UNDERWORLD DRAMA IS CHIEF PICTURE AT CRYSTAL PALACE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18640, 18 December 1928, Page 7

UNDERWORLD DRAMA IS CHIEF PICTURE AT CRYSTAL PALACE.

Crystal Palace is offering this week an attraction in addition to the customary picture programme. It is a remarkably thrilling balancing turn provided by Ktdoma, a gifted Japanese, and his partner. For many minutes on end this remarkable pair of artists kept last night’s audience in a state of breathless suspense by one of the most daring achievements that has ever been exhibited on a Christchurch stage. As a preliminary, the male member of the duo showed some adept balancing of a large ladder, which he held up with his feet while he remained prone on his back. Then his partner slowly mounted the ladder, .until finally she was at the top, right up near the arch of the proscenium. While there, with the ladder still balanced on the feet of her partner, she went through a number of gymnastic movements, the ladder meantime being kept perfectly steady by the remarkable ability of the man on the floor. As an exhibition of strength, it was no mean achievement, but as a balancing feat it was wonderfully carried out. The audience sat breathless through it, and it was evidence of the tense moments that the audience put in that there was not the suggesion of applause until the lady had safely regained the stage. Then a perfect storm of applause broke out. The performance had the merit of complete novelty, added to its undoubted cleverness and its dare-devil disregard of the dangers involved. The act is remarkably well presented, the staging and dressing being alike novel and striking. It is one of the best “thrills” that have ever been presented in Christchurch.

“The Girl from Chicago,” the principal film on the pictorial programme, is a drama of the underworld, which tells a story of absorbing interest. Myrna Loy appears in the leading role of the girl who came from the country to assist her brother, whom bad companionship had placed in a position of dire peril. She is not, however, the only masquerader in the plot, for Handsome Joe (a role sustained by (onrad Nigel) is also engaged on business other than his ostensible business. With the girl deceiving the criminals in an effort to secure the necessary evidence to free her brother, and with Handsome Joe engaged on very much the same task for the Police Depaitment, the onlooker is quickly taken into situations of breathless dramatic appeal. As the story unfolds, the girl and Handsome Joe each forms an object of the suspicions of the other, and it is not until the climax is quite near that the disgusted detective discovers the identity of the girl and learns what her actual mission is in the band of crooks among whom she moves. The climax is particularly powerful, and forms a fitting conclusion to a picture in which the action throughout is very fast. There is plenty of humour, while the rapidly developed love story provides an added avenue of interest. The leading artists are both responsible for some very fine work, and their efforts are supported bv a cast that for all-round ability is well worthy of the excellence of the picture in which they have been chosen to act. “The Girl from Chicago” found high favour with last night's au-

Uilllillllilllilflijlllillllllllllill^ dience, and there can be little doubt 1 season in Christchurch will be a highly 7 successful one. Its appeal is so wide that no section of the audience is left unsatisfied. In this respect it marks a distinct advance on the average motion picture. “The Body Punch,” the chief of the supporting pictures, is just delightful. It is one of those happy, care-free comedies that are created to make people laugh, and one that achieves its objective thoroughly. Excitement and humour alternate as the tale is unfolded of the adventures of a pair of young lovers, for whom things do not, for a time, run too smoothly. However, as is the case with all good pictures, everything comes right in the end. The audience is pleased at that fact, but gladder still to have had the bright and breezy entertainment which the film provides. The Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Mr A. J. Bunz, provides an excellent programme of music. The numbers played last night included the following:—Overture, “Ballet Music” (Mozart), “Symphony in B Minor (Schubert), “Divertissement” (Lalo), “Suite Gaie” (Gabriel-Marie), “Neron” (Romberg), “Popular Songs” (Coates), “See What a Lad Am I” (Ward), “Hoping for the Best” (Holland), “Chicago” (Fischer) and “Molly” (O’Hagan).