ENTERTAINMENTS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1315, 19 December 1911, Page 6

ENTERTAINMENTS.

"Till; SI'IXKI.KD HAND." The .1. C.' Wilii:ini?on Dramatic I'omliiitiy'- |irr.>iiHioii of < ovum Uoyle's great defective draimi. whicli is In lie-' pri<>-ntril Inr ihe lir.-l lime in New Zealand at. I lie Opera l!.m-<- l.)-Mi:>n-i>-.v-iiislii. i< said to ill<T".'i»<' Iheir reputation from every point ~i vi.-w. Tu,- piny lias.-br-wi earniuhy e;-.:-l. and (lie skill ami earnestness which i:liiirai:lpri-.<, Ih,-. wnrk of the dif-fen-nl |!ci-fnnn<T- him: gained fur them dMiti'-l m-e-cmiiienre. Of ;>ll (be <lj:>iiiiitisation-. ut Coiian Povle's .-(ones, •"I'hi-- Siwckicil Hand" hut. ("wen tli,> mu.-i <U>'-n~.-f<[. 'J , he production is ssid lo l>o. much in advonce of any previous "Sherlock Holmes''' pluys. and worthy of a ton place anion;; the. dramas of recent year.-. The dramatic, interest i.-. vivid and human, 'ami a. vein of light comedy cleverly inti.Twovr.ri is. said to relieve the intensity ot the liniiue dramatic situations 'J'ho ilirfo acts and five scenes are set in appropriate and piclui"e>f|u<> snvrnundiiiKs and the live snake—which IMiiy. :in important part in tlm drama— together wilii it-, live "understudies," was specially imported from London, wher.t they were concerned in the original production. Mr. Wyliert Stamford, specially engaged, is responsible for the production, and Mr. A. f.. Pea roe is the stage manager. .Mr. Leslie Broad has painted the scenery, and .Air. Fred Quintvell will conduct a full orchestra, which is of more importance than is usually the ease in dramatic productions. The box plan i* rapidly filling at the Dresden. ' THEATRE ROYAL. Messrs. John I'nller and Sons prescnied a change of programme -Inst. iii»lit. at the Theatre Koyal, where kinemaeolor pictures are t!ie popular form of amusement. Messrs. Albert Smith and Charles I'rban have invented this latest phase of kinemalograpliy, whereby pictures can be taken and reproduced in tho exact tints ot iiutiire and in this form they are nightly shown in the Theatre Royal. The new programme includes a number of very fine subjects, and these, combined Willi some capital black and while films, afford a pleasing evening's ontertaiiimenl. "The Harvest" is a magnificent topical subject, giving an interesting review of the grain, -industry from the cimo that the fields are ploughed until the ripened crops are gathered iu and put through the threshing machine. To a city "house" the subject is'« novel one, and is wonderfully true to nature. The "Birfh.of Huwers" is a capital study, in which tho flowers' rate of progress is magnified considerably. The plants shown included.tulips, snowdrops, daffodils-, hya-' citiths, and anemones. "Kin? and KaiW Reviewing Troops': is a brilliant.animated scene, in which the colours of the uniforms andlhe horses make -un a striking eflect. Another topical item" depicted in natural colour, is the "Launch of the b.S. Olympic," the largest liner afloat, "(•lgars and.Liqueurs" is also a kmemaI color item well worth seeing. The most prominent of the black and white subjects is "Lochinvar." which is portrayed in "ood style. "Beekeeping" is au industrial subject of interest, while the.bill-of-iare is further supplemented by a number of dramath and comic items'. Kinemacolor subjects will be shown again tonignt and until further notice.

FULLERS' PICTURES. There was standing-room only last evening at the Skating Kink, in Vivian btreel, which Messrs. Fuller and Sous have converted for the time being into a ■IHCIIII-β theatre. .The "star" picture in u selection screened for the first time was a. sporting drama based on ,i *lory by Nat Gould, entitled. "The. Double Lvent. It i s packed with , incident, jnustly of an exciting character, and the best and worst features of, sporting life, according to Nat Goiild, are .vividly set .forth. The ramifications of the plot aw too extended (o be even outlined, but the;story concerns the. fortunes of-a young man, member of an English country family, who goes out to Australia. I here he buys a horse, Caloola, whteji becomes favourite in the Melbourne Cup. At this point his troubles commence. He becomes the victim of d series of plots, fomented by a rascally gang of bookmakers and sharpers. These, people aim at "nobbling" the favourite. Caloola, and the owner of the horse and his friends have an ansious though interesting time in protecting it. Eventually they triumph over their wilv enemies, and Caloola gallops to a wellearned triumph in each race of "the double event." Round the central theme, as has been indicated, many incidents are wrapped. One of the best scenes snows a desperate rogue beiug chased by a detective over roof-tops in the Chinese quarter of Melbourne. The pictures of racing are particularly Rood, find in the early part of the drama there is a capital representation of an English' minting scene, with the hounds in full cry. 'The' Double Event" takes an hour and a quarter to pass over the screen, and occupies the whole second half of tho programme. The pictures shown in the hrst half are all good of their various kinds. One of the best is called "How Betty Won the School." It deals with .the* capture of a burglar by a plucky and enterprising schoolgirl. Other good iteiiis are "The Diamond Gang," "Queer lolks,' and "The Cowboy's Bride." The same pictures will bo screened-at the luuk this evening. KING'S THEATRE. ' A bright and happy programme of pictures entertained a large audience at the lung.s flioafro last evening. If there is a trend at all in pictures.it is in tho direction of forcing forward the dramatic or story pictures to the almost total eclipse of the scenic and industrial pictures, which only a couple cf years ago played a prominent part, [still it was quite' a. treat last evening to drift lazily alon? the greo.t canal which conuects Amsterdam and Rotterdam—the broad highway of the Netherlands—past the quaint Dutch villages, the picturesque architecture, the characteristic windmills, and slow-moving barges heavily laden with the products of tho fields. It was a picture worth half-a-dozen mork senti'mental dramas. "In a Buig-irion Village" is another class of •jM-ni's which reflects n nation in picture. Tin , .funny'little fat-faced children, with their embroidered dresses and oi'eor licad-drCiiCi, are shown imbibing primary education frem a rather debonnajr tenclicr in tho open air. A, group of aduiU surrounding a kindly-loot-ing full-bearded priest seem iwi.ppy enough under the camera's eye, and later are shown executing it dauw in which thnre must be more rhythm than grace. The "Dunce of Sweethearts" w-is rather a sad afb.ir, but a sort of ring-a-ring-a-rosy druice is evidently set to one of tlnse lili-s so fascinatingly adapted by-Hubay. "The Making of a Man" is a story of the stage. A young girl falling in love with an actor meets him after tlm piny ;it a dance. They dro mutually attracted, but the girl's father has an unreasoning bite of "the profession," and forbids :my communication. Goaded by her father's iittilude the girl leaves her home ;ind follows her lover. The two are married, but the girl, being under age. is drejg('d home I'gitin by her father. Once nv.r? she escapes, but this time fails to find her ltusbnml, smil .sinking In poverty, wanders back liomc. only tu find her father dead. Her brother orders her out of the house, and once morn she tastes the billernPSK of wo.nl. Finally >he sees iin advertisement lequirnig ar, infant for use in .:i drrinatir- nerforminice. Willi her biby sho rep-tirs to the'theatre to find her'husband i.wiin hnlieyrjd-her dead) and hnpniiirs.=. A unique nk'ture comes from Paris in n rnviow of feiu:ile f?>hiquf. in i dress froni'thr tiincof the nnciMil.'Grenks ■ ijim n.c.) un to the ung.iiidy hobble skirts of 1911. We have apparently much to learn from the apcient Other Frood nictuies are "Forgiven," "Home is Best." "A'Sporting OlTer." "A Western Girl's Sacrifice," and a couple of good "comics."

TIIE COMING OF M'CORMACK. Mr. H. N. Southwell, ivho is bringing j Mr. John M'Cormack to New Zealand, writes:—"The opera company in Melbourne closed a fortnight early, but the business was all the kuhc— phonomennl—as they look over JEBOOO in the final week. They lire now singin , ,' a rcMirn short i-ca-sßii in Sydney, and Ihongli t!ie wenUier is cruelly hot the houses overflow every niglil. They finish here on Friday, 22nd. and mo=t of tin , crowd take the iiiiiil -tanirr for Kurujw! uu the following day. M'Cormack humo ie Melbourne to sins with t.he VliiVhannonie Sorii-ly in *llos---is*li' <i(i Clii-Uma., !):iy. lie' then give- a hiilliiil .-nnr-i-i. vu' S«w Year's iiighl in lire Kshibitini. tluiVliu-;. «1,i.-h knlfl, 10.000 IXMI'lc .\- ill,- faniP lime h" j*will.=<y-wry bnll oi Uif w om | '|V?t I ronifli i, :i liiinn- '-M i.-vii-kfil.. SydI will lia\e IH'O couteits uu Jauuaiy

t ami ."i and wo all leave by Ihe Moernki on .luniiiirv Glli for Welliniflon. Our partv will I);' .loini M'Cnriiiiicl;. Rusimi Huekman, Donald M'Hcatli. violinist, unci Speiir.-r (.'lay. pianM. 1 can assure you f.lial .liilin .UTormack ranks in Ihe Did World as the lending male h;.ll;id singer <>f Ihf day. ami you will have an uncommon LlTil'.." Tui:: s\:w tiii-jatue. The final sereoniii!,' nf the current programme hi (he New Theatre cuiilinuoiis, picture oiiterUnmm-iil drew uotnl aUcnclaiices yesterday. Tin. , customary biwvclily. i-ikwige 10-day and to-night eom-tiviM-s !■ collci-tioii ol uniform merit. Tlie C'iiaii'pUin e\elilsiye drama, "A Soul hern Girl's Heroism," is a slory ot adventure in the Southern l.'nited States. A i-lmr-actsristic narrative of life simoii? the Indians is related in the Bison exclusive drama. "Brave Swift Eagle's Peril." An enjoyable item is (ho EdUon comedy, "The ' Question Murk." A tfipical item is a vivid series of scenes in the "ItalianTurkish War." The Cines Company are responsible for tlie dramas "A "Colonial Romance" and "A Bravo Slatinnimister." All irresistible laughl'.T uiovoker is ■'Hobin' Buys a Donkey." The S. and A. Company have achieved n success in the comeily ".Indue .Simpkins's Summer Court." The new subjects will be shown from Jl a.m. (ill 11 o'clock to-night. Tho "Komic Koon" Minstrels gave an entertainment in the new Town Hall ill .Miramar last evening. The proceeds are to be devoted to the Anglican Building fimd.