MIMES AND MOVIES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11507, 1 October 1915, Page 2

MIMES AND MOVIES.

" Tec Master Key " is well ahead of anv i'.rcvious serial* so far. i * _* I (.-itrie l);nvi i , vlio has been here ! in i; <•!•.!<.! Rama, has enlisted iu Sydney. i **•»* (*!,., nous and Dean give the host, turn seen ai the Opera House for a long t'tr.c. Aii-tin Milroy a* CtU'l .Sanderson ap).roaches tho wireless in " 'lhe Alan >,Vi'o Stayed ai Home " as if he expect- - I ii to go ott. * '5k " Cm- Boys" in the lilm falls shorf hrea.use it leaves out the old comedy's dialogue. # * * I'iie Opera. J louse, orchestra, defeated one turn on Monday and nearlv beat others. *»* •'•The Million Dollar Mystery the iirjii serial shown at the Globe Theatre. *•* Florence Gleo-son and T.e.slio Victor carry off tho honours of "Tho Man Who Stayed at Home." * ft * Writing front Sydney. John H'opkms is expressive and illuminating: "Potash and Perl mutter" has got Sydney bv the wool. Sir John Hare .is being filmed as Eccles in a picture Tersion of "Caste. This old piny has already been done by the Edison Company, and was seen in the Dominion last year. Tom Armstrong at the Opera House has a strong partiality for jokes that, havo rim long seasons. Tic irarelj ventures in new ones. Winter Hall recently appeared: at the Tivoli, in Sydney, giving recitations on two Saturday afternoons- He was well received on 'both occasions, but now has joined the cast for " Tho Barrier. « After touring under her own management in "The Climax," Miss Florence Young has returned to the Williamson banner arid is to play the lead in "Paul Jones," which is being revived. Reynolds Denniston has been playing lead before the motion picture camera in a picturo version of The Loyal Rebel," a story by Arthur Wright of the early days in Australia. It is being released by the Australasian Films Ltd. Edgar Warwick's Burlesques, now on the Tivoli circuit, do not appear to be much different from tho Court Cards. The company now consists or 'Warwick. George Titehener, George Graystone, Albert Keats', Sydney Mannering and Miss Maud Fane. Miss Mattee Brown, who puts up a line performance as Dora Ividlington, a thankless part in '' The Man h° _ Stayed at Home," is making her first' tour. Sho is a particularly young actress, and her work in the spy drama suggests promise. Stannis Leslie, ono of the veterans of the Royal Comic Opera Company, is now assisting in the front of the hou.so at the-Theatre Royal, Melbourne. Pat Behau, who for many years helped to delight Australian audiences, is iu a similar section at Her Majesty s. Miss Grace Pnlotta, after a hnet experience iu the millinery business, is to appear in "Nobody's Widow, a oomodv by Avery Hopwood, tho part author with Alary Rinohart Roberts of ''Seven days," which the Hugh -i. War>d Company put on in Christchurch. *** The Sydney Adelphi Theatre is to Jio remodelled betore Christmas. Iho dress circle and gallery will ho lowered and brought nearer the stage, and tho theatre will bo entirely upholstered in crimson plush. Lt is costing some thing like £15,000 to complete tho alterations. %• Chriifrrboplior Bft-e/nt. fn '' The Matt Who Stayed at Home" is efficient up to the last situation. Then the authors sacrifice him to dramatic effect. With Brent's real identity disclosed his usefulness would he greatly .reduced. The best secret servico officer r- never discovered. *•* The Branscombe Proprietary is going ie put up a garden theatre overlooking Rushcutter's Bay,- Sydney, at a Vast of £12.000. The amphitheatre is to seat 1700, and tho openingjs to take piaco this month by tho A lolet Dandies-, which Branscombe calls Hie first of «ill tho Dandy companies. With the last statement, here is ono who won't, agree. The Reds ale bctt-ei entertainers. ••• ~ . Tho Riverbank Carnival has called into existence a dramatio club which will contain the main elements ot the old Julias Knight Hvamatie dlub. I understand that '"Tho Lady of Lyons will be produced. So far this new organisation has not selected a name for itself, but whatever it calls itselt the revival of activity is a causo lor con'Tatulation, and once more let mo say "that 1 hope in the future to sea some of llio modern being pioduced. A Wellington newspaper reters to a lady vocalist, who, when asked to a concert, asked a fee that a iirst/-nue London artist would grab, and stipulated that her name should be "starred " in addition. At the same time, 1 remember a musical organisation which asked a New Zealand singer to perform -ft n. concert :nvl st ipulntt'C. that ho should six rchraisHis. Tho fee offered him would have jianned out at 15s per evening to be devoted to singing the solo work m this opeia, As "the Wellington paper says, needless to say there was nothing doing. * ♦ • A paragraph in some Hieatrieal columns recently refers to Miss Fstelle Rose at the Tivoli Theatre, giving initiations of Charles Chaplin, and adds that she u\ia a porponal irjend ot Chaplin when he was receiving --> per wed. in musical hall work. It on to sav that within a few months oi his driftiue- in pictures he was receiving £4OO a week. Hardly that. ' hapiin went into pictures at £.35 per eek, and staved ai that iiguro under a twelve months' engagement. It was onlv wlian the Essanay people took* lum that his talary touched the loltv figures. Tlu't'e ari iva (I in Sydney I hi- week from America lorn M L.iruie and his wiio whose stage nnme is Miss Beatneo Nioholl.s. They a-e to o)K.'ti in "Stop Thiei " at His s. S.ulnor, tomorrow mglit. 1 hey ha ve lieen v ■ tji Oliver "Morocco's Stock (.'ompany in Los Angeles tor over three years, lie lurhad a lot ol" experience, and on tour has played .leads in plays like "'''Hie Third Dc'iop." "The. Lion and the Mouse" •• o'. My Heartand I '' The Bird of i'ara.dise. ' Mir-s Nicliolls jls described as a bright ingeinm. She plaved Peter Par. in the Middle West, I and scored v,-cll m the role. j **** ( A specially orgauisod dramatic f-om--1 paii v.' Uraumont- Smi\h and l>e>lie > Hoy I kin-, commenced a. . on at ih -'! 'kaj ;re Royal. Sydney, on Saturday, wn h tli'.' pi'oduetion ol "'i lie Barrier. ' !'< x p,--,.,r'h's famous .story of Alaskan Joe. Tl;c oast, i-■ as ]oi!o\\s. Jolui 1 ! ■■. Winter Hall; No-Creek Lee, Hany IIorison; Allnna, Miks Margaret Janden; Nccia, Miss Olive Wilton; Mead Hun-ell. Reynold.-; Dennirten; Pc 1 -an Dorcl, Cyril" Maoka,y: _ll 'innion, _ t'. g. Kreierth ; Corpora! L.hamas, llair^ ifniie-.-: "-tcr'a Arth»r :

(By TJIE LIMFLIGHT MAN.)

' Ska way -Lick, Reg ( nracl : Skin I Pete. IVi"V \\";» 1^1;■ •; Trodoii Thomson, i Gordon Sinelaire : ( hink. 11; iI Norton, % <* m Henry Bracy. who has licoti ill tor .-unii'. time. is mending .st-xadily, and' accord jnjr io hi est news was able to travel between Sydney :.nd .Melbourne. » * Lute.-* at the Opera. House shows how handy a man can bo with his feet. Mo jiive., ;i Wight turn. in which everything at tempted is well, and truly done. i 0 » I * In ihe r.'Ki playing "The Harrier I nudcr 1 Ik; d j i-f.-t ion uf Henii moiT't Smith are C \ ri! Mackay, Arthur Styau. Reynolds Denniston. Winter Hall, Harry llodson, Harry I [alley. Reginald Kenneth and Mi>s (Hive Wilton. V Sydney .lames and I lis fellow [loyal Strollers have completed their eleventh week at lho Palace Theatre, -Sydney, seem ifi ho going strong still, and New Zealand may just about rest assured that this year will not see them. • .♦ ♦ " Stop, Thief " the latent American farce put-on by J. G. Williamson, Ltd., got its fir&t outing last Saturday in Sydney at the Theatre Royal. Tom M'Larnie an I Miss Beatrice Nicbolls made their first .Australian Appearances in. the fac<v %• When tho Williamson Comic Opera Company comes hero with '"High Jinks " and other offerings of a similar huhbly nature, tho Theatre Royal will house a novelty in the way of advertising curtains'. This notion has been 1 used elsewhere in the Dominion with profit to its controllers. Tho< drop-scone is designed to leave a blank space in tho centre. On to this advertising magfc lantern slides are thrown at. stf much per. This may not be artistic, but doubtless it is a money-zuakei', and tho theatre is in tho hands of money - makers and not artists. V By tho last American mail has been, received in Sydney, trom tho Universal Moving Pictures, George M. and J. Earnest Williamson's famous film of (submarine motion pictures, the first to be ta ken i. nder water. Hi is is likely to be fierce lied .shortly at ono of tho J. O. Williamson theatres in Sydney. Tho pictures were taken at the end of a long steel tube, which was let down into the water. At tho bottom, in a bulge that resembled a motorhorn in shape, the operator took his pictures. * "»* Harry Lauder is going to the front-. ''l volunteered my services and the Red Cross Society made all tho arrangements, I start early this month," he said to a. .Press representative on August *l. " I am going out in my kilt, simply as Harry Luudor, and I. don't purpose to sing any character songs. I filial I sing ' I. Love a Lassie,' ' Iloamin' in the G!nanu'n\ and such like songs that have a chorus to them,, which the men can tako up. My object in going out; is to try to bring » little or the brighter side of lile to tho men. They see quite enough of the tragic side. T. shall sing in tho hospitals and the camps and put in as much work as possible each day. "While in France I hope to see my son, who is a lieutenant in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He is back in the trenches again after having been wounded." August us Thomas, who is tho art director oP Charles Frohman, Inc., is l credited with being out after new lightinn "ticcs in tho theatre. In a recent interview Thomas said: Ono of tho needs of the playhouse, and one that 1 will: strive to provide, will be a system of adequate stage lightning "which 1 hope will relieve the efforts of players of a certain degree of artificiality. By this I want correct lightning to do tho work and to yam the effect* thatare usually accomplished by make-up. Let me explain without being technical Certain shadows -are produced as a result of make-up on the features of tho artist. This same effect can be gained by lighting properly arranged, and the detail has always appealed to mo as a most important one." Thomas, by the way, has just completed a new play called "Nan." If is set in a southwest army post, the locale of 4i Arizona." Wall ice Calvin, the American illusionist, who is appearing in Australia under the management of H. I). Al'lntosh, is said to havo au egg trick which eivate« wonderment and shrieks of laughter nightly. The egg trick is more easily described than it is explained. Galvin comes forward with a hard hit. and asks the assistance of someone, preferably a boy, from the audience. The hat is shown quite empty, but from tho inside Galvin proceeds to produce egg after egg, and hand them to the boy. Then there are so many that the boy cannot hold them iu his two hands. Still tho eggs come, until the boy's arms cannot hold any more, and falls become numerous. Then Galvin comes to his rescue and takes them all back, only to find that the hat is too small to hold them. Where they come from is a complete, mystery, and is likely to remain' so. Galvin claims that he has broken upwards of 80,000 eggs in performing this trick in all parts of the world. *#* Charles Frohman, t}io biggest theatrical manager the world has known, was ranarkablo for Ihe manner in which be kept away from publicity. Few l people knew anything about ivim other than ihe announcements concerning his shows. But he was a. striking e\'co]>lion. This is to introduce the fact that in the New York newspapers, recently my eye was caught, by an article in which "An Australian Hero' - appeared aiar;ii!j>t. the heading". 1' read it and found that it de-cribed in fulsome tomes the- excellent, work done by Hugh J. Ward for patriotic funds in Australia. .Out the passage that brought my eyebrows nearly to where my crown should be was a modest statement. to the effect thai, an immense aend-oiT was given Ward when lie went to America, and that as the boat'. Ire was on passed out of iiie harbour, " he was accorded an official salute from tho Tin- inference is easy, and the j explanation ca--i<>i-: .Hue;h J. Ward bass j the. J.C.W. Pres., agont (ravelling with i him as private .vecre>ar\. I % # Alfred Boss. the operator or the ' Kinemacolour Pictures, which were I here recently, is from the Sea la Theatre, j London, the home of Ninenmcolour. ! Boss is orw> of the few f'rban company's expert* who know the secret of the muural colour process. The reason, he says. that the Kinemacolour is not tnore otten seen in the picture homes is because of the very great expense, not, only of the nro'P-s, but of ihe v;i'enl care and nursing the films rcI ou : re. They -<re washed daily in a 1 -.pocir. My pre oared otherwise they v.oiikl crack end .split after only i no or I liree .•-!• owing'?. (hiss says tilrtt the Sea la Th-atre is probably tho most popular picture house in London todav. Nothing hut Kinemacolour picj • inare. sh.~e.vn. and by a, recent mail hj» learner] that ,>ome experiments had been suecev-fu!, making even more tinish'-d t h;;t which seems well nigh perfect already. Bo's expects to leave for S'aio'.land within a few weeks, and is anxious to Ivy out stereoscopic e\.)"rhii'n tef his own. which, if suc(v* 1 , sil. v iil tvvolnl ioniM' moving pic!.'i.e> ec!ii'ra:iy and the Kinemaeolpur in particiilar. ! *,.* | HAS ("LB.S. iIKTII'tFI): ! hi the recent nmils from New York there occurs; the announcement that Bern"rd Sh-r.v will nor write j Mio;ii r play '! his new , is said to be • aethenric.it.el by hu rs veiin'ii by I<l lYie"!'!i" A r ; ":i •' nd ( !:e

Irishman is stated to have remarked that liis reason for ceasing to write plays was not weariness or lack of ideas, lint the belief that the British public will not go to sen plays written by the author of " Commonsense About the War." This "White Book" of Shaw's created' a lot of feeling in Britain, and increased the. regard with which he ww held bv his enemies. This is not the place to discuss the pamphlet, but, if it is going to deprive the British stage of G. 8.5., it has done a lot of harm. Of course, Shaw has always been unpopular with the, British playgoers. His reputation is chiefly a foreign one, but his influence on the modern drama is beyond question. Britain owes a great deal to him, and as when the time comes for a proper estimate of the. work for reason accomplished, by him, it will lie found to bo a goodly sum. Critical works alone, are sufficient to show the import;)nee. of G.B.S. Of the British dramatists, ho occupies most attention, _ and everywhere outside Tiondon his plays have enjoyed success. Buti perhaps, its. merely the first farewell. When the war is over things may change. SOME MORE ABOUT PICTURES. I wonder why the members of the North Canterbury Education Board seemed to be in such a hurry to make it clear that thov did not attend picture shows, and yet to be* equally hasty about; condemning them. A lot of the abuse heaped on the picture shows i.s absolutely undeserved, and .seems to bo directed' by people wnu have given little thought to the- pictures themselves. Censorship. I believe to be needed, hut not by the censor that the Women's Institute :jnd the Education Board would bting into being. If the censer turns picture, shows into Sunday schools or semiprimary schools, lie will m)ou go out oi a job, because there will bo no pictures, for the obvious reason that, live days' school is considered by young; N"v Zealand to be ample, and he ought- ro know all about. it. These sensational films may do as much bavin as the penny-dreadful did, and lhat 'is mighty little, and if the education system is turning out. boys of intelligence with a knowledge of what good citizenship is, they will do even iess. As to the talk about tho large number of films showing domestic strife, the majority of these pictures point the moral hi the right direction, and the injury to the young people is more, imaginary than real. 1 think. But J admit that certain pic inns should !>.* excluded. These, arc purely individual iilms. The chatter about- the paucity of scenic and insu'uetional films uoe> not, seem to tako into consideration the fact thai, there is a war in the world. The majority of tiie scenic and industrial fi'ms came from Europe, lait the iihn hou-.-es thero are too busy with other work-, and there are not opportunities for inannfacturing pictures of this class. But I should sny to the 130u.nl of particularly that the essential to criticism of the pictures is a thorough course in therm so that the piefatot\ admission that the critic has had little experience, can be dispensed v \it_h. Another little point, few of tnese /•ntics of the pictures have devoted any attention to the billboards c.k! au\ettising. Tn America they considered tins part' of the show business one to be strictly supervised, and some recent experiences in picture and tlieati lc-al advertising would suggest that it- is a subject wortbv of grave consideration hero in New Zealand.