THE REGENT

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 12, 5 April 1927, Page 12

THE REGENT

HECTOR ST. CLAIR AND PICTURES That inimitable “funny little man with the violin,” Hector St. Clair, continues to convulse crowded audiences with his absurdities at afternoon and evening sessions at the Regent. His droll humour makes an instantaneous hit and he receives wonderful ovations at each appearance. The film “Fine Manners” is undoubtedly the best in which the popular Gloria Swanson has yet appeared. On Friday next, the picture portion of the programme will be headed by a notable Paramount production, “You Never Know Women,”

starring beautiful Florance Vidor, -who is known as “the orchid lady of the screen.” Stories of stage and circus life have reached the screen showing intermittent flashes of actors, dancers, acrobats and magicians. But it remained for Paramount to logically introduce in this picture’s action, a complete vaudeville bill. The story, an original by Ernest Vajda, deals primarily with the members of the Balagan Variety Company. Its central figures are the team of “Vera and Norodin,” played by Florence Vidor and Clive Brook. On a stage, modelled after the Belasco Theatre in New ‘ York, several nationally known audeville stars are shown doing their acts. They include: Fortunello and Cirinelli; The Melford Troupe of Acrobats; Louis and Freda Berkoff, internationally famous as Russian dancers; Rue Enos, the “frog man”; “The Nelson Troupe of Aerial Performers; The Russian Balaliaka orchestra and a troupe of adagio dancers. To assemble this glittering aggregation it was necessary to readjust bookings on the part of vaudeville executives, and to make many replacements so that the entire personnel selected might be in Hollywood for the picture.