THE LATE FLORENCE YOUNG.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1597, 2 December 1920, Page 36

THE LATE FLORENCE YOUNG.

LAST TRIBUTES TO HER MEMORY. Of all the loving tributes paid to the memory of the late Miss Florence Young there is none more moving than the following paragraph from the “Australasian”:—“She was not only a public favourite, but a stage favourite, and amongst that Bohemian freemasonry of th e footlights which, in spite of its little bickerings, is always warmly human, are her chief mourners, while by the children of pantomime she was especially idolised. For the younger members and beginners in the profession she had ever a fine sympathy and understanding, and in emphasising in her own attitude the fact that the only sure road to stage distinction is hard work and unfailing enthusiasm she set them a very fine example With* marked independence of spirit and character she was still free from anything like small-minded caprice, and was never known either to slur or

neglect a, part because it may not have been just what she expected or desired.. . . In her relations to her colleagues behind the curtain, as to her admirers in front of it, was nothing half-hearted, and that rather conventional phrase ‘a general favourite’ had, in the case of ‘Florrie’ Young, the very widest, warmest significance.”

“That the late Miss Florence Young had won, during her career, both the affectionate regard of the public and members of the theatrical profession was shown in the grief of her late colleagues at the graveside in Melbourne Cemetery and the quiet sympathy of the public when the funeral took place. The flower tributes which so often went to her across the footlights came to her finally in darkness —the last token of love and sorrow. They came from almost every theatre, every company in Australia Perhaps none of the wreaths, with which two cars in . the funeral procession were loaded,, had more meaning than that from Miss Nellie Stewart, expressed in the one .word, “Memories.” The short service at St. Peter’s Church, Eastern Hill, was conducted by Canon Hughes, and at the graveside emotion was stirred to its depths when the men chorus from the Gilbert and Sullivan and Theatre Royal companies sand Sir Arthur Sullivan’s “The Long Day Clones.” The pall-bearers were Messrs. Clyde Meyneil, Howard Vernon, Leslie Holland, Frank Tait, Julius Grant, George Smith, Claude Bantock, and Edmund Sherras; the chief

mourners Messrs. Fred, George and James Young (brothers), Mrs. George Tallis and Mrs. W. Clarke (sisters), Mr. George Tallis (brother-in-law), and Mrs. Fred Young (sister-in-law). The memorials of regard .came not only from colleagues, in the profession, but from first-nighters, gallery girls, and old schoolmates. The last tribute to Florrie Young was in every way deeply sorrowful, significant, and impressive.” .

With a fifteen weeks ’season in Melbourne, the J. C. Williamson Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company have achieved a record for Australia in a Gilbert and Sullivan repertoire.

Mr. John Fuller, .sen., gave his services as vocalist for the Brisbane Lavender Day benefit on October 28. Mr. Fuller had not previously sung in Brisbane since 1889.

Engaged for 100 concerts in Canada and the United States, Mr. Tom Burke, the English tenor, will, it is stated, receive the largest salary ever paid to an English artist in the United States. He has been insured for £lOO,OOO.

In selecting “Shore Acres” for John D. O’Hara, the J. C. Williamson management were actuated by the fact that Mr. O’Hara was ideal for the role of Uncle Nat, and that the popular character actor had in this part a worthy successor to Lightnin’ Bill Jones. For years the firm had held this play, which could not be staged for the reason that there was no actor in Australia suited to the role of Uncle Nat. This accounts for the fact that “Shore Acres” is to be produced in Australia years after its production in America. The piece is now being played in Melbourne.

The Great McEwen, who is to commence a seventeen nights’ season in the Auckland Concert Chamber shortly, has established the long season theatrical record for Australasia. This wonderful magician, mind reader and hypnotist opened in the Sydney Playhouse, under J. and N. Tait’s direction, on July 3 last, and is still playing in that city. Previous to his opening in Sydney his greatest record was 141 nights in Toronto, Canada, but his Sydney season, which does not finish until December 22, will eclipse this by four performances. In Adelaide he played 53 nights. The Great McEwen is extraordinarily versatile, and can present thirteen cdistinctly different programmes. Mr. David N. Martin, until recently publicity manager for Paramount Pictures in Sydney, is at present in Auckland making the advance arrangements.

Dainty little Billie Rhodes has not been seen on the screen in this country for a long time, and makes a welcome reappearance in “Hoop La,” a circus story that has all the glamour of the “big top,” the subtle tang of the sawdust ring, that all children of all ages love. Billie shows wonderful versatility *in her role of equestrienne, trapeze artist, clown, and dancer, and, later, society belle.

Mr. F. Bridgeman, of Wanganui, has been specially engaged to play the part of Wun Hi in “The Geisha,” to be staged by the Dunedin Operatic Society at the end of this month. On his return from Dunedin, Mr. Bridgeman will fulfil his engagement with the Wanganui Amateur Musical and Dramatic Society as the lead in “A Country Girl,” which will be produced there in February next.

The Chalk Farm Band, one of the best-known musical organisations in the Salvation Army, has started from London on its third Continental tour. It has- already toured upwards of 22,000 miles in England, Wales, Ireland, Holland and Germany, and during the present tour will travel an additional 2000 miles in Denmark and Sweden.

Mildred Harris Chaplin has been granted a divorce from her husband, Charlie Chaplin, the well-known cinematograph actor. Both parties in the suit are popular movie actors. In August last Mildred Harris Chaplin filed a suit for divorce, alleging cruelty. The plaintiff alleged that her husband did not attend the first Christmas celebration following their marriage, and did not give her a present, though later he sent her a cheque. He would not go on a mountain excursion with her, pleading fatigue; but immediately participated in gay mixed parties at the Coronado Beach resort. When, following upon the last incident, she went to New York, Chaplin declined to send her more than £5O, though earning £20,000 annually. When a baby was expected he refused to furnish a nursery. The plaintiff asked for a share in their joint property, and the judges issued an order temporarily restraining Chaplin from disposing of pictures, near completion, valued at £150,000, pending adjudication. Later messages reported that Chaplin had fled to Salt Lake City from Los Angeles to escape a restraining order —his wife’s attempt to tie up his assets pending their divorce. The lawyers of Mrs. Mildred Harris Chaplin then announced that she would drop the separation proceedings against her husband, and would instead . sue for £20,000, which she alleged was half her husband’s fortune.

A Drury Lane melodrama that makes a slashing picture is “The Thoroughbred,” or “The Sporting Duchess,” with Alice Joyce as the much ill-used heroine, and Percy Marmont as the dashing hero. A designing villain of a. as deep dyed a hue as it has been our luck to hiss is played by G. von Seyffertitz. There isn’t a dull moment, and all sportsmen and their fair ladies can look forward to a night’s excitement when “The Sporting Duchess” blows in.

Making a tame man wild, and then facing the more serious problem of making the wild man tame, is the facer that Constance Talmadge handles with aplomb in her latest First National “In Search of a Sinner.” The story is by Anita Loos and John Emerson, lately signed up as partners in matrimonial bliss as well as prosaic business. Their experience already wide, seems to be broadening through the gentle leaven of matrimony, as there was surely never a comedy so delightfully risque yet inimitably funny as “In Search of a Sinner.” It is now showing at the Strand.

A fairy story well done, is always attractive, but when produced in such a lavish, entrancing manner as “The Beggar Prince,” it forms an ideal entertainment for both old and young. Sessue Hayakawa plays a double role, the prince who has everything but contentment, consequently has nothing, and the fisherman who has nothing but that rare commodity, consequently has everything. Eastern philosophy is the keynote of what is really a beautiful production.