AMUSEMENTS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20288, 22 December 1927, Page 3

AMUSEMENTS.

EMPIRE THEARE. In “ The Night of Love,” a romance of old Sjpain, now being screened at the Empire Theatre, Ronald Colrnan and Vilma Baiiky play roles to which they are eminently suited —the type, indeed, that has made them famous. Colman is seen as a gipsy prince whose marriage is being celebrated when the ceremony is interrupted by the arrival of a villainous duke, who kidnaps the bride. She, faced with the alternative of death or dishonour, commits suicide, and over her dead body her gipsy lover swears eternal vengeance. In pursuit of this he becomes a bandit, and shortly after is given an opportunity of revenge when ho is informed that tho duke has arranged a marriage a neighbouring princess. A banquet is held to celebrate the approaching event, and at this feast the duke reveals his true character. The robber chief storms the stronghold in the midst of the revels, and takes the pair prisoners. Tho princess, fearing tho vengeance of her captor, throws herself from the battlements into tho . sea, from which she is rescued by the timely efforts of the robber chief. The duke is banished to his home, and the bandit proceeds to lay siege to the heart of the princess. Tho Empire orchestra plays a first-class selection- of musical numbers which greatly enhance tho pleasure of the programme.

OCTAGON THEATRE. Baaed on th© doctrine of re-incarnation “Tho Road to Yesterday,” a Cecil B. ,de Mills production, which is now being screened at the Octagon Theatre, is a picture that is well worth seeing if only for its manner of demonstrating the idea. ine story opens in a mediaeval English setting and' relates certain events m those days of cruelty when rich lords held power of life and death over their humbler brothers, when girls could be abducted with impunity, and when women were burnt at the stake. The wicked Lord Strangevon wreaks some terrible wrongs on a man and two women, one of whom ho causes to suffer the fate of all witches and who curses him through all the lives he may have to live. It is a vividly told tale, and set in magnificent scenic effects. The modern story involves two young people who are, at the time the story opens, spending a honeymoon at the Gran J danvon Hotel. Tho wife, loves her husband, yet has an unreasoning fear of hun which makes her reject his advances and naturally deeply pains him. The other characters in the story are a clergyman, and a young girl and her aunt, and all these people become linked up in a pecuhai chain of circumstanccSj which culminates with a sensational railway smash when five once again plays a part The sequel is very interesting and the tangled web is straightened to tho satisfaction of all.

EVERYBODY’S THEATRE. An attractive double-feature programme is being offered at Everybody s Theatre this week. The first Picture is My Lady of ’Whims,” in which Clara Bow takes the role of an erratic young lady named Prudence Severn. Two men named Greer and Flynn are detailed the task of subduing the girl, and in the process come into contact with Rolf, who has won hei interest through studied artifices planned for his worldly gam. Greer, at a dance, unwittingly encounters a man whom ho mistakes for Rolf, but who is really a professional pugulist, ao ti»t, Greer has > an unpleasant time. Wedding Bibs, a Paramount picture, is the second feature. Raymond Griffiths plays the leading role, and Ann Sheridan is pleasing and humorous in the leading feminine role.

QUEEN’S THEATRE. A vivid western drama, “ The Frontiersman,” with a strong historical intei est is the principal attraction at the Queens Theatre this week. Tim M Coy plays the leading role-thut of a cavalry officer attached to the staff of General Andrew Jackson, who takes port in an expedition against Indians who have massacred the garrison at Fort Minima Alabama. M Coy, in the role of lover of tho heroine (Claiio Windsor), displays his versatile qualities as an actor. The majority of people as boys and girls have been thrilled by the tales of cowboys and Indians and th s production, with its excellent, photography and locales, and its historical interest, cannot fail to revive some of. the, Plasms memories of youth. lh© Sap, toatur ing Kenneth Harlen, is a good supporting picture.

■/THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SECRETARYSHIP.

TO THE EUITOU. b ih —The letter which appeared in this momin-’s issue of the Daily Times, under So above heading, calls attention to a tiaarant case associated with a practice whmh is becoming a scandal at the present time Tho people of this Dominion are loaded and over-burdoned with taxation, vet wo are retiring men from all branches of the public service who are in tho prune of life—school teachers, railway cm ployces and civil servants of all kinds, men who are fit,to continue the work for many years yet-and the public is bled to pay them heavy superannuation sums. It is high time that an end was put to this or action. Probably tho worst feature is that so many of these men are enjoying substantial incomes, and allowed to compete with men in walks o£ life who are working hard to make a docent living, and find the task none too easy, iho appointment of a superannuated railway othoial to the position of secretary of the Chamber of Commerce is one of the most extraordinary appointments that I have come across for a long time. Concerning the official who is appointed to the position 1 have nothing to say, as I do not know anything of him. but, speaking as a man in the street I should imagine that a training received in connection with a Government monopolistic institution would be practically useless to anyone the position of secretary of the Chamber of Commerce. . I would like to know why this appointment was not duly advertised, so that an opportunity might be given for applications to bo made by those interested, lo engage a superannuated railway servant, enioying a retiring allowance of something like £475 per year, and appoint him to a secretaryship carrying another £250 or £550 per annum, seems to me a gross injustice to tho many accountants and others m the city who might have been applicants for the position. This scandal of tho competition of superannuated civil servants with others, whoso income is only just what they can earn, is a matter that demands immediate attention and action from the public generally. To find the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, lo which people naturally look to give a lead in the right direction, acting as it has done in the present instance is a disappointment, and in my judgment, something worse, i hope it is not too late for a reconsideration of the appointment.—l am, etc.. Dunedin, December 21. lokotus.

g lßf —x wish to endorse the sentiments expressed by “Railway Official in tlrU morning’s Daily Times, and to add my protest to the matter in which these semi-public appointments are made in Dunedin. Some years ago the Auckland Chambei of Commerce required a secretary, but being composed of sensible men, (hat body advertised the position throughout the Dominion, and appointed a young man with exceptional qualifications. In Dunedin however, it seems to be impossible for' any man under 40 (or is it 60’) to obtain any position which ho is qualified to fill. A few years ago at the annual meeting of the ISew Zealand Society of Accountants, a public accountant of this city endeavoured to cast a slur on one of hia firm’s clerks who had commenced to practise on his own account. Apparently these men fear that a man who has spent* some years of his time, and a large proportion of his savings, in qualifying himself to practise hi? chosen business will be able to obtain business which would otherwise go to them. This is the spirit which appear- (o nave -o thoroughly permeated Dunedin business tlnil one wonders where it will end. A word of warning. Old men may mean wel l but they don’t know. A few yeara rr o ' they bad to ask the young men to save their homes. their wives, their daughters. In a few years to come they will = ask them to save (Tiem from anarchy, for anarchy breeds only on empty stomachs I am a Conservative, but speak from experience. I am, etc.. December 21. Public Accountant.