GREATER CRYSTAL PALACE.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18403, 9 June 1925, Page 33

GREATER CRYSTAL PALACE.

LAUGHS IX PLENTY. "SKCKETS OF THE NIGHT." Outside, rain, sleet and cold; inside, warmth, comfort and pleasant entertainment'. That contrast was very evident to the patrons of Greater Crystal Palace laat night, for out of doors Chriatehurch was showing the worst part of its nature and inside Mr V. M. Bccbe was giving a festival of, Pictures and urusic, which ha* seldom been equalled. The management has been fortunate enough to have obtained for one week only a photoplay that rivals "The Bat" cr •'The Cat and the Canary" for delightful m-stery and delightful humour. Tws is Seentj oi the Xight." What will |,e accepted as one of the seasons most elaborate, most fascinatintr productionsis the much heralded Universal.Jewel feccrcts oi the Night," which is the headlmcr on (he current bill. Any story founded on a baffling mysten- is bound to contain popular appeal, and when such a »t:.r/ is ioitined with irresistible humour ono may imagine its entertainment value, feccrcts ot 1 tie- ,Xight" k a mystery film w.th an hi.aruus fcimination, with the everwelcome James Kirkwcod continuing his run of consistent characterisations, and Madge Bellamy.cs the leading lady. It is from the pen of Max Mprcin. Th» story tells of the im;a..vcnturcs that happenqd when the president of one cf the largest New York banks unsuccessfully endeavoured to nersuade one of ths directors to murder him so that his lite insurance money could be collected and ■used to pay back to the bank the £IOO,OOO ho -hr.d leaned o n what appeared to lie worthless f'reurity/ The bank examiner was an; to arrive at the bank and examine tho books and to cause a delay (and thus give himself time to think of another plan of Paying back the money) the president invited the examiner to a week-end party a.t his mansion. It is there that munv "mysterious things occur. The shooting "of one of the directors cf the bank whilo ho was in company with tho wife of another director, together with the disappearance of Jiis body at h moment when all are mortf or less under suspicion, threatens high tension until hilarity enters the picture and takes, over the r.ir.s. Kirkwood is excellent as" ihc .worried bank president (who eventually found that i; 11 hi 3 worrying was quite unnecessary) and Madge Bellamy, as the president's pretty young ward, who, in the end, married him, is fresh and spirited throughout. Other playera-'of note included Zazu Pitts, Hosemar;' Thcby, Tom "Wilson, and Otto Hoffman. ''The Steadfast Heai't," a Selr.nick super attraction, is on the same "bill, and it rivab "Secrets of the Night" for pride of pln.ee.. One would,, not hesitate to catalogue it among the best melodramas screened at Greater Crystal Pajace. The story is built upon tho i cdcrapliiia (ft youth—branded as an outcast—and it contains a substantial uplifting r.nrt spiritual note. Besides the two big pictures' there is another cf the popular "Fight to Win" series, featuring Jack Dempsey, heavy-weight boxing champion of the world, a Century comedy and an International News. Delightful music is played by tho Symphony Orchestra, under tho conductorship <-iv Mr A. J. Bunz. The overture is "The Horse Guard" (Rizigade), a, fine. blending l of light and sliade. Schubert's Unfinished Symphony is a very welcome number. The piece de resistance is tho "Egmont Overture" (Beethoven). In tho opening tho sustained chords are exquisitely played and they lead into a delicate allepro. "Meditation". (Glazounow) opens splendidly with the 'cello and has an exotic colouring. The opening of "Le Villi" (Puccini) is played with the requisite precision and depth, and the andante lento has true Puccini melody. The andante mosso makes a fine climax to an exceptional selection. Tho entr'acte is "Biliiim's Aussie Song," which has an effective bells solo written and played by Mr W. Debenham., I STRAND THEATRE. Careering down the mountain-side in a runaway freight train, three people were fighting out a- desperate situation. Through, tho murder of her uncle and the web of circumstantial evidence that surrounded her fiance, Katherine Keith had fought a grand and glorious fight for his freedom. And now, with tho evidence in her hand that would free her mate from the clutches of the law—and send, to the , gallows the worst criminal.'in the land-ishe,was cornered. ThatJ ghes an "idea'ci the thrills abounding in "Tho Arizona Express," now showing at the Strand Theatre. William. Desmond, in ".The Sunset Trail," is shown in support. "Wolves cf, the North" (episode. 7), a comedy, and a News, complete, the bill.