AMUSEMENTS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 29 December 1926, Page 12

AMUSEMENTS.

" HER BIG NIGHT.” FULLERS’ NEW PROGRAMME. “Her Big Night” was all of that. It is probably the biggest night in anybody’s career, and the, picturisation of it, which will grace the screen at the Theatre Royal this evening, is one of the most diverting light comedy productions of the year. Laura La Plante wins fresh laurels as the star of this picture. It is her first actual starring role, and she amply justifies the judgment .of the Universal Picture Corporation in having selected her for stardom. Despite the presence in the cast of almost a dozen experienced talented troupers, Miss La Plante is never in danger of being overshadowed, no matter how riotous the fun of the picture becomes. Her charming personalitj', and her inherent sense of comedy make her a star of very great magnitude. “Her Big Night” is plainly and frankly farce comedy, nothing else. It starts with a very realistic, and therefore very funny, bargain-counter rush in a department store, contains frantic press agents trying to find lost movie stars, inquisitive reporters, trying to run down scandal stories about cinema celebrities, jealous husbands I and wives attempting to find their respective mates and safeguard them from sirens and homewreckers. It moves, without a single dull moment to a climax which approaches bedlam in its high comedy. No better story could possibly'have been found with which to introduce Miss La Plante to the screen as a star. Her personality fits into it perfectly. Einar Hansen, the European star, plays the leading masculine role, with a large supporting cast which includes Tully Marshall, John Roche, Lee Moran, Mack Swain, Zasu Pitts, Nat Carr, William Austin, Cissy Fitzgerald, and others. Supporting subjects will embrace "The Interna-

tional News” and “Snookum’s Tooth,” a highly divferting comedy. Wee Bobbie Todd, the Glasgow laddie, will present new Harry Lauder impersonations, including, "I Belong to Glasgow,” and “Back, Back to Where the Heather Grows.” This afternoon a special holiday matinee will be held, when the Western star, Ken ' Maynard, will farewell in “Senor Dare-Devil.”

GRAND’S FINE PROGRAMME. | A desolate village of log cabins in the heart cf the mountains, where even -ten rears ago the law- was a dinilycomprehended force, viewed with bitter hostility by the wild people of the hills; a grim old woman, shawlwrapped, brooding over a fire, nursing a merciless hate for the murderer of her husband ; her son, reared amid the fierce lcves and hates of the mountaineers, his object in life to avenge I his father’s death; and a girl, primitive as the hills that were her home, wild and sweet as the mountain flowers that nodded to the dawn wind. These are the essentials of last night’s new picture at the Grand Theatre—“Sun Up,” a drama of the relentless feuds of the Kentucky Hills, and of c the strange events that ended the long enmity of years, bringing law and order to the savage people whoso only creed had been an eve for bn eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a life for a life. Even in those remote fastnesses the war that shook the civilised world made its echoes heard, and took Rufe Cagle, son of the stern old woman who brooded in the cabin, from his narrow hills into surroundings where lives were cheaper than he ever dreamed. Naturally, Rufe returned from the war with a new idea of things, and set about to transform the savage hate and merciless revenge of his people into light and understanding. liis was no easy task, and the manner of its accomplishment makes an elemental and gripping drama. Conrad Nagel carries off the honours of the leading role, in a part that is, for him, en entirely new one. Here is no suave, immaculate drawing-room hero, but a man whoso compelling conviction in his part will place him high in the esteem of theatre patrons. Pauline Starke is thoroughly charming in the lending feminine role. The supporting films comprise the latest novie marvel “Stereoscipik,” which were such an added attraction to tho programmes of the Grand Theatre some months ago. a charming New Zealand scenic, and the “Pat-lie News” The music dis-• coursed by the Grand Orchestra was greatly appreciated.

TEMUICA PICTURES. Anyone who wishes to see a British picture should soe “White Slippers,” at Tennika to-night. Here is a-British film of the finest quality, crowded with incident, bravery, and beauty, the sort of film to make one prOud of his race. Matheson Lang, the eminent (English actor, plays the hero; the heroine is Joan Lockton, the lovely young actress who has been acclaimed by English critics as our own “Mary Pickford.” “AVhite Slippers” is the romance of a treasure hunt in face of tremendous odds, and the romance of an Englishman’s love for an English girl in captivity. A Gazette, scenic, and comedy complete a good programme. GERALDINE PICTURES. “The Alan in the Saddle,” the latest Universal-Jewel production, starring Hoot Gibson, will be the feature attraction at the Municipal Theatre, Geraldine, to-night. The mixture of comedy and thrills which has made Gibson’s pictures popular are promised in large and pleasing doses in this production. Gibson is supported by an unusually large cast of well-known players. Fay AA r ray, one of the most popular of the screen’s young actresses, plays the feminine’ lead opposite the star. There, will be a special matinee at 2.30, and all children who attend will be given a toy balloon off the Christmas tree.