THE LORGNETTE

Observer, Volume XL, Issue 12, 22 November 1919, Page 6

THE LORGNETTE

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THERE are gay and festive activities at Fuller's Opera House this week with a programme of well-diversified expert stunts and vaudeville specialities. Of the newcomers, the Aston Brothers, who are novelty balancers, bring new things into an ancient and beautiful art. They have a useful knowledge of the laws of gravitation, fine muscular development, and grace to use it. The concluding dizzy feat is performed by Aston the Heavier whirling his brother through the atmosphere by holding a strap in his teeth, at the other end of which is the said brother. Cracknell is an expert with any kind of a whip, and Jeanne is his partner about whom the flying lash gyrates, and who emerges smiling from the ordeal. It is a very interesting and expert stunt, watched with great interest by the audiences. Jeanne is clever in the use of the rifle, and performs her difficult feats with singular and winning grace. A greyhound of uncommon intelligence, and showing evidence of the most careful training, assists in these difficult and> novel acts. Frank J. Sidney anu his partner (not to speak of the dog) has a highly interesting act, which he calls "A Morning in a Sportsman's Garden." Frank leaps the garden furniture in a highly expert manner, and might be described as the human rubber ball. His partner dances cleverly and gracefully, and "Zillah," the trained dog, is not only active, but vocal. A singing dog is a novelty at least on a stage. Mr. Ernest BarracloUgh, the robust singer, is in good voice. Particularly in "Shipmates o' Mine" he showed quality and temperament. He also excellently extracts from opera. Doody and Wright are doing their splendid little turn again, and putting plenty of vim into it. The Walter George Sunshine Players have the audience with them in a breezy musical playlet, "Seaside Frolics." In this diverting medley of song, jest, and dance, George Storey and Miss Georgie Martin are a coster and his lass, and are exceedingly funny. The company support them with great cheerfulness and skill, and the whole thing is most refreshing. The music in all the turns is vivacious and well played. ® @> @ The Princess Theatre has a curious and interesting film story, "Out of the Shadow," an adaptation of one of Hornung's thrilling yarns. Pauline Frederick takes the lead, and she is depicted as a woman who is horrified when she believes that her husband has been murdered by a man with whom she is in love. Hornung has a fascinating habit of leaving much to the imagination, and there is a good deal of clever mystery about the play in which, of course, the unexpected happens. Miss Frederick plays powerfully, and especially are her emotions of joy and sorrow displayed with unusual art. Out of the tangle the pair emerge with their happiness in full working order, the mystery explained, and the shadow vanished. ®> @> @> At the Queen's Theatre there is a fine play, "Ace High," in which the celebrated Tom Mix takes the leading part. Mr< Mix is shown as a member of the Canadian NorthWest Mounted Police. He has rescued a girl child under most difficult and thrilling circumstances, and the

story shows the lives of the pair When the gir>, grown up, leaves the convent where her young life has been spent. The adventures occur in the great North-West, the country par excellence for thrilling outdoor drama, in which strong and resolute men take chances with death everyone of the twenty-four hours. The love interest also is particularly enthralling, while the principals have obviously been chosen for their familiarity with the life the play shows them to lead. Mix is exceedingly fine—indeed, he has probably done nothing better than he does this "Ace High" play. ® @ ®> At the National Theatre a most vivid picture "The Rainbow Trail" is being shown with the celebrated William Farnum in the lead. It is a sequel to "Riders of the Purple Sage" and in it Zane Grey has excelled herself as a writer of quick moving open air fiction. The scene is laid in the great alkali plains of Arizona and the most remarkable portions show the Great Canyon and the Aztec Cliff dwellings of men, who perished from the earth innumerable thousands of years ago. The story worked out in such surroundings is powerful in the extreme, and Farnum has never been seen to better advantage. The scenery is of extraordinary interest, romantic, famous, and unparalleled as natural wonders in any other country than Arizona. ® ® © On Saturday, next "Innocent." featuring Fannie Ward, will be shown. Should a woman be judged guilty who is engrained with the sins of her father? The film version of George Broadhurst's play leaves this vital question unanswered. Miss Ward is supported by John Miltern. The production has had a most lavish staging, and into those scenes that are laid in Mukden, China, all of the barbaric allurements and fantastic colour of the Orient has been recorded. ® ® ® At the Tivoli, on Saturday, Noveomber 22, everybody's favourite Billie Burke, will be seen in a delightful and gripping screen portrayal of Clare Kummer's successful play, "Good Gracious Annabolle." She scores a great success in the role made famous by Marie Tempest on the stage. Good gracious!! Heavens alive, what did Annabelle do? Didn't you hear? Everybody is talking about it. She shocked all our set. But what can we do about it? Good Gracious!! He's a millionaire miner. Can you imagine it? And she was married! Had been for years. And the terrible thing was that she didn't know her husband's name! Or what he looked like! It's full of breeze. ® ® © "Sir Thomas Beecham," says Mr. Harry Dearth, "is not only the finest musician we have in England, but he is one of the dearest fellows I know. He is generally loved by those under him, and if he is a trifle eccentric at times, it only serves to make him better loved, for his little ways are always charming. On one occasion we were rehearsing a very trying opera by Richard Strauss —awfully difficult stuff—when he suddenly exclaimed: 'I'm sick of it—let's stop! Sing us "Oh, Jolly Jenkin," Harry/ and there and then he literally shied Strauss into a corner, and revelled in the old drinking song from 'Ivanhoe.' The interval pr\ved like a tonic and afterwards we returned to Strauss with renewed zest."