in tho role of a clever girl apache i of the Pari? underworld, makes a narrow j escape from the police by fleeing with i stolen valuables over the roofs of the city. . The stunt was more difficult to perforin j than it appears to be; for the roofs funned a- maze of more or less rickety framework. Tho star had scarce.? sealed the

roof of the second sireAurti when a loud crash reached her cars : a roof in the set had given way, but ns the damaged part was out of the camera's , e the scene was not registered on the (bui. A tire scene, which in the finished product takes place at a big hotel,' where a fashionable charity bail is being held, is one of the most thrilling, especially as the girl thief is with others endeavoring to steal the bazaar funds. She is trapped in the burning building, but the final scene is pleasingly surprising. 'the picture is supported by an.excellent composite programme, and tiie whole film entertainment is enhanced by the orchestra's playing.

EVERYBODY'S. For his newest photo-drama, ‘Forbidden Valley,' which commenced at Everybody’s | Theatre, to-day, J. Smart Black ton has chosen th ■ picturesque mounUiin folk of | Kentucky as Ids eharacrers and their beautiful bills as his slago. May . .’Avoy ! and linicc Gordon are featured. The story | is a deft blending of melodrama, humor, and youthful romance, and has a, wide appeal. The story concerns itself with a feud and the love m' a girl for a- man she later believes to lie one of her hated enemies. The ireaehery of a jealous suitor casts a tragic shadow over her life that is dispelled by ihe truth in a surprising ami thrilling climax. ’ 1/jvc !setters,’ a WiiMam Fox production starring tilnrlc-y Mason, is Mso being shown, it is described as a romance ol youthful folly. Ihero is a. strong vein of mystery which increases ihe sunpenso preceding a surprising climax. Direction, cast, and photography are praiseworthy. QUEEN’S. One of ihe strangest cases of mistaken, identity, from winch most disastrous consequences arise, will be seen in ‘ When the Desert Uaiis,’ a Pyramid picture which came to the Queen's Theatre to-day. It is a Ray C. Smallwood production, featuring Violet Homing, with Robert Frazer, J. Barney Sherry. Huntley Gordon, and Sheldon Lewis in the cast. Tim author is Donald M'Gibeny. and his story is a gripping one. It concerns a young wife arid her husband, Americans, who live near the Sahara. lie is cashier in a battle. A stranger appcai-s in the city—a derelict, a drunkard who strikingly resembles the cashier and happy husband, and this person's advent results fur a period iu tinhappiness and deprivations for the couple. The pleasure, of witnessing a screening of the production would bo spoilt were the j desert happenings divulged. 1 ‘More to bo Pitied Uian Scorned,’ the 1 screen version of Charles E. Blaney’s great stage play of the same name, shows how end why a girl who thought justice blind was blind herself. ,