AMUSEMENTS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 50, 27 February 1918, Page 8

AMUSEMENTS

HAY WARD'S PICTURES. "THE CLODHOPPER." Originality io the keynote of "The Clodhopper," the Triangle feature to be screneed to-night at Hayward's Pictures. Charles Ray is the star, and hw role is one to please picture-goers. He is supported by Margery Wilson, who is the sweetheart to whom he says goodbye when he goes off to the city to seek his fortune. Charlie wandered off m his best Sunday suit, and went nosing round for work, eventually running to earth a janitor's job. He went awkwardly in, and landed amongst the rehearsal o( a musical comedy that was going flat. The director saw his opportunity, and made Charlie dance. The dance, christened "The Clodhopper 1 " became I the rage of fashionable New York, and the youth's fortune was made. The rest of the story ie highly dramatic. A run sets in on the father's bank, and he is facing ruin when Charlie turns un with his newlv-got wealth. Everything ends happily." The setting is something to be wondered at, particularly the scenes set among the roof garden entertainment'' places of New York, where the interiors are gorgeous in the extreme. There is a particularly strong supporting cast, and chorus of beauties deserve special remark. In addition to the usual full programme, the management will introduce to patrons of the Empire the popular serial, "The Master Key," featuring Robert Leonard,. Harry Carey, and Ella Hall. PEOPLE'S PICTURES. That this is the golden age of , the moving picture is evidenced by the,pro.7 gramme to be screened at the Theatre Royal to-night, probably the best, yet exhibited at this theatre. 'The P_age Mystery," from a scenic point ,q£.. view', has attractions of a. superior kind. The snow scenes amid which the mystery develops in the later part of the play, are particularly striking, and seen m moonlight the mountain lodge, with its white mantle soread over roof lintels and gables, its open spaces carpeted kneedeep with snow and long gleaming vistas stretching through the trees far into the forest, present a picture of incomparable beauty. The cast ie a triple one of great strength, and includes Carlvle Blackwell, June Elvidge,. and Arthur Ashlev, the latter in the role which he plays so well of a dissolute wastrel. The mystery element develops quickly. Eirst of all Alan Winthrop, the hero, comes upon a beautiful young girl who is just about to take her life. She refuses to divulge her identity. Then he discovers in the lodpe . where the party is staying a secret bedroom. The final problem is the authorship of the strange death of Colonel Page. Many of the scenes are taken in the Adirondack Mountains, at a summer resort. They were taken, however, in the dead of winter, and the result is a more than usually lovely collection of fantastic snow scenes. "Bitter Truth," aptly described as "a drama of a woman's souL" is a story of a young woman who, during five years' incarceration in gaol, broods over the revenge which she means to take upon the judge who sentenced her, and then, when the opportunity comes, ends by falling in love with him. Such is the bitter truth which confronts Anne at the very moment when' she is expected to denounce Judge Marcus, and prejudice, by a domestic scandal, his chances of being elected Governor. Anne is a product of the lower social strata that make their home in the Bowery, and, apart from the judge, the men with whom she is brought into contact are all of them crooks. Jimmie Graves is one of these. After doing his time he determines to marry Anne, and "go straight;" and the one joyous, refreshing moment in the drama is when Jimmie returns to the old Bowery haunt to settle with the pals who had "ratted on him." "Cleaning the slate," he euphemistically calls it. Virginia Pearson adequately portrays the changing moods of the doleful Anne, and is well supported by the other members of the cast. The first episode of the monster new rei-al, "The Iron Claw," will also be shown. BARRIE MARSCHEL AND "THE KID FROM TTMARU." The popular author-actor z Barrie Marschel, and "The Kid from Timaru," scored a big success at Blenheim last evening. A very fine reception greeted this cleverly constructed picture and the recital of the poem it illustrates by Mr Marschel, who delivered the "very effective verses with telling effect. Produced by permission of the Government, "The Kid from Timaru'' is a particularly worthy film, that embraces many strikingly good sections depicting the evolution of a soldier, and illustrates Mr Marschel's clever verses from the time "The Kid from Timaru" enlisted, until he is seen in hospital after the first big fight on Gallipoli, which by the way is unquestionably the real thing. "The Kid from Timaru" will be shown tomorrow {Thursday) night, and a bumper j house is assured, for the merit of the film is beyond question.