MR PAUL LONGUET

Southland Times, Issue 21195, 23 September 1930, Page 4

MR PAUL LONGUET

HOLIDAY IN INVERCARGILL. b TALKIES IN AUSTRALIA. On arrival by the Maheno at Bluff yesterday was Mr Paul Longuet, a son of Mr and Mrs C. S. Longuet, who has been iti Australia for the past six years . engaged in the theatrical profession. Recently,' however, he has gone over to the. talkies. Before he left Invercargill, Mr Longuet was well-known in the city,' being prominent in amateur theatricals. He will speiid two months’ holiday in Invercargill before returning to Australia, ■ ’ ' ' “I am glad to .be back again and meet old friends,’’ said Mr Longuet. “I have only walked down the town once and have noticed quite a few improvements.. Everything looks so fresh.” . i , Mr Longuet said'that he-had just completed work on the first Australian. 10Q per cent, singing and dancing talkie. If successful it would be-the start of more activities in movie production in Australia- In two months time the producer, Mr Norman Dawn, hoped to take the ■ company on location to Western Australia, where they would make a talkie depicting one of the early Australian gold rushes. The picture just completed was named ‘‘Talkie Mad” and portrayed a company on location. The sound gear was installed by an engineer from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios in Hollywood. “I play the part of a gentleman crook and-it is quite a novelty after so many straight juveniles,” said Mr Longuet. ' Previous to entering the. talkies Mr Longuet toured Australia with Frank Neil playing American farces. One of his most successful parts was Chester in E.\J: Rath’s “A Nervous Wreck.” Theatrically, he said, conditions in Australia were at a low ebb. There was only one legitimate show running in the whole country. ' • In the world of amusements in Australia the latest crare was miniature golf. It was usually played in the basements of the larger buildings-and-the lunch hour was the favourite time for a ■ game. A small golf links was set out and clubs were hired out at one shilling a round. After his residence in Australia Mr Longuet remarked that he was a keen swimmer. Asked to express an opinion on the economic condition of the country, he said that the Australian was a born optimist and with its great resources Australia should not be long in recovering from the present depression. There were some wonderful theatres in Sydney, remarked Mr Longuet. The State Theatre in Sydney was owned by Union Theatres, who with Hoyts, were one of the large firms engaged in the motion picture business in Australia. This theatre was 12 stories high and' was equipped with shopping blocks. Aftpopular feature in the metropolis was atmospheric theatres, which depicted a Moorish garden or some other scene. Prologues had also come back into their own.

“‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ is to be recommended,” said Mr Longuet. “It certainly shows the horrors of. -war and makes us realize what a lucky generation we live in. It was shown in Australia without a cut.” The average price of admission to a second release house in Sydney was one shilling to all parts, he said. Owing to the depression, prices had had to be reduced. In Sydney also, the professional orchestras had come back to the theatres again. Most of tho programmes lasted from eight o’clock till half-past eleven.