ENTERTAINMENTS

Southland Times, Issue 19429, 18 December 1924, Page 7

ENTERTAINMENTS

ALBION—TO-NIGHT, 7.15. A POPULAR PROGRAMME: “TEN NIGHTS IN A BAR-ROOM” AND “FOOLS OF FORTUNE.” That the old melodramas are ever popular with pleasure-seekers was very plainly manifested by the long and hearty applause which greeted “Ten Nights in a Bar-room,” a play that on the stage has been enjoyed by millions the whole world over. If you would see on the screen the human interest story that has touched the hearts of millions for the past sixty years do not miss “Ten Nights in a Bar-room,” for it is as fresh to-day as when it was written. A very fine coterie of actors interpret the plot which is very dramatic in parts, especially when the big bar-room Is burned to the ground. A Topical Gazette precedes this picture, which shows at 7.30 p.m. Immediately after is shown one of the funniest Mermaid comedies ever entitled “Funny Paper.” After the interval the fine Master picture, ‘Tools of Fortune,” takes the screen. A rollicking comedy absolutely original in action and climax. “Fools of Fortune” deals with the sort of characters often seen on the screen, but they are placed in situations as novel as they are funny. The photoplay is nothing short of a comic riot, played as it is by a cast distinguished enough for a big drama—Marguerite De La Motte, Tully Marshall, Russell Simpson, Frank Brownlee. These brilliant artists throw themselves whole-heart-edly into the spirit of the story and enjoy telling it as much as the audience will enjoy them. Amusing sub-titles sparkling with homely wit; action that shifts from the typical West to the drawing rooms of the East; laughs in every scene, and a climax that is guaranteed to surprise the most hardened “fan”—this, in brief, is the formula used successfully in “Fools of Fortune,” which was greatly appreciated by the audience last night. Taken altogether, the whole entertainment is one that can be recommended to everyone. Seats may be reserved by ’phoning th Albion 738. CIVIC PICTURES. SHIRLEY MASON, BERT LYTELL, AL. ST. JOHN. Once again ail tastes are catered for in the new programme at the Civic. Somewhat reminiscent of “The Sheik” another desert picture which is likely to rival that famous production in point of popularity is First National’s “A Son of the Sahara” which heads the bill. It is a great desert romance, picturesque, beautiful, pulsating with life and action, filmed in the incomparable Sahara itself! Thousands of camels, Arabs, horses and Algerian troops appear in the picture along with a number

of genuine Oulad Nail dancing girls from Biskra. Bert Lytell has the leading male role as a white man who from infancy has been brought up as an Arab and who becomes a Sheik of an outlaw tribe. Claire Windsor portrays the heroine, who is taken prisoner by this white sheik’s band and sold into slavery. But the Sheik himself is the secret purchaser. A most extraordinary romance develops and after many dramatic and thrilling situations the plot comes to a surprising finish.

Shirley Mason comes back on this bill in a picture—“ Love Letters”—that will still further endear her to picture-goers. An odd-shapen box, around which much of the plot revolvesc, contains the love stories of several young women. These are the property of Thomas Chadwick, a wealthy but unscrupulous man of the world, who has played upon the susceptibilities of the feminine sex for his own ulterior motives. Efforts have been made by some of the women to secure the damning evidence of their laisons, and amongst these is Evelyn Jefferson (Shirley Mason). Subsequently Chadwick is murdered, and a search for the casket of love letters follows. The trial ends in the district attorney’s office, where several persons interested in the contents of the box are present at the inquiry. There is much surprise occasioned when, after the box has been unlocked, it is found to contain—but that would be telling! Al St. John provides a whole lot of fun in the comedy, “Highly Recommended.”