AMUSEMENTS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 50, 28 February 1918, Page 8

AMUSEMENTS

EID FROM TIMARU."

To-night Barrie Marechel will make life appearance at the Empire Theatre with "The Kid from Timaru," the poem ■which has been picturised, and has been drawing large houses eve O* wll «' e - So popular as a poem did "The Kid from Timaru" become that it has been republished all over the British Empire and in several foreign languages, and has been recited on hundreds of stages with great success. Mr Marschel has now produced a film which visualises the incidents of the story. Special permission was granted by the military authorities in Wellington for many of these A Timaru boy enacts the role of the "kid," whilst a pretty girl is cast as Kid's sweetheart, 'The Uirl with Irish eyes.' ' The film marks an epoch for the picture industry m fcew | Zealand, as it is the first time that a picture drama made in New Zealand has been wholly undertaken by its people. In conjunction with the above, Charles Ray will appear in a new Triangle drama entitled "The Clodhopper, and.'" there will also be shown a fine list ofsupp&rting pictures. including the popular serial, "The Master Key, a Pathe -Gazette, a Triangle comedy, etc. Box Plans are open at the Empire Sweet Shop, where seats may be reserved, at the usual prices. C -■.." PEOPLE'S "PICTURES. "The new programme at the Theatre ; Royal last evening proved such a drawcard that the house was packed and manv' were unable to gain admission. "The Pace Mv.tery" is remarkable lor some wonderful outdoor setting Ihe Btiovf scene? amid which the mystery devXps in the later part of the are particularly striking, and seen in mooyTight the mountain lodge, with its white mantle spread over roof lintel* and Shies, its open spaces carpeted knee%tp with snow and long gleaming SL stretching through the trees far into the forest, present a picture of incomparable beauty. The cast is .a triple one of great strength, and includes Carlvle Blackwell. June Elyidge, and Arthur Ashley, the latter in the role which he plays so well of a absolute wastrel The mystery element developl quickly. Fi/st of all Alar.Winthroo th«» hero, comes upon a beautmn Sg Xl wVis just about to take her life She refuses to divulge her identity ' Then he discovers in the lodge where the party is staying a secret bedroom. The final problem is the authorshirTof the strange death of Colonel Pace Manv of the scenes are taken, in the Adirondack Mountains, at a summer resort. They were taken however, in the dead of winter, and the ream* is a more than usually lovely collection of fantastic snow scene?. Bitter Truth " aptly described as a drama ot a woman'e souh" 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 judgs 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 Jud«re 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 iudce, 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 iovous, refreshing moment in the drama *is when Jimmie returns to the old Bowery haunt to settle with the pale who had "ratted on him.' ''Cleaning the siate." 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 tost episode of the monster nfw «-ei:al. ino Iron Claw" was responsible for intense interest and rounds of applause. The series will be screened again to-night.