ENTERTAINMENTS

Southland Times, Issue 19435, 26 December 1924, Page 7

ENTERTAINMENTS

ALBION TO-NIGHT, 7.15 pun. A GORGEOUS HOUDAY PROGRAMME. The crowds that filled the comfortable Albion on Christmas Eve were loud in their praise of the splendid holiday programme presented by the management. The whole night’s entertainment is one all can revel in, mother, (father, eon and daughter, there is pleasure for all Have you ever been lost in a big city? If you would know how it feels, see the second big Arrow-Blazed Trail Special, “Lost in a Big City.” To those who saw the first production under this banner, “Ten Nights in a Bar Room,” we need say no more, for it includes many of the old cast of that wonderful photoplay which not so long ago swept the country in a blaze of glory —headed, as before by John Lowell and Baby Ivy Ward. It can be said without fear of contradiction that “Lost in a Big City” combines more thrilling scenes than any other single photoplay heretofore produced. There is, too, a wealth of heart interest, pathos and humour which all tend to make it a truly great production. You can’t afford to miss a picture such as this—for, adapted from the famous old stage play of the same name, it should rightfully take its place with those other successful picturisations of famous old melodramas: ‘Way Down East,” “The Streets of New York” and “Ten Nights in a Bar Room.” The first picture of the evening is the Master picture “When The Desert Calls.” The lure of the East, the mystery of the Sahara, the enchantment of nights under tropical stars—all these fascinations are found in “When the Desert Calls.” It is more than an atmosphere picture—it has plot in every scene and tells a dramatic, powerful story of love and hate, revenge and sacrifice, of wonderful heroism and a girl’s devotion to the memory of the man she loves. It is replete with complications and clashes, surprises and shocks, with escapes and pursuits, and it ends in a manner surprising, satisfying. The picture’s variety of setting is an outstanding feature. Reality, as well as beauty, has been created in scenes that shift from a New York dive to the splendour and luxury of a club in Northern Africa; sun-flooded streets in a town on the desert’s edge; details of social and business life there, together with the superb tent interiors. Two big comedies complete this big holiday programme. Seats may be reserved by ’phoning the Albion, 738. VAUDEVILLE AND PICTURES. AT THE CIVIC TO-NIGHT. A really and truly wonderful programme : is offered by the Civic Pictures manage- : ment to-night when a combined programme of vaudeville and pictures will be pre- i sented. The Mirano Brothers (Oscar and Willy), who have ranked high among the most successful head-lining acts which have ever played the Fuller Circuit, have been ; engaged to present two of their most spectacular and sensational acts —“Looping the Loop” and “The Balancing Perch”— neither of which have been presented by them in Invercargill. Their performance is thrilling in the extreme, and must be seen to be appreciated. All Invercargill will be talking about it to-morrow. As for the pictures! If you want thrills—the good old fashioned kind of pulse quickeners that you used to enjay when you were young, see “The Arizona Express.” It is melodrama up-to-date. The story concerns chiefly a young mail clerk, a wealthy banker, his ward, an adventuress and her criminal partner. The director has taken these characters and woven them in a plot which runs the gamut from the plot to rob the bank to a trans-contintental pursuit in which “The Arizona Express” crashes over a trestle into the river. The picture is billed as “an honest melodrama” and that is what it is. It will give you one genuine thrill after another, staged logically and entertainingly. Pauline Starke as the girl does a fine piece of dramatic work and Horald Goodwin, who plays the brother, is no less worthy of praise. David Butler, playing the young railway mail clerk to whom romance comes in the guise of a nightmare, acquits himself in a manner which is characteristic of him. Evelyn Brent is a very fascinating villainess. In the supporting feature, First National have done full justice to Jos. Hergesheimer’s “Cytherea.” Leeßandon (Lewis Stone) is sent by his matter-of-fate wife, Fanny (Irene Rich) to break up a budding romance between Peyton Morris (Norman Kerry) and a flapper (Constance Bennett). He finds the task an easy one, but he himself falls under the spell of the flapper’s beauty. Lee’s hum-drum home life had stifled his spirit for romance, but now it Issued forth with real forcce. When the girl, in a momentary defiance of his advice to break off her affair with Peyton, tells him he is an old man and cannot appreciate the meaning of love, he is startled and then piqued. To disprove her challenge he dances with her, and under the spell of the music the years drop. This escapade led Lee to a series of adventures which culminated in one of the strangest love affairs ever written. In accordance® with the usual Civic policy this programme will be presented at .the usual prices. Plans and day sales are at Mrs Gawn’s. FIREWORKS DISPLAY. NEXT THURSDAY NIGHT. In selecting New Year’s night on which to give their great display on Rugby Park, the Wainoni Fireworks Display Company have selected an appropriate occasion. The public usually welcomes anything out of the ordinary run in novel attractions to mark the advent of another year and an exhibition of pyrotechnics on a large scale may be said to adequately fill the bill. It Is a satisfying attraction to all ages. The fireworks factory of the Bickertons. of Wainoni Park, has been responsible for the greatest displays presented throughout the Dominion for many years past, and their excellence is well-established. As experts in the business they create many excellent designs displayed in fire of varied colours, and their set pieces are said to equal anything of the kind sent in the older countries of the world. The programme which these masters of pyrotechnics will carry out next Thursday evening will be of the same high standard as those given in the northern cities and which have established the repuI tation of the firm on a sound basis. The display, it is claimed, will be most brilliant. A large supply of pyrotechnical novelties will be seen and a dazzling effect created. As very many of the younger generation of the district have never witnessed a display of fireworks on a complete scale, next week’s exhibition will be somewhat of a revelation, while the older folks will doubtless welcome the revival of a spectacle which never loses its popularity.