Round the Shows

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 400, 7 July 1928, Page 14

Round the Shows

PRINCESS AND TIVOLI | “THE COHENS AND THE KELLYS” j “The Cohens and Kellys in Paris,” one of the most uproarious comedies ever made, will be shown at the Princess and Tivoli Theatres to-night. “The Cohens and Kellys in Paris” * is life jammed with wholesome human touches of pathos and comedy. It is a beautiful painting from the delicate brush of the great artist, William Beaudine, director. Each member of the all-star cast is admirably chosen. It is not a farce comedy, but it is drama of the relations between the Irishman and the Jew told with an eye always on the comic possibilities of the tale. George Sidney, who was featured in the role of Cohen in the first “Cohens and Kellys,” headlines in the screamingly funny adventures of the Irish and Jewish families in Paris. J. Farrel MacDonald is co-featured as Kelly and gives an inimitable portrayal. Vera Gordon and Kate Price are back again in their original roles of Mrs. Cohen and Mrs. Kelly, louder ; and funnier than ever. Gertrude Astor furnishes 50 per cent, i of the good looks and many of the i laughs in this hysterical production. ' Sue Carol represents the remaining ! 50 per cent of beauty and charm, while < Charles Delaney is appealing as young 1 Mr. Kelly who marries the pretty i Cohen girl and thereby engages the i two fapiilies in a mad rush to Paris 1 to break up the racial mistake, so that ’ the Cohen grandchildren will not be i little Kellys. . i Everything that can happen in Paris, happens to the Cohens and ! Kellys, including an apache dance and ' a duel. The whole thing ends with one of the most exciting and hysterical ; sequences ever screened. The supporting picture is “Confetti” a fantastic and beautiful story of the call of youth to youth. It is interpreted by a strong cast of English ; actors, headed by Sydney Fairbrother, and Jack Buchanan.

LYRIC “OLD SAN FRANCISCO” “Old San Francisco,” which is now being shown at the Lyric Theatre, stars Dolores Costello in a dramatic story of love and hate. The story tells of a proud aristocratic girl in the old days of San Francisco, who is insulted by a political boss. The girl finds out that th© boss is a half-caste Chinese and makes the news known. The boss tries to make the girl retract her statement by threatening to torture her lover. A crowd of Chinamen, who hat© their “white boss,” force their way into the place and capture him, while the girl is spirited away to a secret chamber by a Chinese girl. The boss, escaping from his captors, recaptures the girl and drags her to a deeper cell. Just then comes the terrific upheaval which is known as “The Great Fire.” Lightning flashes through rents in the walls, the boss is crushed under a falling beam, the girl is rescued by her, lover and out of the ruins of the old San Francisco they flee to happiness in the new’. An exciting and fast-moving picture is “The Man from Oklahoma,” the second attraction on the programme starring Jack Perrin. BRITANNIA A LON CHANEY PICTURE Lon Chaney in “London After Midnight’” will be shown to-night at the Britannia Theatre. A strange old haunted castle in England, over which hang sinister legends of long ago and astounding vampire superstitions, still believed in by many—particularly the peasant class—concerning the “un-dead” which haunt graveyards and wander, between life and death, as malevolent avengers—these form the background of this weird and powerful story. Chaney plays a role different from any in his career, for instead of his usual sinister character he appears as a Scotland Yard detective, who, with a scientific trend, utilises hypnotism as a weapon against ghosts and apparitions in the haunted manor. “Corporal Kate,” a story full of drama, tears and laughs, will also be shown, with Vera Reynolds in the leading role. “Corporal Kate” tells of a young man of wealth who is drawn into the war and of two girls who go to the front as entertainers. GRAND “BODY AND SOUL” Sold by a drunken father to a man of questionable character, then married to a jealous doctor who brands her with a red-hot iron. Such is the dramatic story of Hilda in the picture, “Body and Soul,” shown at the Grand Theatre last night. The mad doctor is portrayed by that excellent actor, Lionel Barrymore. Hilda by Aileen Pringle, and the part of the young Swiss mountaineer by Norman Kerry. The story concerns a Swiss peasant girl who weds a good-for-nothing doctor many years older than herself. Her innocent jocularity with the postman arouses the husband’s jealousy, and he takes refuge in drink at a nearby tavern. Th© liquor inflames his anger, and he returns to the house, ties his young wife to a post in his forge and. having heated a. great brass seal to a white heat, brands her shoulder with it in order to mark her for his own. “The Last Days of Pompeii,” a picturisation of the immortal story, will also be shown.

MUNICIPAL BAND AT ZOO TOMORROW The Municipal Band plays at the Zoological Park to-morrow at 2.45 p.m. A fine programme will include the overture “Pique Dame,” “The Blue Danube” waltz, a selection from Sullivan’s “H.M.S. Pinafore,” grand march "The London Scottish,” Three Dances from “Henry VIII.” and other tuneful items. The band will again appear in the Town Hall at 5.30 in the evening, when a complete change of programme will be presented, full particulars of which are given in our advertising pages.

| STRAND I “THE GAUCHO” SEASON Miraculous salvation from the black doom, a disease of certain gravity, as the name suggests, turns the lawless Gaucho from his evil ways. Here we have one of the big incidents in “The Gaucho,” the feature film which began the second week of its season at the Strand Theatre yesterday. The star is Douglas Fairbanks, who has been seen so little during the last two or three years that his startling stunt athleticism has almost become a memory. Yet here he is again, full of the old engaging tricks, and bubbling with the joy of life. He is an entertaining fellow, and his presence in a film is warranty for an absence of dullness. “The Gaucho,” has its setting somewhere in South America, and the two heroes who have to fight for ultimate supremacy are a Royal impostor and Douglas, the gaucho. In passing, it should be mentioned that a gaucho is a particularly brilliant kind of cowboy. The captions assure us that the breed is becoming less common, and from the point of view of South American pacifists, this probably is a good thing. The gaucho of the piece is leader of a big band of lawless men, who strike where they think the greatest profit can be obtained. They descend upon a city made celebrated by reason of the miracles performed there, and in a very short time there is plenty happening to give the inhabitants more than a mild interest in life. The usurper’s forces arrive, and there is a first-rate clash in the town. The gaucho, in freakish mood, tells a victim of the black doom to commit suicide, but the diseased one, having different notions, succeeds in infecting the gaucho, and it is only a repetition of the original miracle that saves the hero from a wretched fate. Fairbanks, an antidote for dullness, is full of the old tricks. He never walks if there is a tree to swing by, or a wall to scale. Eve Southern and Lupe Velez give him adequate and fascinating support. Miss Bettina Edwards was responsible for the arrangement of “South of the Andes,” an effective atmospheric prologue. Miss Edwards, full of Argentinian fire, did an inspiring dance, and Mr. Ernest Snell sang “Lolita.” There is an excellent programme of supporting pictures, including scenes of the English Cup Tie final. A New Zealand publicity film shows the Maori in his natural state. The Strand Symphony Orchestra under Miss Eve Bentley .played incidental music—mostly Spanish.

PRINCE EDWARD ARGUS AND PICTURES Argus will again demonstrate his remarkable powers at the Prince Edward Theatre thiS evening, which will be his last appearance in Auckland. A Scarlet Pimpernel story, “I Will Repay,” will also be shown, with Flore Re Breton, Holmes Herbert and Pedro de Cordoba in the leading roles. The story tells of a frail and beautiful girl, Juliette, who is bravely trying to avenge the death of her brother, who was killed in a duel with a lawyer named Deroulede. Into the story comes Sir Percy Blakeney, the dashing Scarlet Pimpernel—one of the daring bands of Britons who rescued doomed aristocrats from danger, risking their lives out of sheer love of adventure. The men of the “Terror” had sought Sir Percy by hook or by crook. We see him in their very arms, but set free through an astonishing stratagem. Wo see him leaping over roofs into passing vehicles. And always the hounds of the “Terror” are baffled. “One Round Hogan,” starring Monte Blue," completes the programme. RIALTO AND REGENT, EPSOM “CHINATOWN CHARLIE” Johnnie Hines’s latest comedy is “Chinatown Charlie,” and this is now being shown at the Rialto and Regent. Epsom, Theatres. In “Chinatown Charlie,” which is from the pen of the prolific playwright Owen Davis, the comedian gives an exceedingly realistic interpretation of a guide on a New York sight-seeing bus, a wax dummy, a Chinese mandarin and a lover.

The last is not the least, for in order to win the hand of the heroine, portrayed by Louise Lorraine, Johnny puts up som© fights worthy of a Western villain, and performs the thrilling stunt of walking across a human biidge, the bodies of live acrobats swung together from a second-storey fire-escape to the balcony of the man* darin’s palace, 25ft across the street. Bqually enjoyable is the second picture, entitled “The Circus Show.” Hoot Gibson, a popular Western star, is seen at his best in this story of i a circus outfit in the cowboy country, \ EMPIRE “SORRELL AND SON” "Sorrell and Son.” the well-known j and beautiful story of a father’s love ' for his son will be shown at the Em- j pire Theatre to-night. "Sorrell and Son” tells of a man who ! returned from the war to find his wife j had left him and his job gone. He has j only one friend, a Mr. Rowland, who ! gets him a position as a porter at an ! inn. Eater, Sorrell is appointed as ' head porter, and Mr. Rowland gets Kit ! into one of the best English schools, j but his father's position becomes i known and he is forced to leave. Following this cruel blow Sorrell is appointed manager of the hotel. Kit ! studies medicine, and, under the tutoring of an eminent doctor, he becomes a j noted surgeon. Kit’s lifelong friend- ! ship with M,r. Rowland’s daughter, | Molly, develops into love, and Sorrell’s 1 declining days are made happy bv their marriage. H. B. Warner, who plays the part of the father, gives a wonderful portrayal. “Woman W’ise” will also be shown starring June Collyer. It is probably because all the world looks upon newly-weds with sympathetic Interest that Warner Bros, are placing so much faith in “If I Were Single,” one of their important productions about to be released by Master Pictures. This is a clever story with May McAvoy and debonair Conrad Nagel as its stars. Myrna Loy and Andre Beranger are also included.

ROYAL, KINGSLAND “SECOND TO NONE” Although not produced at propaganda for the Navy, the picture “Second to None,” now being shown at the Royal Theatre, Kingsland, presents many scenes illustrative of the work of the Senior Service apart from an intriguing story. But although the scenes taken on board the warships will prove wonderfully interesting, it is certain that the scenes taken in the Royal Naval Training establishment at Shotley, by permission of the Admiralty will be received with rounds of applause. “Second to None” is the story of a newspaper boy whose ambition is to join the Navy and rise to commissioned rank that he may win the hand of his former playmate. Moore Marriott, Benita Hume and lan Fleming have the leading roles. Buck Jones is the star of “Hills of Peril,’* the second feature.

CONCERT-LECTURE STRAND THEATRE TO-MORROW of T £® r Party wiU sive another or its well-known concert-lectures at the strand Theatre to-morrow evening at seven o’clock. There will be several items as well as a lecture bv Mms M. Aldis on Conditions ut the Jubilee Institute of tbs Blind,'?