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Star (Christchurch), Issue 17882, 25 June 1926, Page 7

ATTRACTIONS FOR THE WEEK. ETERTBOOY S THEATRE “ JOAJTIffA. " GREATER CRYSTAL PAX.AOB “ THE BUST PEOPLE " GREATER CRYSTAL PALACE “ THE STRUCT OF FORGOTTEN LIT3RTY THEATRE “ WHAT HAPPENED TO JONES ’ GRAND THEATRE . “ THE WHITE DBSERT ” GRAND THEATRE “ XACDTG LUCK ” QUEEN'S THEATRE ** SHORE LEAVE ” QUEEN'S THEATRE “ THB ENSVY SEX” fiTRAJTD THEATRE - - 44 SPORTING LIPE ’» STRAND THEATRE “ TROUBLES OP A. BRIBE” THEATRE ROYAL PAVXOVA PULLER'S OPERA ROUSE VAUDEVILLE

The features coming to Liberty next week are “ The Dark Swan,” a Master Picture, and “ Along Came Ruth, ’ rom the Metro-Goldwyn studios. “ The Dark Swan ” is the photoplay version of Ernest Pascal's much discussed novel, which was published more than , a year ago. and has since taken rank as one of the fastest selling novels of the present decade. It is a story of American customs and social conditions. Helene Chadwick has the leading role, and Marie Prevost is cast in a part which suits her admirably and in which she cannot fail to win new laurels. Monte Blue has the male lead. “ Along Came Ruth,” the second attraction, is the story of a young girl who is penniless but who possesses plenty of pep and go. She descends upon a “ dead ” town, and with her energy and advertising ideas rapidly puts it on the map. The action accentuates the humour of the situation throughout, and the cast has been specially picked with this aim in view. Viola Dana is the star, and her principal supports are Raymond M’Kee, Walter Iliers and Tully Marshall. jc Richard Barthelmess is the star in this First National production, “The Beautiful City,” which will be the principal attraction at the Grand Theatre next week. The story was specially written for Barthelmess. It is about Tony, an Italian flower vender in the congested cast side district of New York; an honest youngster, dreaming of a flower store of his own with Mollie, the Irish lass he loves, side by side. And then he is drawn into evil associations by his brother. Not that Tony does anything wrong, but his activities in his brother's behalf make him seem criminal. But there is a general clearing out before the picture ends and Tony wins Mollie and makes the beginning of a happy life. Dorothy Gish is the Mollie. She has l>een Barthelmess’s leading woman before, playing in “ The Bright Shawl ” and “Fury” with him. The second attraction. “The t'ircus Cyclone,” is a Universal production, with Art Acord as the star. The story is a combination of the sensations of the circus and the thrills of the Western range. It deals with the love of a cowboy for a girl rider in a circus that plays a Western border town, and his battle, against the entire circus, to save her irom the plot of the brutal ringmaster owning the show. Daring circus stunts vie with thrills of the range; a sensational mob battle adds to the thrilling detail, and there is a battle on a careering automobile on a cliff. The principal attraction at the Queen's Theatre next week will be “ Scaramouche." Rex Ingram’s spectacular adaptation of Rafael Sabatini’s great romance of the French Revolution. “Not in all the pages of fiction,” says a reviewer, “ is there such a glowing daredevil character as that of Andre Louis Moreau, the young scion of nobility, whose laughter mocked his enemies, and whose madness inflamed the world. The story opens with the cold-blooded slaying of young Philippe by the Marquis de la Tour d’Azvr. ‘He shall pay. Philippe; on your poor dead body I swear it.’ exclaims young Moreau, and from that time his life is devoted to avenging his friend. One is fascinated by the magnificent panorama of the French Revolution, which is portrayed in this film more intelligently than it has ever been done before. The picture contains some marvellous massive settings The play is splendidly acted by a cast of thirty well-known players. Ramon Novarro makes an ideal hero. and is excellently supported by Alice Terry as the tender and beautiful Aline de Kcrcadiou. The proud and haughty aristocrat. Marquis de la Tour, is portrayed with consummate artistry by Lewis Stone.”

“ The Only Way,” a British made picture, based on Charles Dickens’s famous novel, “The Tale of lwo Cities,” at present showing in the North Island, is booked for early release in Christchurch. The picture is noteworthy for the fact that it necessitated the transferring of the whole of the company appearing with Sir John Martin Harvey in the stage version of the play. Sir John declined to allow his play to be filmed until aj British company could be formed ofj sufficient financial strength to ensure] the success of the picture. The English public and Press watched the progress of the film with pleasurable anticipation, and when it was finally shown it created a furore. “The Spaniard.” a Paramount production which will head the new programme at Everybody s next | week, is screened against a background of lavish settings and society splendour. Ricardo Cortez, Jetta Goudal. and Noah Beery are featured in the leading roles of the production, based on the novel of the same name by Juanita Savage. The Spaniard is Ricardo Cortez. idol of the bull rings of Spain, who turns out to be a nobleman. V hen the picture opens he is found at a fashionable affair in London, where he has created nothing less than a sensation among the women-folk. It is the eve of his departure for Spain. He meets, and true to form starts to woo. the beautiful English society girl Dolores Anneslev. But Dolores has quite a reputation as a heart-breaker herself. This annoys the fiery Spaniard not a little, and he decides then and there to tame Dolores if it’s the last thing he does. The scenes that follow' carry audiences to Spain—to the bull fight, where Dolores discovers to her horror that the hero of her latest love affair in London is nothing more than a common bull-fighter. The scene shifts to an isolated castle far up in the mountains. where. Don Pedro, the Spaniard, holds the girl a prisoner until she has learned to love him. How the girl manages to escape, followed by a thrilling experience among bandits, to be at last rescued by the Spaniard, brings the production to a fitting climax. “Stage Struck.” a Paramount production coming to Crystal Palace next week, brings Gloria Swanson to the screen as a waitress in a small town in the Middle West. In love with Ormie Wilson, who flaps pancakes in the restaurant. Jenny is taking a correspondence school course in stage acting all because Ormc favours actresses. All the girl wants is a chance to prove just how good she is. That chance comes ■when the. Water Queen, one of the showboats which ply the Ohio River, arrives in town. Jenny goes to the manager and tells him she's a finished “emotional actress.” He pledges her to secrecy and bills her as “the masked marvel” in a women's boxing match. All does not go so well and the ensuing scenes find her being fished from the river by Orme who brings cave-man tactics into play, hauls the. embryo stage star back home and the picture closes with Jenny and Orme in a lunch cart which they start in opposition to their former employer. The opening sequence shows the dream of the waitress. She is the. world’s great--est actress. She is being received by * kings and queens. Vast audiences rise i and cheer her when she plays “Salome” or "l armen." All this is in colour, the great banquet hall set being especially striking. This fades into the shabby waitress in the cheap restaurant. The second attraction, “Manhattan Madness.” features Jack Dempsey, the champion boxer, and his wife Estelle Taylor. The production is a comedy drama, introducing the heavyweight champion as a young Westerner, on his first trip to New York. He becomes involved in a. weird plot when he leaves the plecid surroundings of his ranch and starts in to play the gallant, eager and ready to leap in and fight when a fair maiden is in distress.