ENTERTAINMENTS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 768, 17 March 1910, Page 6

ENTERTAINMENTS.

THE KING'S THEATRE.. The commodious and comfortable new. King's Theatre in. Courtenay Place, to bo used for the nightly exhibition of West's and Royal Pictures, under the direction of Mr. T. J. West and Messrs. Linley and Donovan, was declared open by Mr. T. M. Wilford, M.P., last evening. Every seat in the building was filled, and there were people standing. The Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) and Lady Ward were amongst the audience.

Mr. Wilford, in declaring the building open, said that its erection was one more 'landmark of progress so far as this* city was concerned. Mr. West had now twentv shows in Australasia, as well as five theatres in London, so that he was in a good position to provide the latest films and most up-to-date apparatus for the enlightenment and delectation of the people of Wellington. There was no question, to his mind, of the absolute success of the innovation undertaken by Mr. ' West, which undoubtedly reflected credit on 'all concerned. Credit should be given first of all to the firm, Messrs. West, Linlcy and Donovan, and the audience should also record its appreciation of Mr. Bennie, architect,, for the building, and Messrs. Meyer and Illingworth, contractors. The decorative work had been well done by Mr. Beck, and also by Mr. Claude Waite, who would be manager of the theatre, and who was largely responsible for the arrangements that evening. Mr. Wilford referred to the wonderful strides made by moving -pictures, stating that it was only six years since Mr. West brought his'first entertainment of that kind to New Zealand. It might now be said that the films of Mr. West's bioscope almost circled Australasia. Moving pictures were not only instructive to the-young, but they called back to the memory of the old who had not been able to revisit youthful scenes many §weet and pleasant recollections; He was sure that no one, could attend a pioture show of that style without improving his education. He felt certain that the work of the syndicate would be appreciated by the whole of the people of. Wellington. He had much pleasure, in declaring the hall open for public amusement, entertainment, and instruction. (^.pplause.) The. programme which followed was of the highest merit. The orchestra played an overture, "Le Chevalier Breton" (A. Herman), and thereafter added, much to the attractiveness of the pictures by the accompaniment of: appropriate airs. The pictures themselves'' were of excellent technique, and sufficiently varied to suit all tastes. The first series was a humorous one, "The Fallen ' Idol/' A girl cherishes a passionate admiration for a wonderful tenor, whom ' she has only known' on the concert platform." He advertises for a servant, and she applies successfully, for the position. Her experience of the famous tenor in his own home causes a speedy reversal of her opinion of him, .and she expresses her changed sentiments in a manner both surprising and discomfiting to the favourite. "The .Engineer's Daughter/* which followed,. is excellent melodrama, containing a • distressed heroine, a false lover, a railway' smash, >a financial swindle, and otheT familiar ingredients for. excitement. A diverting skit on the Cook and Peary polar expeditions followed, and there came a humorous-scenic film, "Two Kids on a Spree in Brussels.'" Irom. this film an excellent impression is of the. magnificent buildings' of the Belgian capital. Ari admirable dramatic • story is vividly pictured in the series, ."His- Reformation." A prairie robber is moved to repent of his wild life by a letter- which he receives from his. aged mother. He makes several attempts to engage in . honest work, but is forced .back .into .crime, by - the behaviour pf his new associates. He follows and sticks up the mail coach, and discovers among the frightened passengers 8 old. parent. Other effective dramas are entitled: "The Lady Detective/' and To Save Her Soul," while "The Gorges 01 Andes is a splendid descriptive series, ihe programme will be repeated to-night.

HIS MAJESTY'S PICTURES. An overflowing audience found ample entertainment-at His Majesty's Theatre last 'evening. .It was. the first night'of the new.■ management, Messrs. Fuller and sons having once .more-taken oyervtile control, of, the.' theatre, and a very fine programme was presented. The opening series of pictures was admirably selected, and the management announce that they have made/ arrangements for a weekly supply of the best 'films from the London market. A picture which had been

looked forward to with considerable interest was that. showL» the February floods in Paris. The camera man had evidently journeyed all; round the city, spooling" the thoroughfares that had been most seriously flooded.. The lowlying had bocome ' navigable canals, the higher places were .beaches, and front entrances of buildings were the only landing-places. The picture shows the punt men reaping their harvest, • and the gendarmes patrolling . the light > temporary structures that bridged the mandated thoroughfares. It is a remarkable film. Another "special/' which Messrs. Puller have acquired with characteristic dispatch, gives an idea of the research work carried on in Continental pathological laboratories. The picture, obtained with the additional aid of the microsoope, discloses the effect of the inoculation •. of a rodent with disease germs. First- of all, a drop of its blood is placed on a slide for inspection. Then the eye of the camera .is placed over the microscope, and the healthy corpuscles are distinctly observed A* hypodermic inoculation is then made and the creature ultimately dies of sleeping, sickness, that fell malady which is transmitted by the bite of the tsetse fly. Before death ensues, the blood is examined again several times, and is fomid to be invaded by tripanosomes, which wage war upon the blood corpuscles. The dust of the prairies and the abandoned gallop of ranch bronchos were the principal features of a romance, "The Pet of the Big Horn Ranch." The picture had a genuine flavour about it, and a thrill went through th© big audience as a score of cowboys dashed by in purs w °L the i , rnst . I ? rs who-had stolen a white filly—the gift of the.stock-riders to the ranch-owner s 'pretty daughter Another dramatic film, "To Save Her Soul" tells the story of a girl whose voice gives hor ., a If 4 "'! P lnoe in'the music-hall world. She leaves her quiet country home, and her curate lover, and soon becomes the favourite in an amusementloving city. The little drama, then develops on much the same lines as that of Hall Caine's novel, "The Christian." The curato, hearing of her success on the stage, determines to go and see her himself, and, after the performance, he seeks her out. She leaves a merry supper party, and talks with her former lover. Ho would rather kill her, he.

says, than allow her to lose her soul, and, in the end, she returns with him, repentant, to the old church in which she had been a choir-singer. The effect is heightened by appropriate organ accompaniment. As a comic study, "When We Called the Plumbers In," takes first' place in the programme, showing the ridiculous happenings in a peaceful household following on the"" visit of a plumber and "his mate." "Choosing a Husband," "Who's Got My Hat?" and "The Timid One" were the other humorous pictures. "Camille," founded on Dumas' novel, was an acceptable picture, and other ones were "The Gorges of Aude" (a railway "journey" with remarkable tunnel effects), and "The Pulp Mills of Canada" (descriptive of- a vast industry). THEATRE ROYAL. Hassan, the Indian magician and won-der-worker, is the star performer at the Theatre Royal this week. It is a weird performance that has to be seen to be believed, particularly the act in which he lifts a sizeable block of concrete with his eye-lid, which wonderful feat he perforins under the closest scrutiny. The Klimos, Ward Lear, and a full company of clever artists contribute to a most interesting programme. CONCERT AND DRAMATIC ENTER- * TAINMENT. ' An excellent programme hnq been prepared for .the concert and-dramatic entertainment to be held in the Sydney Street Schoolroom this evening.- Items will be contributed. by some of Wellington's leading amateurs, and the entertainment will include an amusing one-act comedy. Full particulars will be found in our advertising columns. \