AMUSEMENTS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 17944, 1 May 1928, Page 4

AMUSEMENTS.

THE LIFE OF RILEY. FULLER-HAYWARDS’ TO-NIGHT. The Theatre Royal should hold a capacity audience this evening when the hig comedy feature, “The Life of Riley’’ will be shown for the first time here. The production features that- peerless pair of comedians, Murray and Sidney, and it should be immensely simple, even, at given times, delightfully foolish. “The Life of Riley” is' the title of this classic opus, Riley, the Fire Chief, Meyer, the Chief of Police, a record in celluloid of the rarest pair of friends, quarrelsome friends, who have yet fallen from author’s pen, and subsequently graced the silver sheet. “The Life of Riley” is a comedy sufficient in itself to demand no auxiliary film; thus the bill will feature but gazettes and _ such-like short complements, whicli with the musical programme by the Orchestra should constitute as pleasurable a programme as has been submitted a t the Theatre Royal for an age past. Charlie Murray and George Sidney are the famous stars of “M’Fadden’.s Flats,” and one or two lesser glories, but it is in tliis Riley affair that tiiey burst forth like meteors, flash for a space across the screen, and after indulging in their amazing pranks and various foolishnesses for the_ delectation of the audience, sink into temporary oblivion to venture forth again with, perhaps a better comedy. Reviewing a comedy film is like reeling off a proposition in Euclid: “all comedies are' the same comedy;, the angle of one comedy is equal to the angle of another; they all come from the same basis.” They are-all -niadq with the intention of amusing, bat some “get there” better i.han. otnersr and “The Life of Riley’’ , flnish.eswell. Though it has the most incongruous, - and therefore the most riotous, team of the screen in the leading roles, that alone, without a genuinely funny story, would-not: do. the trick. Murray and Sidney gambol ingenuously through every reel, say the most delightful things, quarrel with the most fervent fervour, but those reels are fraught with ideal incidents for. them, and their path is consequently smoother for them. The Fire. Chief and the Chiel of Police are more interested in wooing the one widow than in quelling outbursts, fiery or criminal, and it would appear that widows are almost as endless a source of fun as mothers in-law. Myrtle Stedman is the widow, and as not even such a comedy as this would be complete without its youthful romantic intbrest, we have June Marlowe and Stephen Carr sitting pretty ’neath the summer moon. AII in all, “The Life of Riley,” by Murray and Sidney, is going to rival “The .Life, of Johnson,” by Boswell, in popularity. The “English Gazette” dnA 1 a comedy “About Face,” Will also be shown. Reserves may he booked through ’phone 570.

“IN OLD KENTUCKY.”' DELIGHTFUL ROMANCE. The State of Kentucky seems to be synonymous, in local parlance, with Washdyke., There' the noblest. hprseS; -in tlie two Americas; are ’bred,' Taced, and : live to an honourable old age, and all. the best dramas of racing and its at- 1 tendantl thrills, and often, its attendant romance, are written round Ken-.' "tucky. -While less wealthy organis-; ations have been flooding the screen ■with stories of the track, the great ; Metro-Goldwyn have been ’ silent, evidently biding their time until the correct types and the right story presented themselves. Their wait is now rewarded ip the film drama, “In Old Kentucky,” which will be the headliner at the Cosy Grand this evening, directed by King Vidor.(he who made “Hie Big' Parade’!), ..arid interpreted by Helene Costello, Wesley Brirry and' 'James Murray. The players may "possibly require a word or two of explanation. Helene Costello is the daughter of the famous, Maurice, and si liter of Dolores; Wesley . Barry, of course, is “Freckles” of a few years ago, .the youngster who preceded Jackie Cooga.n in public affections, and won fame by'his homely countenance and naive acting. - Ho now reappears in much glory, and sans his freckles. James Murray is making his second picture, but in America is heralded as the coming male star of the screen, and rivals in popularity such stalwarts as Gilbert Barrymore, and company. He is considered something! of a genius by the Americans, who delight in making and Unmaking kings of anything. As for the story, it is well worthy of; the company sponsoring it, being really a romance of family fortunes in the well-bred state of Kentucky, a story that permit's the track element to assume only a state of secondary importance, and is therefore the more excit- ; ing -when horses, their riders, and the cheering thousands do appear. There is onlv one fault to find with . pictures such as these. There cannot possibly be a prodigious amount ! of interest taken . in that culminating race when the hero’s horse races against an imposing field for rthe reinstatement of family, fortunes and honours. Everybody knoivs ! how i! is going to end. The world :s : waiting for the picture that lets the hero's'horse lose, but even then someth mo- will crop up to make till® bank balance. Though this little artistic error is present “In Old Ive n tiickv, matters little or 'nothing. The track, is not the plot. ,It is really a delightfully fresh and unspoiled sort of drama having all the charm of the South, and iust that necessary impetus to it that finds instant favour with modern audiences. Supports include in his latest eomedv Us. M-G M. News and a charming New Zealand scenic. Patrons arc advised to phone their reserves early to 4Sfi.