GRAND THEATRE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17218, 8 December 1923, Page 3 (Supplement)

GRAND THEATRE.

The management of the Grand have been especially fortunate iu securing two exceptionally fine pictures for the change of programme commencing there to-day. One, a Paramount production, is “ The Frontier of Qve Stars.” featuring Thomas Meighan. in which he scores an undoubted triumph. Meighan, as Buck Leslie, is an East-side gangster of bad repute, but who at heart is not wholly bad. In an attempt to stop a fight between a chemist and a Bowery rough. Leslie gets into trouble with a detective, who

attempts to arrest him, but Buckescapes and seeks safety on the roof of a tenement house. Here he. meets Hilda Shea, a pretty cripple girl who rarely leaves her chair. When the detective arrives the girl denies having seen anyone. Buck is attracted by her sweetness and purity, and, grateful for her having shielded him, pays periodical calls. During these periods she inspires Buck to lead an honest life. How this eventually come* about after muelt persecution for Buck, and how during the excitement of a fight between Buck and the detective on the roof. Hilda walks lor the first time in her life, and the hunting of the tenement, form a tense and dramatic final. Fa ire Rinnej a* Hilda Shea,

and Alphonz Ethi%r as the detective take their respective parts with great skill and characterisation. ' My Lady Friends,” the second big feature,

is a First National attraction, starring Mr and Mrs Carter De Haven. The story is an amusing comedy and deals with a millionaire’s attempts to spend his money, but he is hampered from doing so by a wife who has become instinctively thrifty through habit acquired in the early struggles of life. James Smith (Carter De Haver) spends .him money briskly while on business trips, despite his cautious wife, and incidentally meets a number of charming ladies. Complications quickly arise, and Smith calls in the help of a lawyer friend, while Mrs Smith seeks a detective’s services. Many amusing scenes are provided in the husband’s attempts to evade his admirers, and allav the suspicions of a jealous wife. The lawyer becomes involved in his friend’s. trouble and two wives "begin asking questions instead of one, Tu the end a final explanation and reconciliation takes place, but not before Mrs Smith decides to start out and out-spend the lady mends.