STORY OF CIRCUS LIFE SHOWING AT QUEEN’S THEATRE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18469, 22 May 1928, Page 7

STORY OF CIRCUS LIFE SHOWING AT QUEEN’S THEATRE.

Few novelists enjoy the wide popularity of William J.* Locke, and perhaps his most successful novel was w Simon the Jester.” a story which has been brought to the .screen, and is now showing tat the Queen’s Theatre. “Simon the Jester” is a thoroughly wholesome picture, and contains as many thrills as the average picturegoer is ever likely to want. The story is based on the life of the circus, an institution which dates from Roman times, and never seems to lose its popularity with all sections of the public. There is a glamour always round those who risk their lives to provide entertainment for the multitude, and it is this glamour which marks those connected with the circus something apart from ordinary mortals. The scene of “ Simon the Jester ” takes one from England to Tangier in a series of thrilling sequences which are as realistic as anything ever screened. The acting of the principals, Eugene O'Brien and Lil-

lian Rich, leaves nothing to be desired. Both parts call for the very highest dramatic treatment, and in this both players succeed admirably, giving the spectator the spirit of the picture very admirably. The story tells of Simon de Gex, a wealthy young English member of Parliament, who is also very

prominent socially. Summoning all his friends to a dinner, he announces that he has only a few months to live as a consequence of a wound received in the war. He proposes a toast to death, but drinks alone. To his friend. Dale Kynnersley, he leaves his seat in Parliament and a large share of his fortune. with the request that Dale should marry Mazie Ellerton before the death of Simon. While the dinner is in progress. Dale receives a message from Lola Brandt, a circus rider with whom he is infatuated, which says that she is in danger and that he must stay away from her. Simon pleads with Dale to give up this girl and marry Mazie. They quarrel, and Simon consents to go to the circus and see Lola. Meanwhile. on the circus lot. Mazie prepares for her act with her horse Sultan, and while she is dressing, the canvas of her tent is slit with a knife. Midget, the clown, sees a stranger slinking away in the darkness, and Mazie fears that the life of Sultan is to be sacrificed. The act goes on. As part of the act. Midget draws a pistol and shoots the horse, which feigns death. That night real cartridges are substituted for the hanks generally used, and Sultan falls dead. Lola and Midget hover over Sultan in anguish. Dale, with Simon in a ringside box. leaps the rail and carries the fainting Lola to ; hcr dress-ing-room. where, as she revives, she meets Simon for the first time. Lola and Midget pledge themselves to avenge Sultan’s death, and Lola leaves the. circus to live in London. In the meantime Simon has arranged a yachting trip, and has invited Dale and Mazie. Instead of bringing the two closer together, the trip makes them bitter enemies. Through misrepresentation, the .affair of Dale and Lola becomes a scandal, and Simon offers to go' to Tangier to find Lola’s husband. Oh arrival in Tangier Simon is injured in a fight and is rushed to hospital, where he is operated on, with the result that he returns to perfect health. Midget follows Lola’s husband and kills him, and is himself mortally wounded, but is able to send for Lola. She arrives in time to see him die, and in Tangier, Simon and she declare their love for one another.

The second attraction. “ Won in the Clouds.” is an aerial thriller, with a very clever plot, laid in Africa. Good comedies and interesting gazettes complete a splendid programme.