AMUSSEMENTS.

Timaru Herald, Issue 170267, 12 July 1920, Page 3

AMUSSEMENTS.

THEATRE ROYAL; TWO BIG VxYUDEVILLE ACTS TO-NIGHT. .For a season of tliree nights and one matinee Pullers announce the most expensive Vaudeville acts they have ever i.ei-ou locally. Of most importance are Abdy's animals. These are performing cockatoos and pigeons, in the strange •company of equally clever doga and cats, who go through a variety of astonishing tricks at the command of their master. The cockatoos are not only cute performers, but they create plenty of fun by their droll interjections. One ofo the quaintest scenes shows the cats being given a ride on a merry-go-round, puiled by one of the dogs, with the pigeons perched on top. ;ue oilier novelty turn is Poincaire, who can talk with equal ease in the language of birds, ducks, pigs, dogs, •.no. co.'.s. while his mimicry of song birds is true to nature in life and note, i'oiiii'iiire is delightfully French in

speech and gesture, and his fanciful presentation of the courting of one canary by another will be long remembered by those who witness his act. A special matinee will be held on Wednesday afternoon.

The films to be projected include one of the most absorbing and shrilling stories ever written, "The Illustrious Prince.' - ' This from the pen rf the brilliant E. Phillips Oppenheim, and utilised by Sessue Hayakawa, the Japanese star, as a screen 'drama. The story moves at a fast tempo throughout, interest never lags, while the sumptuous settings and striking light effects set a new standard for excellence and artistry. As Prince Maiyo, Hayakawa does some of the best acting of his brilliant sereeu career. In fact" his work emphasises the- universally accepted opinion that lie is, without doubt, one oi; the most finished rotors in the silent drama. Ho has mastered! an individual technique all His own, while his productions always evidence ameticulous attention to detail that place them beyond criticism. He lias surrounded himself with an excellent cast in this picture. Unlabel Ballin, Harry Lonsdale, Bertram Grassby, !Sever!v Traverse, I'-dward Peil, "Robert 1 acier and Toyo Fujita, all pourtraying their roles with distinction. The latest Gazette and a one-reel comedy ere also on the bill. Seats may be Looked <»t the Bristol to-day.

••THE GEEY WOLF'S GHOST." AT THE GRAAU THEAT'KE. -So author of Amej iean fiction offers more ioitilo iie.ci for tiic drama ust . ian does Bret Harie, wnose. tales of >e west are classics ot t-Lieir Kiud. . -ue of the greatest of Harte's tales, Aiaruja," has been dramatised for the .•reeii under the tide 01 ••■'the Grey .1 oil's bnost/' and will be screened at ,ie urand tnis evening. Air Ji, li. ,\ aruer has a- colourful veiiicle in this xcuing taie of early California. The .ascmaiion and glamour of Harte's .iiaracters are graphically portrayed, and the story has lost none of its gripping intensity in its screen adaptation. The action of the play" begins when Harry West, whose father had deserted him and his mother many years before, goes in search of his father to demand justice for the wrong done. At the •Tnn of the Dove," near the old. Guitierrey rancho Harry meets Maruja, the beautiful daughter of Don Maria, whom his father had cheated out of most of her land, and falls in love with the senorita after she had lescued him from death at the hands of Perro, a superstitious retainer of her family. Perro is a fanatic on the subject of an old Indian prophecy that foretold disaster to the Guitierrez family if the daughter of the house should marry one of another blood. Harry's skinflint father is found murdered,, and he is accused of the crime by a jealous lover of Maruja's. Incited by the half-crazed Perro, the natives are about to lynch Harry when a strange and unusual_ incident which throws the superstitious natives into a panic, occurs, and Harry escapes and succeeds in making his -n ay to his rival's cabin, where Mfajuja « held prisoner. In the eabm a desperate fight ensues, which ends with the rescue of Maruja. Bita Stanwood (m private life Mrs Warner) plays opposite her distinguished husband in the role of Maruia Excellent supporting films nclt.de another famous Sunbeam comedy entitled "Stripes and Stars," nnd a lengthv Metro travel film. Miss Oapstick has arranged a splendid mvsieal programme.

TEMTJKA. PICTURES. William Fox's, great photo-play "Du, Barry '< in which Theda Bara does her most brilliant work, will be screened at Tenaraka this evening. The story is a historic one, a lot of time was spent by Miss Bara in studying the times of Louis XV. One of the most remarkable features of the play is the dresses) designed b v her after long consultations with experts. The life of the fnmous woman Du Barry is shown in all its complexity, and the intrigues or the inner side are clearly presented. Ihe plav is an epoch making one m every sense. Supported by a sunshine comedy and Gazette.