ROMANCE OF THE REGENCY ON BILL AT EVERYBODY’S.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18043, 31 December 1926, Page 4

ROMANCE OF THE REGENCY ON BILL AT EVERYBODY’S.

“ THE AMATEUR GENTLEMAN ” HAS UNUSUAL THEME. Perhaps there is no period of English history as fascinating and romantic as the Regency. It was a time of worldly pleasures and daring intrigue, when great ladies vied with each other for social leadership and dabbled in diplomatic affairs with great eclat, and every young gentleman was a miniature Lean l Krummel and the Beau himself quite the greatest exquisite who ever strutted down the Strand .or lolled about fashionable Uath. A brave time, with k lot of heart-aclie and misery beneath its brilliant exterior. Perhaps there is no novelist who has more completely captured the elusive spirit of that period than Jeffrey Faruol. whose story, "The Amateur Gentleman,” brought to the screen, will he presented at Everybody's Theatre next week, when a fragrant, stirring, eventful page from English history will be whisked back from the past. Farnol delights in portraying pugnacious gentlemen, dangerous fellows who whip out a sword under any provocation, but who are all in a quake before a pair of soft eyes. Thus the Amateur Gentleman is drawn, who breaks into the select circle surrounding the fat Regent and maintains his place there through his introduction of a new and exquisite cravat. The picture is gay with all the gilded display and vain splendour of that time; it bristles with hold intrigue, in which the famous Lady Holland figures prominently; it Is breathless with unadorned drama, particularly when the Gentleman stands shorn of his pseudo feathers and even the exquisite cravat is forgotten; it is tender with the romance of all the ages, and in the end love conquers all things, oven a noble lady who loved the very amateur gentleman. It is a romance, this story, in every sense of the word, showing the influence of all the best: fiction upon the.author's style, and adhering well to the old-time type of colourful melodrama. The picture never suffers for action. a vastly exciting steeplechase, a duel with pistols and plenty of encounters in steel keeping the story at a merry pace, and the brave attire of the dandies lending the production a brilliant and picturesque effect. There is comedy in the pictures, sometimes of a faintly satirical nature, but always amusing. and the rounded phrases and precise diction of the Regency. plentifully interspersed with the robust " swear-words," which were deemed to be part and parcel of a gentleman's outfit, lend the story a quaintly genuine atmosphere. The cast, commands considerable interest. in the title role is Richard Barthelmess, than whom none better could lie found for the character of Barnabas Beverly, alias Barty. Once again this actor is a fighting blade, a decidedly comely figure in Inis fine costumes, and a '“"'r.v perfect, gentle. knight withal. The Prince Regent, an ambling, tyrannous fellow, is admirably played by (lino (’orrado, and Nigel Barrie. Dorothy Dunbar and Billie Bennett enact roles with pleasing grace and dignity. The second picture on the programme is different in every respect from the premier offering, being " Lovey Mary." a sequel to, or, to be precise, the cousin to that charming and philosophical comedy, *• Mrs Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch.” Mrs Wiggs again struts her hour and speaks her lines, with arms akimbo and scathing tongue, but she is a loving* soul, and one ignores her incongruities. "Lovey Mary" has that same wistful pathos and whimsical humour as its more famous predecessor, as well as an invigorating speed and action. t.o which the buoyant, personality of William Haines, as leading man. particularly adapts itself. Bessie Love, petite and appealing, plays the title role, and creates an instant and phenomenal success. Other plavers iri the cast are Eileen Percy. Mary Alden and Russell Simpson. The "Select” Orchestra, under the direction of Mr \Y. J. Bellingham, F.S.M.. will play a special orchestral programme, including the following numbers:—Overture, i "Martial Moments” (Alford); opera. Rigoletto (Verdi); song suite, < "Popular Songs" (Schubert); suite, f ” Cendrillon ” (Massenet); symphony. "Surprise" (Haydn); entr’acte.' "On tlie I Riviera” (Wilber); part song. “The Snow," arranged by Lund: selection. / "On With the Dance” (Finok). The box plans during the holiday season will bo at the theatre, where seats may be reserved.