ENTERTAINMENTS

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14711, 28 July 1921, Page 6

ENTERTAINMENTS

“DARBY AND JOAN” AT ROYAL. ; To-day and to-night, and finally to- • morrow evening, “Darby and Joan," the , all-British moving picture magnificent, : will be shown at the Theatre Royal, ■ with popular Miss Myra Ross singing ; the beautiful songs that synchronise ’ with (he filming. The success of i “Darby and Joan” throughout the Doi minion has been abnormal. No picture 1 shown in Now Zealand has drawn forth j such eulogistic letters- —spontaneously ! written—as have the merits of “Darby and Joan.” It is pleasing to think that such a masterpiece was made in England by Britishers. Derwent Hall Caine and Ive Close, a perfect example of the British type of beauty, and one of the strongest casts of distinguished players ever assembled for a picture, are responsible for acting that has astonished spectators. Special music which accompanies the films on tour will be rendered by the Royal Orchestra. The rush for seats at Paul’s has set in, and intending patrons should book there or ihy theatre ’phone 1580 before 7 p.m. KING OF THE CIRCUS. To-day, at the Theatre Royal, Eddie Polo’s greatest of all serial successes, "King of the Circus,” will open with “Darby and Joan.” It will be shown for the last time at a special matinee on Saturday afternoon at 2.30. KING’S THEATRE. It would be hard to find two more satisfying pictures than the splendid features which were shown last evening to a large and delighted audience. Dorothy Dalton, whose work is ever sincere, has never shown to finer ad - vantage than in her present offering, Paramount’s “Guilty of Love.” The picture is based on Avery Hopwood’s stage play, “This Woman—This Man,” and tells a gripful story. The second star, Viola Dana, Metro’s fascinating actress, scored unmistakeably in “Blackmail,” a particularly strong, clever and convincing melodrama, in j which a dying father’s legacies to his ] daughter arc undying hatred of the : law and its administrators and the teaching tic has given her in the fine points of crime. How she is regenerated through love is admirably shown in Llie picture. Good music was a feature of the programme. Scats for tonight and to-morrow evening should be reserved at Paul’s. FOUR-STAR BILL AT STRAND. Undoubtedly one of the finest and greatest programmes scon in Hamilton was that presented at the popular Strand Picture House last evening to a big and delighted audience. The audience was held breathless by “The Brand of Lopez,” a Robertson-Gole production in which Scssuc Hayakawa is scon as a decidedly human character. He is a hero who does not do the highest and finest things at all times, but who puts up a manful if unsuccessful fight against adverse fate. Florence Turner supports Hayakawa as the proud Spanish beauty who started the original trouble. It is a far step from the arid sands of the great Australian desert to the home of the wealthy in London, yet that distance is covered in Earle Williams’ latest feature, “Captain Swift,” an adaptation for the screen of 1 [addon Chambers’ famous stage play. A special Christie two-part comedy and No. 10 of “The Lost City” serial complete the splendid programme, while truly delightful music by the Strand Orchestra is an outstanding feature. The plans are at the Novelty Depot. ALLAN WILKIE COMPANY. The rendering of Shakespeare’s uproarious comedy of mediaeval life, “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” by the Allan Wilkie .Shakespearean company is a wonderfully finished portrayal. The company has now been together for nearly a year, and has thoroughly learnt the difficult business of presenting Hie plays of the great dramatist. In this play especially is the co-opera-tinn between its members exemplified. The play contains a number of humorous characters which are clearly caricatures nf actual persons alive in Shakespeare’s day, and each .of lliesc is made a perfect study by Ids or her exponent. Mr Allan Wilkie appears to great advantage as Sir John Falstaff. His conception of “the mountain of llcsh” is id) ilia), could be desired, and although Mr Wilkie is the only actor mi the Australasian stage who has played both the parts of Hamlet, the greatest tragic character in all literature, and Falstaff, the greatest comic, one, tic brings oul all the unctuous humour of the old philanderer. Of course, the piece de resistance of the whole performance, after Mr Allan Wilkie’s performance, is the rendering of the virtuous but humour-loving wives, admirable types of Englishwomen, by Miss Lorna Forbes and Miss Mona Duval. The Hamilton season will open on Thursday next with “The, j Merchant of Venice.” Box plans open i to-day at Paul’s Book Arcade.