COMING TO THE EMPIRE

Evening Star, Issue 20150, 15 April 1929, Page 5

COMING TO THE EMPIRE

HEX! FRIDAY’S BILL ‘ Vamping Venus,’ the First National comedy, which will be the first attraction at the Empire Theatre next Friday. opens in New York of to-day and jumps back to_ ancient Greece, taking the characters in the modern sequences and showing them as mortals and immortals of the olden days. Clmrlio' Murray, who plays a New York politician, becomes the political dictator of Greece. Louise Fazenda, who plays bis nagging wife, is Circe, the enchantress in the Grecian scenes. Thelma Todd is a cabaret dancer in New York, and becomes Venus. Russ Powell, the cabaret proprietor, becomes Bacchus; Joe Boiiomo, the strong man in the cabaret, is Hercules; Spec O’Donnell, a messenger boy, becomes Mercury, and other characters take like parts.

The comedy situations in such a story are unlimited, and the fun riots merrily through the picture. It is a “ natural ”• spot for Murray and Miss Fazenda, famed as fun-makers lor the screen, and both take advantage ol every situation that gives cause for mirth. While humour predominates, the picture boasts an artistic background seldom seen in a comedy. There, are imigmliceut sets, hundreds of players, and a story that holds interest from start to finish.

A Paramount special comedy featuring Wallace Beery, Louise Brooks, and Richard Arlen, entitled ‘ Beggars of Life,’ will also be shown, while a vaudeville act by Sam Stern and Sadie Pepper will Ire staged.