OCTAGON AND KING EDWARD THEATRES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17105, 10 September 1917, Page 3

OCTAGON AND KING EDWARD THEATRES.

The great racing melodrama The Whip," which proved such an overwhelming success when it was staged here a few years ago, has now been transferred to the motion picture screen, and in this form it was presented to packed and enthusiastic audiences at both the Octagon and King Edward Theatres on Saturday evening. As a spectacle the picture is among the most wonderful ever screened here, and some of the main incidents of the story are reproduced with a degree of realism that could not even be attempted on the legitimate stage. A fresh and healthy sporting atmosphere pervades the whole of lhe Whip," and by reason of the completeness and splendour of its setting as well as the fascination of the storv itself it must have an unusually strong claim upon pubho interest and attention during the "Piainder of its screening hero. Close on 8000 ft of film, crowded with incident, are required to tell the story of this great melodrama, and it is told in a fashion possible only to the kinema. The hunting scenes which are actual photographs of a well-known not are in full harmony with the whole of the rest of the film, and the racecourse scenes with their animated and .well-dressed crowds are also very characteristic and true to type in matters of detail. The more melodramatic incidents of the plot, such as the motor smash and the train smash both provide highly exciting interludes, andl are reproduced in a skilful and striking fashion. A special interest also attaches to the scenes in the waxworks chamber of horrors, the camera producing some effects that are both weird and uncanny. Briefly told the pot of "The Whip" is as follows:— JoeKelly, a -bookmaker, "has it on" Baron Sartoris and his consort (Mrs D'Aquila), who are guests of Judgo Beverley. The judge s daughter, Diana, is loved by Hubert Brancaster. Kelly forges a cheque of Brancaster's and uses the two villains to convince the Beverleys of his utter wortnlessness. Meantime Harry Anson, a jockey, m the employ of the Beverleys, and his sister. Myrtle learn that " The Whip" will almost certainly win the handicap event at the Saratoga races. Brancaster, _ 'earning of this, wagers twenty to one with Kelly on "The Whip," and Sartoris, who has made a similar discovery, plans to wreck the car in which the horse is being conveyed to the track. The attempt is frustrated by Brancaster, and the horse eventually wms the race, enabling the hero to retrieve hw fortune and also secure a wife. lhe Whip" is acted by an accomplished band of screen art'sts, chief amongst whom are Irving Cummintrs. June Elvidge, Alma Hanlon, and Dion Titheradge. A Pathe Gaeetteis'also included in the programme, which will bo repeated at both theatres again today. "The Whip" is eminently worth seeing.