AMUSEMENTS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18452, 19 December 1929, Page 4

AMUSEMENTS.

L ‘‘ALIAS JIMMY VALENTINE.” AT THE GRAND. : From the time he is first revealed as a crook who completely deceives half a dozen police departments until the final great moment when he is morally obliged to reveal his true identity, William Haines will rivet the attention of every audience in his latest part-talkie, “Alias Jimmy Valentine,” commencing at the Cosy Grand to-night. This most popular star makes his debut as a crook in this picture, and, surrounded by a notable cast, he dominates the gripping story from end to end. The story reveals Haines as a whimsical safe-cracker, operating by means of sandpapering his finger-tips so that they can be made sufficiently sensitive to open any combination, outwitting the city’s keenest sleuth, until he is reformed by love of a girl, when his sweetheart’s little sister is accidentally locked in a bank vault and he is morally obliged to reveal his identity by freeing the child to save her life. Leila Hyams, whom Henry Clive, famous American artist, proclaims the most beautiful blonde in America, plays the heroine, and Lionel Barrymore is seen as the detective who pursues the reformed hero to a dramatic climax. Howard Hickman plays the banker father of the heroine, and Karl Dane and Tully Marshall appear as Haines’s accomplices. The drama is powerful, the romance charming, and there are | several interludes of comedy that will i convulse every audience. Haines’s gifts : as a comedian have ample opportunity j in the comical country church scenes, in the scenes with the police, and in the Episode of the photographic alibi when he survives the third degree. Star, cast, story, dialogue, production —drama, thrills, comedy—“ Alias Jimmy Valentine” has them all 100 per cent, perfect. An outstanding list of talking and singing supports include a newcomer to the screen, Bob Nelson, who will sing “Everything I*Do I Do For You,” “Berlin Melody,” and “She’s Got a Great Big Army of Friends”; another beautiful “Technicolour Review,” and Bernardo De Pace will also entertain. Patrons are advised to book their seats early at the Bristol.

MAJESTIC THEATRE. “THE FALL OF EVE.” To-night will be the last opportunity that patrons of the Majestic Theatre will have of seeing “The Fall of Eve,” the attraction that has been showing to full houses during the last few nights. The construction of the photoplay has been cleverly conceived, and equally cleverly carried out. “The Fall of Eve” is really a comedy-farce, and can be described as an “all-laughing' picture. In the cast are Ford Sterling, Patsy Ruth Miller, and Gertrude Astor. The story revolves round a young man, who wants to marry-his father’s typiste. a particularly attractive girl. Following the usual course of such situations, the father objects most strongly, but as he himself becomes entangled, the objection has to be withdrawn. The extrication of the father from his difficulties provides ample scope for the humorous side of the picture. The character of the suspicious wife is given a fine interpretation. The talking and music produced with the picture are quite up to Majestic standards, and not one dull moment is experienced. Supports include gazettes and a Fox News, completing a most enjoyable programme of silent and talkie pictures.

“ SONNY BOY.” ALL TALKING AND SINGING. Fuller Hayward’s will introduce a new star of the screen firmament to Majestic patrons on Friday evening, in the clever child star Davey Lee, who will be remembered by thousands for his wonderful performance in “The Singing Fool.” Edward Everett Horton and Betty Bronson also figure as principals in the cast of the picture, which is entitled “Sonny Boy.” The story of this picture is not sad; it is comedy, and the all-talking is only broken when Davey Lee sings the song that made him famous, “Sonny Boy.”