EVERYBODY’S THEATRE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17382, 10 November 1924, Page 5

EVERYBODY’S THEATRE.

A REAL CARNIVAL ATTRACTIONI “LILIES OF THE FIELD,” ST A R RING (ORINNE C RIF FIT 1L AND CONWAY TEAR LE. “This is lightly called flic age ol woman. To the girl of to-day life offers bewildering opportunities—a career, marriage ami motherhood, or the life of the lily who toils and spins not. Hers the choice- •• But the choosing only the overture to the conflict which spells drama. For while youth and beauty are hers, a woman must contend with late and circumstances —and the age-old stoiy of the way of a man with a maid.” The foregoing is the captivating theme of “Lillies of the Field, a hirst National picture w hich is to be screened at Everybody's Theatre all this week, commencing at the matinee to-day. Corinne Griffith and Conway Tearle who. since their appearance together in “Black Oxen,” have been widely heralded as the screen’s ideal lovers, aro again ob-leatured in “ Lilies of the Field.” And once more the magnetic lure of that combination is proving irresistible to the motion picture fans of this country. Miss Griffith has the greatest role of her remarkable career- that of a young wife who discovers that marriage is not the gateway to everlasting happiness. Heroically shouldering the disappointments and tragedies ol lile, her resistance slowly gives way and she is about to seek forgetfulness in a 1 * te of ease and gaiety when real love enters her life. Tearle has one of the greatest roles of his career—that of “ tlhe richest bachelor in the world” and one who views the world, and especially its women. through cynical eyes. Not content with such a brilliant pair o' co-stars. Director John Francis Dillon has assembled a supporting cast familiar to all play-goers. The east includes Sylvia Breamer. Myrtle Stcdman. Alma Rennet, (ran bird Kent, C harlie Murray, Phyllis Haver. Cissy Fitzgerald. Edith Ransom. C harles Gcrrard and Dorothy Brock. It is seldom that such an assemblage of talent is seen in a single photoplay. “ Lilies of the Field” is a picture with a poignant appeal that has made it one of the outstanding successes of the. year. A splendid supporting programme' consisting of Topical Gazette, scenics and comedies will also He screened. A charming musical programme will be given l:>y Everybody’s Select Orchestra under the conductorship of Air AY. •T. Bellingham. F.K.M. Chief among the items are the following: Overture, “ Lurline " (YValtacc); opera, “ Lc V i 11 e (Puccini!: symphony “Andante (Italian!” (Mendelssohn); suites “ Preludes ’> (Chopin); music, pictures “ Evening in tho Forest'’ (Fottlds); entr’acte “ Honeymoon Chimes” (Karl); foxtrot. “Sawmill River Road” (Tiernev) ; jazz waltz “ What’ll 1 Do” (Berlin). As usual, reserved seats may he obtained either at the Bristol or by telephoning 4025. GRAND THEATRE. “THE If C MM I NG BIRD.” - TIMES HAVE CHANGED.” If Gloria. Swanson. “ 1 he. best-dressed girl on the screen,” has deliberately attempted to demonstrate to her tremendous following that her stellar career has not been due to her lavish costuming, then her performance in “ The Humming Bird.” the Paramount picture featuring at the Grand Theatre this week, rould not be a more pronounced success. As ''The Humming Bird,” Gloria undergoes a. complete metamorphosis, as far as costume is concerned, appearing as the elusive apache youth. “Tile Humming Bird,” alias little Toinette, of tho T.o Caveau, the den of the Parisian underworld. Yet that wonderful personal charm which has endeared her to all as the star of ” Prodigal Daughters” and “ Bluebeard’s Eighth AYife,” is not lost ; rather it is confirmed, and her power and histrionic ability are proven. In “ The Humming Bird,” the combination of her older and newer charms build a role that will live. To assist in the tracing of “The Hamming Bird.’’ Randall Carey (Edward Burns), newspaper correspondent, visits Lc Caveau. where Toinette dances. In a brawl lie is injured, and it is Toinette who gets him away safely to his rooms in a taxi, resisting the temptation to rob him while he is at her mercy. War comes, and Carey joins the Foreign Legion, while Toinette stirs the wolves of Montmartre to Join the “ taxi-cab defence,” which heroically saves Baris at tho time when the enemy is almost in the suburbs. Betrayed by her own kind. Toinette is exposed and thrown into the prison of St Lazarre, where she learns that Carey has been brought hack to Paris in a critical condition. During a terrifying air raid Toinette escapes and makes her way to tho bedside of her lover. There she finds happiness in his arms, till her dreams are shattered hv the arrival of the inspector of police. How she eventually finds happiness is graphically told in the closing scenes of this intensely gripping picture. Anything more unusual than an antique Salem quilt as tho centre of an e,l joy a ble comedy-drama would be hard to imagine. Perhaps it is the delightful and hitherto unsuspected comedy depths of William Russell as Mark O’Hell in “Times Have Changed ” that makes the picture such an uproarious success. Mabel Julienne Scott makes an admirable “ opposite,” as Mark’s wife. Aunt Cordelia, who rules the Redman clan, presents her niece with the historic quilt on her marriage to Mark. Ten generations of Redmans hare breathed their last under tho quilt, and aunty is hopeful of some day doing the same; so it is not surprising that there i.s a decided stir in family circles when it is discovered that A lark has unthinkingly loaned it to a visitor from New York to assist him in Ill's radiator difficulties. Mark is dispatched post haste to New' York to bring back the shrine of the Redman family; but the heirloom accidentally becomes the hiding-place of “ borrowed ” jewellery by a gentleman in a hurry, and the historic quilt becomes a veritable cork on very storm-tossed waters. The efforts of both parties to capture and retain the harassed quilt through an amusing series of circumstances as multi-coloured as the quilt itself brings out enough comedy situations to thoroughly delight all Russell devotees. In the novel comedy, “The Author,” some weird but screamingly funny effects are produced, which appear to strike an entirely new note in comedy : it should not be missed. An interesting gazette completes the pictorial programme. The orchestra, admirably controlled by Miss A. Shearsby, is notable for its synchronisation with the .various phases

of the films. The programme comprises the following items: “Hungarian Dance” (Hoffman), “Marche Miniature (Tacobi, “La Petite Poupee Viennoise” (Stolz), "Muscovite Dance” (Bogetti), “Three Dream Dances” (Coleridge Taylor), Nannette Selection “Mignon ’ (Ambroise Thomas'. The entr acte “Soothing” proved a popular number, the xylophone being expressively played by Mr Arthur Eaton. LIBERTY THEATRE. “ POISO NE D I’A R A DISK.” “ FOOLS OF FORTUNE.” The new programme screened at the Liberty Theatre on Saturday was headed by “ Poisoned Paradise,” an adaptation of the well-known novel by Robert W. Service. The story is one of Monte Carlo, the famous gambling resort where fortunes are staked on the spin of the roulette wheel and where •suicide by broken gamblers faced with ruin is an event of frequent occurrence. The story deals w ith these aspects of Monte Carlo anil it also depicts what a fascination the spinning wheel has, especially to those who are winning and are in hopes that they will be able to break the bank. All these things make the picture a very interesting

one, but chief interest, of course, centres in the doings of the principal ! characters. The hero is a young English artist who te at Monte Carlo to work, not to gamble. The heroine is a young lady from Paris who has come to Monte Carlo hoping to make sufficient money at the casino to set herself up in a millinery business. But. as in hundreds of other cases, instead ot making money she loses everything she has. Faced with ruin and driven desperate by hunger she resorts to theft ami is caught by tho young Englishman in the act of stealing a pocket book. He asks her why he should not hand her over to the police and then she tells him the story of her lite. The artist takes pity on the young lady and affords her protection. This is just the beginning of the story. From this point onwards the two are thrown together a great deal and they meet with many strange adventures. Staying at the same hoarding-house there is a professor who has worked out a system of winning money at the casino by the aid of higher mathematics. He puts his system into operation and it proves successful. II is success, of course, soon becomes widely known and a band of international crooks plan to steal the documents containing details of the system. A series of exciting events follow in which the artist and the French girl play important parts. The documents are stolen hut they are of no use to the crooks because they are in code. They then endeavour to get the information out of the artist, to whom the professor has confided the secret of the code. The thieves are on the point of success when the police suddenly appear on the scene. The head of the secret police had been watching them closely for days. The cast is a particularly strong one. Kenneth Harlan as the Englishman gives an excellent performance as also does Clara Bow, who. in a brief year, lias established herself as one of the finest of screen actresses. Carmel Myers is well cast in the part of a beautiful adventuress an(l Raymond Griffith proves a fine character actor as Martel, her accomplice. Other well-known artists in the cast arc Josef Swieknrd. Barbara Tennant, Evelyn Selbie. Frankie Lee and Reaches Jackson. The second picture was a rollicking cornedv-drama entitled. “ Fools of Fortune.” The story, which is a most amusing one. shows how four cowboys on a Western ranch after reading in a newspaper about a missing heir to millions decide to go to New York where one of them is to impersonate the heir. Ashburton do Ruvster. The journey east is one of comic mishaps hut these arc nothing compared with those that occur in New York. Margaret dc la Motte. Jack Dill. Russell Simpson, 'Fully Marshall. Frank Brownlee. William Austin. Thomas Ricketts and Lillian Langdon arc featured in “Fools of Fortune.” Another highly amusing picture- was “Rip Van Winkle.” a comedy cartoon which kept the spectators in roars of laughter throughout its entire length. The Libert v Orchestra under Mr Howard Moody played a delightful programme of music. The entr-acte was Dream Girl ” (Cleveland) a fine fox trot, with a lilting refrain. The words of this number were thrown on the screen much to the enjoyment of patrons. “ Operatic Strains ” introduced melodies from “ Rigoletto.” “ Barber of Seville.” “ Ernani ” and “ II Trovatore.” and proved very popular. The charming minuet of Beethoven was another much appreciated item. Mr Arthur Gordon played “Berceuse” (Cesar C'ui) and his item was one of the most enjoyable of the evening. Two new fox trots played were “ Moo Noo 1.00 ” and ‘ One Tattle Dream of Love.” Other numbers included. “ Adoration ” (Borowski) ; “ Othello ” (Verdi) : “ Symnhonv in D ” (Mozart); “Tia Boheme” (Puccini); “Our Miss Gibbs” (Caryl!). CHERNIAVSKY TRIO. Tbe renowned Cherniavsky trio will appear at the Choral Hall to-morrow, Wednesday and Thursdav only. To every city in which these musicians have appeared the critical fraternity have -awarded them honours, and they seem to have wandered into many lands throughout the civilised world. They have toured Africa three times. New' Zealand three times, Australia and China twice, and once Japan and India, and in addition they have appeared in nearly all the principal cities of Europe and South America. The “ Toronto Globe” of November 15, 1016, tersely sums up the Cherniavsky Trio’s musical abilities, and establishes their claim for consideration :—“ These three Russians proved themselves artists of the foremost rank, brilliant soloists, and superb ensemble players. Among the concerted nu m hers were a group of three favourite melodies specially arranged for a trio performance, and Brahms’s “ Slav Dance ” was one of the three. It was played with a surprising bigness and sonority of tone. The violinist, cellist and pianist were playing each for all and all for each.” The box plan is now open at 'Flic Bristol Piano Company. There arc concessions to students under eighteen in parties not less than ten m number. Children under seven will not be admitted. FULLER’S OPERA HOUSE. THE NEW PROGRAMME. The programme offered for holidaymakers at Fuller’s Onera House is probably tho strongest that has been seen there for many years. Tho first appearance is announced of the famous Jim Gerald Revue Company. This organisation is credited with being the most brilliant revue that has yet been seen on the Fuller circuit. Mr Gerald is well-known as a verv clever comedian and he is supported by a coterie of popular and experienced artists, including Reg Hawthorne, comedian. Ernest Crawford, baritone. Howard Hall, basso. Lance Vane, character comedian. Mona Thomas, soprano, Essie Jon-

nings, soprano. Sophie Vivian. soubrette. and Polly Maclaren. premiere danseuse. In addition there is a specially selected ballet known as the “ Twinklers.” The production for tonight is known as ‘‘ A Millionaire for a Night.” and is said to be full of delightful comedy. The musical numbers have been carefully chosen, while the dressing is of an exceptionally high standard. The scenery has been specially painted for this production and the electrical effects are out of the ordinary. A very strong vaudeville programme is proffered in support of the revue. That popular Scottish comedian. Mr Jock .Mills, has been retained for a further week at the request of a large number of patrons. The Megan Brothers are novelty clowns who introduce some clever musical effects. More amusing comedy is promised bv A mintage and ELine, while the favourite light comedian, Alee -llegan, will introduce further popular songs. The box plan is now on view at the Bristol and patrons are requested to make sure of their rtsei rations in advance, in view of the heavy demand for seats. CARNIVAL COMEDY. J. C. "WILLIAMSON ENTERTAINERS. BR I LI JAN T V AU DEVI LLE ARTISTS. The spirit of Carnival Week has certainly been caught by the third company of J. C. Williamson Entertainers who opened their Christchurch, season to a tull house in the Theatre Royal on Saturday night. Comedy predominates*. and it is well that it should do so during a week given over to public amusement on a large scale. So far, the striking thing about these Williamson entertainment companies is that each one presents a different phase in the art of vaudeville. The result is that comparison, if it were desired, is made very difficult. However, it seems that a definite standard lias been fixed, and each artist in his or her sphere keeps up to that. There has not been a cheap performance yet. Comedy is always acceptable, but it is a rare thing to find more than one good comedian on a vaudeville programme. If he is a sufficiently great comedian his coining is an event, and

justly so, too. It is difficult to say just how one should describe a programme of eight acts in which three are provided by a comedian and two comediennes, all of them artists in their work. These people, are great, and it is not their fault if a rebellion against (doom is not started immediately. Certainly the seed of the revolt was sown on Saturday night. Being helpless with laughter is a state often talked about: but it is no exaggeration when applied to the state of some of the fortunate first-night audience, j People were rolling in their seats. Now : there must be body in the performances ' that induce steady burgesses of a steady ; city to get into that state. There was ! body in the performance and the jokes 1 lingered with one. They will be j chuckled over and enjoyed for days. i 'File company is beaded by Harry ! Weldon, who is fairly well known to the New Zealand soldiers who had the ■ good fortune to see him in London during the war period. He is justly ; regarded as being one of the leading music-hall comedians in England, and there is an atmosphere about his work that no other comedian has been able to obtain. He lias only to step on to tho stage and his success is assured. There is someth.ing irresistible about him, and humour seems to exude from him. Then, again, his methods arc original. He never becomes blatant or uproarious, even though his audience might. Keeping his work well in hand, he comjiels attention and sym- J pathy. Alter his introductory “ S’No l so ” he settles down to business. His first number was a song. “ Rack to l .S.A.” In this lie told of the things he would do when he hit the old dry la nd again. Next he gave a senes of j amusing burlesque imitations of different types of actors. His best effort was as Brouzo. the bullfighter. The account of Rronzo’s fight as supplied by the ‘‘ Barcelona Bawl ” was delightfill. Then tile hero’s effort to pot ahead of the orchestra was brilliant. Altogether Bronzo was a deiirhtlul fellow to meet. The second sketch was The White rh,|>e.” This was another superb bit of loolrrv that could not tail to convulse. Miss Hilda Glvder is a comedienne entirely unlike anv other comedienne. She has a wonderfully restrained manner, and somehow her work has a gem-like quality about it She seems to radiate light. There is an amazing freshness about her. and the appeal she makes is an irresistible

] one. Her voice is small, but exquis-f I itely produced, and her gestures are i always expressive and captivating. j comedy is bright and light, and she interprets it in a 1 ascinating way. Her most popular number, if one stood out | at all. was “ The Sheik of Birmingham."’ In this she told of the numberloss charms of Loving Sam. the lucky iellow who earned the intriguing title, j As an encore she sang “ Oh. Johnny.” I a popular song which she introduced. Beryl Bereslord is small physically, hut j she is tremendous comically. She is a | burlesque comedienne, and she does the i work as it has never been done before, j It is very easy for a woman doing bur- . lesque work to get out of .sympathy with her audience because she just hapj pens to overdo it. However. Miss ! Bereslord avoids all the pitfalls, and J her work cannot fail to please. After endeavouring to help or hinder her pianist, Leslie Hinton in a song, she sang a choice piece of grand opera herself. The effect was brilliantly ludicrous. The little speech she made at the end of her act was a model. D’Alma and his canine marvels present a good act, and the master of the hounds goes through a series of amazing evolutions on stilts. The dogs themselves are really marvellous. Maggie Foster, a young violinist with a brilliant technique, soon made herself a favourite. There was a pleasing steadiness in her work, and her tone was exquisite. Among her numbers were “ Souvenir ” and “ Maggie.” I*co Brampton and his partner did an original strong-man act. Appearing first as statues in a statue pose, they abandoned immobility and then fell to their sport. Massona and Ronald are a pair of jugglers, one of them very young, who will do anything at all with plates, cups and dishes. Lucan and M’Shane. who appeared in the first company, did a new sketch entitled ‘ The, Old Match-Seller.” Incidental music was played by the orchestra { under Arthur (*. Eorrest.