ENTERTAINMENTS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 10961, 25 July 1921, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

"CHU CHIN CHOW/' AN ARTISTIC REVELATION. The expectation of the public has been whetted to a considerable extent since the announcement was made that Wellington was to lia*'e tho privilege of aceing ‘Thu Chin -Chow’' at the Grand Opera House to-morrow (Tuesday) night. The whole show is said to be an artistic revelation, and everyone who sees it is transported for the time being, to the glamour and picturesquenese of the Orient With all its spkmdour is said to be blended the mystery that surrounds Eastern life, and the aroma of incense, the shaded liglits, and the gorgeous costumes, make it a convincingly real picture. "Ali Baba' is the particular story chosen for the theme and, although elaborated and amplified to a marvellous degree, the . storv is there all. the time. The company is due to arrive in Wellington this morning from Napier. They are being conveyed by special train, comprising twelve carriages. Mr Robert Grcig, the producer, and under whose personal supervision, the New Zealand presentations are staged, arrived iu town yesterday night, and had a ful 1 staff working all day lesterday making ihe necessary advance arrangements. The final -plans, which now make the full season, will open at the Bristol thi? morning at 9 o'clock' and the galler\ tickets for to-morrow night’s performance only will be sold at Ned Berry's, tobacconist, Manners street, to-day. HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE. The principal feature of the new programme for presentation by Ben and John Fuller at« His Majesty's to-nighi will be an entirely new musical comedy, entitled "The Burglars," which will be staged by Fullers' New Revue Company, under the direction of Walter Johnson. This is the second production of the season, and according ito report, the greatest laughing show in >tiie whole of the company's repertoire. There are four scenes, set in Honolulu, and a very big feature, in addition .to the sets and costumes, will be a magazine cover scene, in which the girls are framed in many times magnified covers of magazines, while York? Gray sings a topical number. Excellent parts are provided for the two clever comedy merchants, : Kennedy Allen and Dan Weldon; that delightful actress and dancer, Miss Daisy Yates, has a telling role, and, in fact, everybody in the well-balanced 'combination is well suited. A fresh routineof vaudeville will also be offered and a most important new artist in the person of Randolph King, a recently-imported English protean artist, will make his first appearance in New Zealand. Mr King will introduce his London music hali'success "Alone in a Wig Shop," which is said to be the finest quickchange act on the vaudeville stage. Entirely new offerings are to be contributed by Louis London, Maggie Foster. Baron, Carlton and Roslyn, and Don Wallace (the singing vagabond). With a really first-class vaudeville first part and a bright and breezy revue taking up the whole of the second half, the home of vaudeville should be packed to capacity during the gre&ter part of the week. KING'S THEATRE. "HEART OF THE HILLS." Mary Pickford displays all her wellknown versatility and charm in "The Heart of th-e Hills/' the great photodrama whioh is being screened, at the King's Theatre this week. As Mavis Huon, a brave little mountain girl, she waits amid the Kentucky hills, coldly resolute to avenge her murdered father. Never before - has the star had a role to -portray as wide in its scope or as full of deep contrast as this one. In the final stages Mavis herself is charged with murder, and faces the judge and jury. Called upon, to deliver a verdict, the foreman of the jury springs to his feet and avows that he himself has killed Sanders. Every member of the jury follows his example, each calling the other a liar, and the judge releases her. Adopted by a Colonel Fendalton, the winsome waif leases for a young ladies', schools, and six years later she returns to the hills. There she finds the murderer of her father, and ho meets his end. After that all! ie welL In support is the latest Topical Gazette and the newest pictorial journal from the Patlie studio. Mr, Lionel Fairfax, the popular baritone, contributed a most pleasing vocal pro-

gramme on Saturday afternoon an<l evening, and selections from "Chu Chin Chow" were admirably rendered by the King's grand orchestra, under Mr L. D. Austin. The v programme —pictorial, vocal and orchestral—-will be repeated daily throughout the week, THE EMPRESS. "THE WHITE! DOVE." Tlie thrilling drama. "Tho White Dove," in which 11. B. Warner is to be seen at the Empress Theatre this week, sounds the depths of human frailty, and, in most dramatic fashion, proves that even the strongest is weak at times. Tho picture is founded on the novel by William J. v Locke, the famous English novelist, who never penned a more powerful storv than this narrative of "the rins of the father" visited upon the son. Tho central character, played bv Mr Warner, is Sylvester Lanyon,_a British physician, who regards his late wife, as the finest woman who ever lived. IT* is greatly fdtocked bv the revelation that she was untrue to him, and thereupon his faith in all , humanity becomes shaken, and he leaves hisTiome with the fear that his little daughter is not his own. and that the woman, he is growing to love would probably turn out to be of the same sort as his first wife. Tho programme, which includes a- mirthful comedv entitled '"All in a Day," and episode .ten of the fine serial picture. "The Silent Avenger," will be repeated nt all sessions to-day, and throughout the week. EVERYBODY'S. 'THE VICE OF FOOLS." W Human life is too often largely a succession of follies. Tho average person chases madly after a mess of pottage and lives to repent his foolishness. In "The Vice of Fools," the popular star, Alice Joyce, is seen as a young woman engaged in such a chase, and the result is a series of complications that have unusual dramatic value. There is much subt T e humour in the action, and this tends to emphasise the emotional scenes, and rives Miss Joyce a scope seldom witnessed in plays of this nature. The chief virtue of "The Vico of Fools" is its delineation of life as it exists. The storv of Marion, and Cameron is that of hundreds of" other headstrong

yojmg persons who allow infatuation to get the better of common sense. The ending cannot be anticipated at the start, and one is constantly speculating as to how it will end. The climax comes as a surprise. The chief supporting film is a most amusing comedy, "The Nuisance." with Jimmy Aubrey in the principtal part. The programme will be iepeated throughout the week. QUEEN'S THEATRE. "THE BAIT." Maurice Tourneur, whose latest production, "The Bait," with Hope Hampton as the featured player, ds being screened at the Queen's Theatre this week, is widely known for his screen achievements. In ".The Bait" Mr Tourneur has another subject that attests to his skill as a producer. It is the story of a pretty shop girl who is ensnared, by a crook, and later falls into the net laid fo-r her by a master criminal. "Please Get Married." is the title of a film "starring" Viola Dana, that forms the other half of the double-feature programme. The picture is an adaptation of a riotous farce and is described as a most adroit comedy. SKATING. THE COLOSSEUM RINK. On Saturday night the Colosseum Skating Rink," of Vivian street, was again thronged by hundreds of happy skaters. The orchestra contributed lively airs and many of the skaters indulged in, dancing two-steps and waltzes. The day sessions were also well patronised, 1 the learners' session being a popular innovation. The juveniles will be able to avail themselves of the children's. session this morning. The 1 orchestra will contribute selections at the evening session.