AMUSEMENTS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 1 April 1915, Page 7

AMUSEMENTS

PERMANENT PICTURES

At the afternoon session yesterday n fair number -of patrons attended the Empire Theatre to witness a charming f programme special'y ; arranged for the ocasioii,. At night a large- audience paid for admission to see the programme headed -by that famous picture "England's Menace." The story is'-an intensely interesting one, dealing as it does with the possible invasion of England'by a. foreign Power., In the light of passing events, the interest in this production grows day by day. The national crisis is a.verted by the splendid 'behaviour of the two children of the Prime Minister — "and meanwhile England • sleeps." In addition to this, a particularly- strong programme will be screened to-night. A new Gaumont War 'Graphic contains the following items of great interest, dealing with "The Eight for the Coast- 7 '; The Belgian fishing fleet held Tip at Boulogne; around -the dug-out trenches of Belgium's plucky fighters; winter cloaks the land, and soddened roads cause difficulty and delay; where the-big guns are harboured; the dog transports proceeding through ruined towns, to the firing line ; British troops moving through' the snow-clad- country; the utter indifference to danger with which the. artillerymen handle their death-dealing, instruments; as though roused to fury by the annihilating work of the War God, the raging! sea hurls, itself upon the land of battle with seeming wrath,- a force beyond the power of mortals to repel. There will also .be shown- the management's- No. 4 Nelson Topical Gazette containing a very fine picture of the treasure hunt at •Tahuna- on- February' .Ist, the crowning of the 'Queen of the 'Carnival at Trafalgar, Bark., and incidents of: the Nelson Trotting Club's recent, meeting. A special" programme has Jbeen arranged for to-morrow ■ (Friday) night. Richmond will'be visited to-night: ...Motueka on Good Friday, Saturday, and Easter Monday ; and Taikaka on -Good Friday, and . Easter Monday. A change' of .programme will be given: each : night. , ■

IMPERIAL PICTURES.

"A SON .05? .FRANCE."

There wa£ a large and. eager audience at the Lyric Theatre laist evening, when every item .was enthusiastically, received. ; The star: drama is a great war production, entitled "A Son of 'France," wherein xeal incidents at.the war of wars are shown, and m tlie taking of which; a, ■cinema photographer'lost- his: life.' The ! synopsis of the, storyis as • follows;:. "General 1 'Fontaine is wounded and convalescing at Rheims. On the approach 01 the- enemy,, news of. German! atrocities reacH" the family, and they .decide .to es-, cape foy underground "passages. The lit- . tie son •is missings and ■ the -general remains . hidden while another s and daughter Search for. the, child.- 4 The Germans discover the child, and determine to force hixh into confessing his .father's whereabouts. Like a'.true son- of Fra,nce the la<l refuses. despite brutal treatment.. The 'Huns finallv decide to shoot the "brat." Concealed, the mother and daughter are horrified spectators. Dick Forbes, a "British -war, correspondent, has •been attracted t>y .the movement around the house, and learns of what- is'passing. When the iQerman : officer" is about to shoot the child, Dick fires his revolver and - the foully drops dead. Forbes sends the boy to the. British'lines for help.. In response, to v calls for "Holhveg" from the other' Germans, Forbes disguises himself in coat and, helment of the.dead German, and 'passes as a" -"brother officer with the drunken* Germans. He manages to convey ' his identity to the f and >bids them wait for rescue.- The German soldiers finally discover the presence of the tfam'ily' in.- the tunnel and decide to burn them' out. A German ! of-. ficer, the! least drunken of the royster-.; ing crew, gets suspicious about Hollwegg's disappearance, and with his companions makes a determined effort to get the family from the tunnel. Just as matters are becoming critical the Highvup and - wipe out' - the enemy and rescue, the prisoners. On the boy's story. 'becoming known, the soldiers o-ive the plucky ; youngster. three hearty cheers.' The supporting pictures, are all .of; great interest.;and: are certain to please the;.mpist critical. - - Patrons are notified that to-morrow evening the great exclusive draima, produced hy Daniel Frohman, . "The Count of Monte •Christo," will be. screened, . together with, a- powerful :supporting 1 programme. This cinema triumph Is adapted from'the famous novel by Dumas, and is-6000ft in length. ■ " *

TOM FALVEY IN VAUDEVILLE." 'On Easter Monday night a special attraction will be given a± the Lyric Theatre, when Mr Tom Falvey will introduce vaudeville to Lyric patrons. ;The j latest songs, dances, • etc;,! ; from the vaudeville stage will be ren-1 dered. For programme,see .Saturday's] paper. •. • > | THE COURT CARDS. Clever, bright- and' refined, sums: up .the opening night of the four r nights season of the Court Cards Concert commenced", in . the- Theatre -Roval • last evening before a - big ■ audience: Since :the | Scarlet Troubadours of pleasant memories came to Nelson several- years: ago, visits have been. paid by other costume' comedy | companies who set upa high standard . of.j entertainment. "When it is remembered that the .Court, Cards. Company., contain some of the . most popular and . clever Troubadours, assisted byvg- strong combiinatibn, it -will be seen that a very strong; hand, indeed ris .held,: andthat the ;'shuffling of the'cards was sure-to :produce ai winning trick every time. Expectations .were fully realised,-, and .it - would be hard for any,perf orrriersto compress < so much' tuneful, melody..into, a.,single .enter-, i tainment'as was the case. last , evening. [ The I company is a strong one right through, each and every -item., meeting with, 6uch urianlmous approval that: encores were the order, of the evening. As the joker of" the pack, Mr 'Edgar.:Warwick,-, an. old Troubadour, has lost nono of his aptitude 'for raising a sniile, and his humour was always bright and of the right stamp to send the audience home_ in a happy frame of mind. His ."expressions;'' followed bv a" discourse: on "languages,?', were in hie very , best vein; ' Mi* • Geo. Titchener. is full of wholesome humour, and. laughter never " ceased" while he held the stage,, in spite of the fact that 'he. was suffering from t a' # severe cold,; The stuttering .duet with-Miss Fane temporarily - incapacitated the-: audience; while in telling his ; hearers Jhow..'he in ten d ed' to • propose the most „ dismal •. would haye been forced ' to raise, _a smile. It;, was' a rare pleasureto again ~mak.e the acquaintance with Miss Maiide Fane,,-, of; Troubadour fame. Since last appearingin Nelson, Miss Fane-has-lost-none [ of her ; ipower'to char.m,'. and, imparts a> I ' frteshriess and grace to her -work that is i altogether delightful. Her song telling ' qf. the' lad} -with the naughty little 1 winlcfe tn hor eye • was one of her',bright-., pst efforts-. , With . Titchener, Miss Fane also, as .an .enoore to the .stuttering duet, gave a 'sliuddering ,example of' the position mere "man; will when Mrs 'Pankhiirst's drean\e -are realised. . Still another. old, Troubadour is Mr .Sydney Jtlannering. To %ain 'listen ",€o his rare quality tenor voice, ."was quite one of -the

pleasures of' the evening, iespeciallv in such songs as "Somewhere a Voice is Calling," (with violin, obligato by Miss -Winifred Mitchell) and "Dreamboat." Mr George Graystone is the possessor a good base voice, and his song "Keep [ the Home Fires Burning," with; "The D iver'' ; as an encore, -gaye mu,ch .pleaisuie.. Another vocalist who was a, pleasure to listen ■to was Miss . Renee - Maude,- a. soprano, and- her, number, was enthusiastically encored. Miss Winifred Mitchell manipulates the violin, with considerable skill, and her numbers Were most enjoyable. "A Drop of Hollands," in which all the members of the, company assisted, .was a capital item ; and the burlesque, or a village . choir which concluded >the programme. was a. real "side-splitter." Mr Albert ' Keats Trasi at the piano throughout. • .. , The.'second performance will, be giventhis; when a. complete change of programme is announced ,v