AMUSEMENTS.

Grey River Argus, 24 February 1927, Page 7

AMUSEMENTS.

OPERA HOUSE TO-NIGHT. ELINOR GLYN’S “W AND MAID. ’ ’ The sets as well as the people arc. rea> in Elinor Giya 's Metro-Goldw;. n-May*;i production of “Man and Maid, wh”. b is coming to the Opera House T ■ night. The heroine was a tai' tragic eyed blonde, a cluse friend id Madame Glyn’s. Harriet Hammon I lord: ed identically like the original j though she had been away. -• sh‘'i was given the role, from tin seven i<»r | two years and previous to that tonbad only been connected with p as a player of small parts. Lew Cody was so exactly hk.- in- : hero of Madame Glyn’s tale that .-he] couldn't resist taking him for the part,| though everyone warned her that he was essentially the “heavy.” She won her point conclusively when he washown on the screen as Sir Nicholas Thormonde. for every semblance of his villaining had been lost and in its pine* stood the real lover. Dagmar Desmond was “found” by Aladame Glyn at a tea party. Miss Desmond had not thought of going into pictures, but was urged to play the particular part of Odette in “Man and Maid” because sin Was so like the girl of that name, whom Madame Glyn had known and written | bout. FRIDAY ONLY. ‘■Till’. GOLDEN PRINCESS. ” You’ll thrill when you see the Para mount Picture ‘‘The Golden Princess . It is the story of a little waif of the I gold fields, Princess, who became tlie| “Golden Princess” when her mine prov ed a bonanza. But all was not happiness/ with sudden wealth, for there were I those who tried to take the mine’. Betty Bronson, the “Peter Pan” girl is the Golden Princess, and Neil Hamilton, j Phyllis Haver, and Rockliffe Fellowes| are the other players. This Paramount; picture comes to the Opera House tomorrow. “The Unfair Sex.” WHICH ONE ? ? ? ? BRIGHT FARCICAL I'LAY. Which is the unfair sex? Sir Henry Hesketli, K.C., after thirty years in the divorce courts, did not know, but he decided that both sexes were unfair, : and he punished both—but not before j he was treated to the fright of his | middle-aged life. This is, in a nut- ' shell, the position which arises in ’.a three act farcical comedy, “The Unfair . Sex,” which will be produced at the Opera House on Saturday next. ; Geoffrey Trevor and his wife Diana 1 (Miss Zillah Bateman) are apparent’.' ' happily married, with nothing to dis I turn the smooth waters of the matrimonial sea, but both have their par-j ticular pals of the opposite sex, Joan | Delissc (Miss Vera St. John) and liar j vey Fane (Mr Norman Carter). 'll wore groat friends, but Sir Ilenrv (Mr Frank Bradley) affectionately I termed “Uncle Henry) by all hands.; saw in the innocent friendships a sug- ; gestion of trouble. The absence of, children was, in his view, a crime ’ against humanity.

Thon when both husband and wife wore caught independently in innocent, but somewhat compromising circumstances, “Uncle Henry” arranged a little complication of his own with .. view to bringing the parties to a realisation of the impending danger. He told Diana that Geof knew aV about her affair with Fane, while Geot in turn was informed that Diana was going to divorce him because of his kissing Joan in the bushes. He managed things very cleverly, but the parties worked together in the finish and only at the last moment discovered his plot.

“How do you know’ the rules of the game when you have never played it,’ asks Diana hotly. “I never played, hut I have umpired for thirty years,” Uncle Henry responded. Which sex wa? unfair? Was either unfair? Thus, if brief, is the story round which “The Unfair Sex” is produced.

The play is delightful in the simplicity of it’s causes., a«d the intricacies .of it’s effects, and is |*eked with amusing situations, many if them funnier than is possible to.imLgine. The cast is headed by the famous Miss Zillah Bateman, the celebrab d West End London actress, who is m. zing her first appearance in New Zealand. She is supported by an entire London company, which can truly be termed “All Star,” everyone being a star in her or his par ticular line.

The play will be presented by Mr Joseph Cunningham’s Now English Comedy Company, and the brilliant re pertoirc will also include such famous London successes as “Eliza Comes to Stay” and “The Sport of Kings.” The Box Plan is at Webley’s.