A MIXED BAG.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19196, 12 June 1924, Page 5

A MIXED BAG.

By The Glkaner.

Frank Beaurcpaire, interviewed in Now York, thinks Boy Charlton will take first place in the distance swimming event at tup Olympic Games. "Billiards is just a matter of good sight and knowledge of position." remarked an amateur to W. P. M'Leod just after ho had won the amateur championship for Ihe second time. "'More than that," replied Mac-. "1 have poor eyesight. Most ol succp.-s is due to stance. Without pood stance to aid them, the best pair of eyes in (he world won't give accuracy." 'J he 200Osovs tounament which is being launched by the Sydney Stadiums (Ltd.) will start on July 2.' Each division will be conducted separately and concluded before annfher is started. The welter-weight (10 7) has been selected for the opening class, and entries close at the end of the month. There is no doubt that everyone whom Miss Ada Reeve fascinated when first round here with a scrong variety company will welcome the opportunity to see her in Ahuknn," in which she has scored a great success in Australia and in the'north of i ins country. A Sydney scribe recently said that the film was always an interesting diversion in a music hall. That may be so, but others hold a strong opinion that the lilrh is only introduced when the rest of th« :>ill is' not strong enough to spread a programme over a reasonable period. In other words, the film is only used to pad a programme when seen outside the silent show houses. Latest reports from the United States show that jack Demp.>ey has not lost hi* punch, and his knocking out three men in six rounds must have made a procession through the ring resembling a foot rate more than a fistic bout. It was probably three biffs and three outs. This reminds one of the Sullivan-Mitchell match, which took place maiiv years ago, when a scribe who was wiring away progress of the bout sent off the message that "Mitchell was 12 laps ahead." W. J. Bniley professional cycling champion of England, is still riding brilliantly at 36 years of age. He recently defeated I'oulain of France) in a. series of sprints, and was second to Peter Moeskops (world's professional champion) Bailey annexed one of the heats in which all three riders participated. Harry Stone, who is probably one of the unlucki'est fistic artists seen in New Zealand, has left for Sydney to put in a claim tor the light-weight championship of Australia, wnieh has fallen vacant, or nearly so, owing to the retirement of Syd. Godfrey. "Lilac Time" received a great welcome when produced in Sydney. Miss Eve Lynn, who is playing (he leading role, is said to have a rich mezzo-soprano voice, and apparently is a real vocal lead as well as me biff-liner on the bill. The great success which the Seymour r'-s-Fllaline Terris company achieved in Melbourne is now beinrr repeated in Sydney, the two principals scored ft triumph when thev opened in "the Man in Dress Clothes" at the Grand Opera House. Mr Jack Ralston, who recently returned to Australia from America, opened in ''Lilac lime," which is now being staged '- Sydney. One critic said that "Mr Ralston was excellent as Franz Shubert, and his rendering of 'Light out of Evening* was probably the finest effort of the evening." .Mr Ralston first trod the boards with Pollard's Opera Company, and so serve* l his stage apprenticeship in a good school with many prominent artists behind the footlights. Another critic said that our old friend '"Jack" made the hit of the evening, and was recalled several times. The lite Harry Roberts wats. as tar as memory goes, the first and perhaps the only (,ne to stage "The Silence of Dean Maitland " in New Zealand. It wa.s first staged in Dunedin. After the New Zealand tour the Maggie Moore-ftoberts Company went on to ftan Francisco, and openeu in "The Silence of Dean Maitland." Jhe business was not too big, but Roberts created an impression winch promptly secured an engagement with the great Belasco, under whose management he played lend with the famous Mis Caiter. Harry Huberts lemaineil several years in Ameiica, and then came back to play Australia and New Zealand In several ways the J. C. WilliamsonDame Nellie Melba Grand Opera m-ason at Melbourne His Majesty's has broken all records. One of tne phenomenal featuies of the season has been the rush on the booking office, not only for the high-priced seats, hut also for the cheaper portions of the theatre. Frequently eager enthusiasts' have begun to form a queue outside. Allan's booking office at noon, though the giving out of coupons for booking is not commenced until half-past 6 the following morning! The opera enthusiasts spend the night there, with rugs and hot coffee to keep the cold away! litis is certainly real grand opera enthusiasm. Mr Albert Yoyce. secretary of the British Variety Artists' Federation, who recently visite.i Germany, informed the Daily Mail that there were iii thai country twice as many music hulls as before the war, and (en times as many cabarets. "In Berlin alone," he said, "there are from 100 to 150 cabarets, with from five to fifteen turns each." Mr Yoyce added that during his v,uy in Germany he had observed not the least hostility towards British attractions. In Munich they hod met with enormous success. Harry Roberts, whose death is reported From Sydney, was a great favourite in the dominion. For years he toured with his own company and met with good support in Australia and New Zealand. Like Bland ' Holt, Harry Jewutt, Harry Norman, Denmsion, and others who went far in the dramatic profession, Harry Roberts was a ''■•uiioclin boy. The stage always attracted him, and when in his 'teens he vowed (says a Wellington writer) that he'would l>ecoine ,i loading actor and would stage Shakespearean plays. He realised his ambition, but discovered—as have many others—that more art was required, but little money made, in presenting Shakespearean plays, ■nd that dramatic productions paid best. To Maggie Moore, beloved by all, he owed a good" deal of his dramatic knowledge and success, and he eventually made her his life partner. So passcth a good actor, with lofty ideals and a sincere love of his profession, and one whose death many thousands in New Zealand will deeply regret. "The Skin Game." which is achieving a notable success at the King's Theatre, Melbourne, is most wonderfully acted by a talented company, and is brilliantly staged by Oscar Asche (pays the Melbourne Leader). The staging is, indeed, one of the features of the piece, and reveals the producer's genius in a remarkable way. He has not. hesitated to try colour blendings to secure delightful effects, one'of his superb pictures being the boudoir of the unhappy Chloe, where she is lying down pretending to have ;i headache, though she is a.fYlicted by dire mental distress. Here Oscar Asche has, with infinite simplicity, presented a picture that seems in some odd way to illustrate ;•„ pretty woman's personality. Chloe, in a delicate lavender gown, is the heroine of a green symphony carried out by the green carpet, the green cushions and the green screen behind her. The picture is beautiful because the right lights play their part and Oscar Asche is very naturally pleased with his handiwork. "Goodness knows, I experimented with this scene until everybody but me tired of it," he said the other day" "My assistant, tells me that I rearranged a. cushion 27 times." Wrestling has never taken hold of the public as a spectacle, except when the showman has told the public that wrestling is the thing, says a snorting writer in the Manchester Guardian. Excellent it undoubtedly is for the contestants to pit their strength" against strength in deadly locks ami holds: but the man looking on wants movements, such' as boxing and football give hirn, or cricket, and racing ojid tennis. In wrestling, after the preliminary rapid moving for a giip. it usually happens that one man gets the other down, and the rest of the contest is little more than a slowwrithing mass of arms and legs on a mat, the upper portion trying to turn the lowei portion over on to its hack with shoulders well down, the lower resisting with a pertinacity which you admire enormously with one part of your mind, but which bores another part, of your mind beyond endurance. As the men grunt and strain and sweat, and nothing happens, you realise why wrestling never has been, except in periods of manufactured exeilement. a popular sport, and never will be, save iimong communities like the Cumberland and Westmoreland country folk, where everybody take." |>art in the frame. That is a very healthy thing for a stTort; but it does not help to make a spectacle.