PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 19779, 1 February 1928, Page 11

PICTURE THEATRES

OCTAGON There is plenty of Arabian Nights’ romance and adventure right in New York, according to Arthur Somers Roche, who wrote the story of ‘ Wolf’s Clothing,’ the Warner Bros, production now being screened at the Octagon Theatre, starring Monte Blue and Patsy. Ruth Miller. ‘Wolf’s Clothing’ might very well he, called a modern Arabian Night’s tale not only because of its imaginative plot, but because it all happened in one night—and a hectic New Year’s night at that.

Monte Blue plays a subway guard, who comes to New York from the tall grass just to see the Great White Way. His shift has been at night, and so hi has never seen it. Finally he is granted the New Year’s Eve off. No sooner does he get on the .street than he is swept into a swift-moving swirl of adventures surpassing his wildest dreams. Patsy Ruth Miller plays a society girl who revolts against routine existence on this . night of nights, and resolves to mingle with the crowd and have her fling. She “slums” at a night club and runs into whirlwind thrills of melodrama that sweep her abroad a lugger and into a subway train that runs wild. The Octagon Orchestra plays a selection from ‘Carmen’ (Bizet), with a grand, organ accompaniment by Mr C. A. Martin. EMPIRE In ‘ The Cat and the Canary,’ the current attraction at the Empire. Theatre, a love theme of absorbing interest, interwoven with the thread of drama on a background of intrigue, mystery, and serio-comedy, has been transferred to the celluloid by the genius of Paul Leui. An all-star cast supports Laura La Plante, the petite blonde who has flashed across the cinematic heavens as a star of the first magnitude. Throughout the action of the photodrama runs tho age-old story of love, tlie lure of money, thwarted desires, and human passions. Down to the very last foot of film you will be sitting on edge awaiting the startling denouement. Creighton Hale, Flora Finch, Gertrude Astor, Arthur Edmund Carew, Tally Marshall, Forrest Stanley, Lucien Littlefield, George Siegmann, and Martha Mattox, in the featured supporting , roles, give sterling, performances in this screen adaptation of the outstanding stage success , from the imaginative pen of John Willard. The special musical effects played by the Empire Orchestra, under Mr C. Parnell, add greatly to the enjoyment of tho programme. QUEER’S ‘Damaged Goods,’ the film version of Eugene Brieux’s novel, is now being screened at the Queen’s Theatre. It is not a sensational picture, as may he supposed by the average citizen, but a drama with a message. The novel was. banned in New Zealand some years back by the authorities, but it is quite safe to assume that, with the experience that the war has brought, the novel would now be gladly received, not only by the medical faculty, but by those broadvisioned workers who have come out in the open and insisted upon the scourge being attacked and stemmed. Parents are especially asked to see the film, so that they may bo armed with a weapon, so to speak, to protect their children by inculcating in them when opportunity offers the means by which they can avoid dreaded evils that so often lie in the path of life of the young. By order of the New Zealand film censor mixed audiences are prohibited, and it has therefore been decided that women only will bo admitted to tho dress, circle and men only to the stalls. The’censor, has . made another proviso—viz., that no. individual under the age of sixteen years is to be admitted. EVERYBODY'S Milton Sills, First National star, is rapidly booming a “foreign” actor. Recently ho has been playing roles depicting various nationalities with amazing skill. He was a Frenchman in ‘ The Silent Lover ’ in ‘ The Sea Tiger ’ he was a Spaniard. Now he is a Frenchman again in ‘ Framed,’ .which is being shown at Everybody’s Theatre. No role could be found more suitable for Tim M‘C«oy than that of the dashing young American army officer he portrays in ‘Foreign Devils,’ the second attraction. Himself an-officer in the World War, now a member of the 0.R.C., and the son of a former American officer, M‘Coy has tho appearance and deportment of an American coldier. In ‘ Foreign Devils ’ ho plays tho role of the military attache to the American legation in Peking during the Boxer uprising. An excellent programme will bo screened on Friday. ‘Convoy,’ featuring Dorothy Mackail and William Collier, jnn., will be the premier attraction. The supporting production, ‘The Lawful Cheater,’ stars vivacious Clara Bow in her best role to date. PLAZA m GRAHD ‘Outlaws of Red River,’ now being shown at tho Plaza and. Grand Theatres, stars Tom Mix in a western thriller of a kind that is sure to please even the sophisticated theatre-lover. For it is a picture that has a. story which interested millions of readers when it first appeared as a magazine feature. Transferred to the screen, the story gains in suspense, thrills, and humor, and is easily one of the best film offerings of recent months. Dick Talmadge is the star in ‘The Isle of Hope,’ which takes for its theme.the very familiar ‘Treasure Island ’ motive; but the story of piratical plunder buried in the South Seas has been so dressed up by James Bell Smith that it seems entirely fresh; and no story offers more possibilities and is more usually delightful entertainment than this. Commencing on Friday, ‘Painted Ponies,’ a western thriller, with. Hoot Gibson in the featured role, will be screened. KING EDWARD For an excellent evening’s entertainment the programme of pictures offered at the King Edward Theatre to-night cannot fail to please. 1 The Wolf’s Clothing ’ is the major feature, and has Monte Blue and Patsy Ruth Miller in the title roles. It is a story of night life on Broadway, and many thrills and laughs are crammed into tho picture. Another one of that delightful sporting series, ‘The Collegians,’ is also billed. StOSLYH ‘The 'White Rose,’ one of D. W. Griffith’s most notable productions, will be screened at the Roslyn Theatre tonight. ‘.Here is a picture that is alert and stinging with the high-ponnding pulse of real life. The story is simple, but of dramatic intensity.