ENTERTAINMENTS

Waikato Times, Volume 96, Issue 15034, 4 September 1922, Page 6

ENTERTAINMENTS

WAIKIKI HAWAIIANS TO-NIGHT. One 'of the most popular combinations touring at the present time is that of the Waikiki Hawaiians, which is drawing packed houses everywhere. A feature of the entertainment is its quaint originality—it is different from all usual standards. The curtain rises on a tropical scene, dimly lit by a half-clouded moon. The brewing of kava and the wild dance which follows recalls vividly Whittier’s poem, “The brewing of lhe Soma.” In “Hawaiian Nights” the full company with voices and instruments give an appealing rendering of the native parting song, “Aloha Oe.” The “Arabian Moon” is, perhaps, the best item. The finale of this is superb, the cleverly reproduced Egyptian posing and the weird Eastern music producing an impression not soon to he lost. “E Pari Ra” is a composition which arouses much enthusiasm. The scenes and costumes are well managed, and are helped considerably by the illuminations. Of the instrumental music it is sufficient to say that it is a real treat. The evolution of concerted music from the primitive ukelele is an evidence that cultivating contact with the pakeha race is able to conquer seeming impossibilities. “THE FOUR HORSEMEN.” A private screening at the Theatre Royal of that remarkable picture “The Four Horsemen of j the Apocalypse,” in twelve mighty parts, revealed the fact that the fame of the great picture rests upon a very solid foundation.' It is all it has been heralded to be, and its abnormal success at Auckland is easily understood. The story is head and shoulders above ordinary, as twenty million sales of the book abundantly testifies, and the cast is one of the most distinguished ever assembled for any picture in the history of the screen. Rodolph Valentino is the leading man, and a new star, Alice Terry, will leap into the good graces of everyone, for she is beautiful and talented to a degree. There are 50 principals and over 12,000 extras in the production, which took over 12 months to complete at a cost of over a million dollars. The tango dance seen in the picture is a revelation in its way, and there is much else in the film that breaks new ground and bears the charm of novelty. Special music arranged by Mr Edgar Collins for the Royal orchestra will embellish the unfolding. Liberal booking at Paul’s indicates that the immense success of the picture elsewhere is going to be repeated at Hamilton. There will be a matinee at Frankton at 2 o’clock tomorrow, and also one at the Theatre Royal beginning at 2.30, half an hour later. “SHAME” AT KING’S THEATRE. What is distinctly one of the most beautiful melo-plays—exquisitely coloured in places—is the 9000 ft Fox production, “Shame,” created real enthusiasm at the King’s Theatre and at Frankton on Saturday last. “Shame,” with its remarkable st'ory and its amazing fight between the lierq and a wild wolf in which, realism reaches. a .point never before seen in a motion picture, is a great melodrama that is worth going a long way to see. John Gilbert, an American actor, did such wonderful work as the hero in “Shame” that he was elevated to stardom in a night, and is now the celebrity of the hour in Western America. Choice supporting subjects and delightful music by H. Spencer Salt and Madame Dyer completed a tremendously fine programme which should attract packed houses for tonight and to-morrow evening.

LAST OF “SHAME” AT FRANKTON. A record house filled Frankton’s Own Theatre on Saturday, and fairly raved over the truly grand photoplay “Shame.” The picture stands right out on its own among modern melodramas, and it deserves another bumper iiouse to-night. To-morrow’s three stars’ bill will include the popular serial, “The Branded Four,” Dorothy Gish in “The Ghost in the Garret,” and the circus drama, “The Puppet Man.”