AMUSEMENTS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20415, 23 May 1928, Page 13

AMUSEMENTS.

OCTAGON THEATRE. * “ Very Confidential,” ■which is,the principal attraction on the present bill at the Octagon Theatre, is a comedy-drama in which a pretty girl employed in a big shop decides to make a famous young athlete fall in love with her. Madge Bellamy has the part of the young woman in question, and she fills the role admirably. For a long time all her efforts to become acquainted with the young man are entirely unsuccessful, and she has to stand a great deal of badinage from her workmates in consequence. However, after many thrilling adventures, matters work out to her satisfaction, and love comes homes to roost. The musical programme includes the “ Dance of the Hours” from “La Gioconda ” (Ponchielli) and other well-known selections. EMPIRE THEATRE. A romance of the German Rhineland of pre-war days is “ Flesh and the Devil,” the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture, which is the current attraction at the Empire Theatre. The chief parts are taken by Greta Garbo and John Gilbert, while Lars Hanson is excellent in the chief supporting role. Other players are George Fawcett, Barbara Kent, Marc M'Dermott, and Polly Moran. The story tells of the friendship of two men, Leo and Ulrich. The former falls in love with the beautiful Felicitas, who, he discovers. is already married- He kills her husband'in a duel, and is sent to Africa -on military service for three years. On his return he finds that Ulrich has married Felicitas.. Complications ensue, and in a fine olamix friendship stands the 'great test. A further budget of the Empire Weekly news is also screened. QUEEN’S THEATRE. The first picture on the programme at the Queen's Theatre this week is “ A Trick of Hearts,” a Western story in which the women of a Western town essay to take the places of the men. They elect a lady mayoress and a sheriff. Ben Tully has won the love of Connie Meade, niece of a leading suffragette, and in order to recover the men’s lost positions he stages several fake robberies which terrify the women. There is, of course, a male villain, who becomes vanquished by Tully in the end, and peace and happiness are restored. Hoot Gibson is cast as Tully, and Georgia Hale as Connie. The second feature is “Rocking Moon,” a story of Alaska. EVERYBODY’S THEATRE. The chief feature at Everybody’s Theatre this week is “ The White Rose,” a story of the southern States of Ame-' rica. It is an exceedingly interesting romance, the chief roles being filled by Mae Matsh and Ivor Noyello. “ Millionaires ” is the name of the other picture screened, and it serves to show how a man may attempt to climb too high because he has become exceedingly wealthy. The man is an East Side tailor, and the vain attempts, he makes to soar into high society arc most amusing. This photoplay contains a numerous cast which is strongly filled. PLAZA AND GRAND THEATRES. The present programme at the Plaza and Grand Theatres is headed by “ Hard Boiled Haggerty,” and the title may be taken as a fair indication of the nature of the picture. Haggerty is seen under many trying conditions, one of the most trying being when he had a fall to earth in a miming aeroplane. Incidentally, he has to his credit the bringing down of many German ’planes, and is hard to •kill, hence the title. But he does not prove to be very hard when he meets an attractive but mysterious damsel. It is then that the soft side of his nature comes to the surface. The interludes between these two are conspicuous foi* romance. dramatic incident, and amusing situations. Milton Sills and Molly O’Day are in the limelight most of the time, and are ably supported. “ The Night Hawk,” who is pursued by the New York police and engaged as a gunman to “got” the sheriff, by a ranchman, is the name of the second attraction. “ THAT’S MY DADDY." “That’s My Daddy,” starring Reginald Denny, will be screened for the first time at the Octagon Theatre on Friday. Thr picture is unparalleled in its supreme humour. It shows just what might happen to a person telling a white He for somebody else’s benefit. It plunges the benign Denny into a labyrinth of situations which require the adding to the original lie to such an extent that Denny is no longer himself. Denny wrote the story, ana it proves that this jolly English comedian is more than just an actor. Barbara Kent is delightful ks the nursemaid. She is very attractive and deserves kll the kinema honours which have been showered upon her in her year _ and a-half in motion pictures. Lillian Rich is statutesque in her society role, and is without doubt one of the most fascinating blondes on the screen. There is a little girl in this film called Jane la Verne. ■ This, we are told, is her first picture, but it looks as though she had d>een on the screen about 15 years, she is so clever. But that could not be so, for she is just four years old. Mathilde Brundage and Armund Kaliz fill their supporting roles very well, and the supporting cast includes Wilson Benge, Charles Coleman, and Art Currier. “THE POOR NUT.” Charlie Murray, Glen Tryon, and Jack Mulhall are three clever and versatile comedians, who appear together in “ The Poor Nut,” which will have its initial screening at the Empire Theatre on Friday, though to be sure Mulhall is more of a romantic leading man than the other two, a matinee idol with an ironic sense of humour. Glen Tryon in this production, with his good-humoured energy ana distinctive flair, almost steals the picture from the two veterans. Jane Winton is the leading lady, and a better choice could not have been found. “The Poor Nut” is a light college comedy, and though college comedies are becoming so numerous as to be uncomfortable lately, this one is new, amusing, and not a little intelligent. The Poor Nut himself suffers from an inferiority complex, which, together with superiority complex seem to afflict Americans a good deal. When the Poor Nut'goes to college the faculties of law, plumbing, and engineering, the matrons and their underlkigs, the chef and kis minions, the students and their ukuleles band together to encourage this inverted ego. He is strong on botany, and imagines that he is very popular with the ladies. Charlie Murray has a first-class comedy role, which he makes the most of, sharing honours with the other two funmakers. Naturally, the story is not all bounding humour, the frolicsome humour of irresponsible youth. A college comedy is simply not a college comedy unless one crew defeats another, or one track team beats another, or one half-back tackles the other half-back in possession, kicks into touch, gets the ball, and crosses the line, and wins the girl. There wil allso be screened the thirteenth budget of the Empire local news, containing all the local events of the week, including the University A v. Pirates Rugby football match; also an interesting film of Waipori. Miss Mollie Andrews and Mr Reg Richards will sing the following duets: —“Somebody,” and “In the Garden of My Heart,” and “ Trot Here and There.” FANCY DRESS CARNIVAL. Arrangements are now well in hand for the grand fancy dress and athletic carnival to be held in the Kensington Drill Hall during Winter Show Week. One of the features of the carnival will be a tug-of-war for a team of six men a-side. During the progress of the carnival there will be an amateur boxing tournament (under the auspices of the Otago Boxing Association), shooting sweepstakes on the Defence Department’s range at the Drill Hail, a baby show, dancing on a specially prepared floor, and side-shows of all kinds. A programme of band music will be rendered each night by various city bands. The hall will be brilliantly illuminated, and some novel effects in decoration are promised by the committee in charge of this section. The Carnival Committee has been added to the list of hosts in connection with th‘e visit of some 400 West Coast farmers, to whom the carnival will be free during their stay in Dunedin.