ENTERTAINMENTS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1641, 7 January 1913, Page 6

ENTERTAINMENTS.

1 ti .■■■ . . B "GET-RICH-QUICK WALLINGFORD." jc Only once more in Wellington will those expert "crooks," Eufus J. Wallingford r and "BUckie" Dnw seek "easy money" 'J. and find "it "on tho level" in Battlesburg, B for theso nimble-witted gentry are off to * try their schemes in other parts. The V 1 final performauco of "Get-Edch-Quick ,J Wallingford" will Ire given this evening, 1' and those who havo not seen the joke aro advised that thero is a whole lot of \ laughter -they, are not sharing at the v Opero House. Mr. Fred.Niblo will be re- }* membercd for his crisp and breezy action '> and pleasant personality; Mr. H. Corson •(>. Clarke for a deeper vein of subtlety, and }' a drier brand of humour; Hiss Holloway £ for her winsomeness; Mr. E. V. Bush for g his well-simulated disingenuousness; and Aliss Dale-Owen for her clever, character f, work; and Mr. Robert Greig for his unctuous jollity. ■■,■'■'■. Those parts of the play when no one is getting, rich, and the chocolates are circulating, has been considerably enhanced by tho bright selections of catchy g American' music played by an orchestra t< under the leadership of Mr. Van Heck, f, Mr. Van Heck is a very able violinist, <• whose tone is thick with sympathy, and „ who never deviates from 'true pitch. His d soulful playing of the "Virginia Song" e has chained many to their seats at inter- c val time. The company is to appear at ti Blenheim to-morrow evening—an event for c , the Marlborough centre.; This visit lias s been made possible by the erection there t of an np-to-date theatre for Mr. Parker, „ of Blenheim. The builder and architect ( \ was Mr. Henry E. White, of Wellington. a THEATRE EOTAL.■'■■'., i) The Bunny Hug was danced at the h Theatre Royal last night by two very fi clever artists (Phillips and Merritt). s There was a packed house, and.the spec- s tatorate -heartily applauded the dance, t showing; that they liked it, and found » little, if anything; objectionable about it. D It -was billed as a dance/ which had; » "raised the wrath of some .Americans, - D who had vigorously denounced it, and it « was added that other Americans , had i "hailed it as an artistic .creation." y The „ dance is one about whioh therq could , easily be tivo opinions. Speaking solely of the performance. of the dancers,, one j. can only say that, it ■ was good. . The p Scandinavian Hercules,- Les Etnchs, re- J appeared, and delighted the "house", with j. feats of strength and •-daring. The two i very clever children who appear, as "The J] National Duo" gave one of their.best per- „ formances. Dressed as' costers, they, sang a and danced beautifully in a capittd char- T acter sketch. The remarkable.one-legged i acrobat, Francis E. Curran, was on the r boards, again. ; Feats of skill-and daring ( he Was billed to do,-and.these lie did v with an/ease and cohfidenco ,that many v fully equipped performers would .scarcely aspire, to.' . Curran - was: ably,. assisted by Miss May, Vocgtler, andbeb-een them they, gave a,stirring'and entertaining dis- r play';'. Ernest-Pitcher, who chooses for i his bill note the expressive titlo of;"the , big mug,".rattled'off dozens of jokes and ' ( witticisms. This,excellent provoker of rr.irth had tho big audience in ,foars of \ laughter -the whole time he was..on the j stage. .Thornton,' the expert juggler and j card manipulator, gave another ;deft display'; '■ -The first portion of the programme j was contributed by the .Eight Grotesque"!, , a band of singers, who are always/ well j worth' hearing. \, :' : . ,' : ".'•HIS MAJESTY'S; THEATRE.: . [] . A -fine pictorial representation of the i love story of Queen Elizabeth, with Mad- ' nme Sarah Bernhardt in .the title role, y' was the principal attraction in a pro- ■ frammo of new pictures, screened at His j lajesty's Theatre-last '..evening. .The ] thread of narrative. ~'iipbh : whiph'• the , picture is • based would : perhaps scarcely ' bear the critical examination of- a his- , torian, but no doubt something of his- i torical truth has tp.besacrificed for pur- < poses of stage effect in motion nictures as i in legitimate drama. -The,picture is ad- ■ mirably produced, and presents a series of striking scenes, many of them beautiful, ..in which the actors engaged enact . their various parts with convincing force. Madame Bernhardt, as tho, Queen, is an impressivo central figure, and unfailingly dominates. the assemblies of lords and ladies .in ii;hich she .is pictured.' The story..as,the picture presents it,,is that the Earl of Essex, although the acknowledged lover of, the Queen, is also enamoured of the Countess of Nottingham, i and is beloved By her, in ' return. The < ■Earl,of Nottingham, infuriated at dis- ( covering how. things stand, between., his i wif* and Essex; plot^'against the Queen's I favourite, and is assisted by Sir Francis 1 Bacon. The great philosopher is pictured 1 as a thoroughly vile character, an eaves- i dropper,. and a plotter against .the life of his ■ former friend and benefactor. 1 (Oharice favours; the plotters.- The-Queen comes unexpectedly;,.upon Essex and'the ] Countess, of. NottiEgham, and becomes • furiously jealous. She now listens to accusations against Essex,to.which she had i formerly turned.a'deaf car, and ho is committed to the Tower on a charge of ' high.treason. The rest of the. story is unadulterated tragedy. .Essex ,is'condemned and executed, ■ a design of saving him at ; the last moment which the- Queen; had formed being frustrated by Nottingham and Bacon. The final scene of the,picture,, one ,of the best of all from' the .spectacular ippint of view, depicts the death of the Queen.': On its merits as 'a spirited though tragic, drama, the picture has considerable value.' The;'principal- feature of the programme is 'supported- by an interesting series of pictures varied ns to choice of subject. One illustrates .interestingly the salmon-fishing industry, and another depicts winter sports, in Glacie.; "Billy "M'Grath's -Love-letters" is a capital, comedy, and "Hospital Hoax'.' comes within the same category. "The Last-Eose of Summer" is the, prettily-pictured loveeroi)y of a foherinaid, ■ and a beautiful scenic film also included in.the programme pictures a journey fr,oin Byo to -Winchelsea. The programme, "will be repeated this,evening"!.' . ■■[ . ■'■;; ■ THE KING'S THEATRE. . In spite of'; the bad weather last bvoning, a. large niimber of people assembled at tho King's Theatre to witness the .weekly change of programme. The selection of pictures was a remarkably good one. Pride of place was taken by a sensational pic-ture-story entitled "The-Child. Stealer." The plot is cleverly worked out, and the action of the story is spirited. The child, heiress to great wealth, having died, a gang of kidnappers are employed to 6teal o substitute. Tho' crime is carried out successfully, but the kidnapper to whom ■the task, is entrusted is arrested and sentenced to a long term of imprisonment. On leaving prison he seeks out the victim of his farmer Crime, now grown up, and seeks to crown his villainy'by obtaining her hand in marriage, and so securing her wealth. The succeeding- developments are interesting, and incidents follow one anr other thick'and fast, but in the end the villain is completely checkmated. "The Adventures of an Italian -Model" is a clover- detective story. An artist's model arouses the jealousy of her.lover, and he contrives to poison her under circumi stances which,throw strong suspicion on » tho artist to whom 1 the girl has been. sit- . iting. The-way in which the-guilt of the - real culprit is ferretted but by "Lambert I Chase," a. part taken by Mr. Maurice Cos- - tello, provides the substance of a picturei drama of enthralling interest.,. One of the . best dramatic pictures included in the X programme is "The Irony of Fate," which 1 pictures with convincing realism the ef- , feet of marrying for money, and that of l marrying for moro worthy reasons.' A 1 vivid contrast is presented, and the moral of tho littlo story is driven home in a way f that-ordinary narrative could- scarcely t compress. "The Whisky Eunnors" is a 1 picture of quite another order. -It depicts r an exciting contest' lwtween members of She Canadian North-West Mounted Police i and illicit Itradcrs engaged in supplying whisky to tho Indians. Asa whole, "Tho Whisky Runners" is a -stirring story of frontier life, infused with a liberal element of battlo, murder, and sudden „ death., Other good . items, are "Through I the Flames," "The rathe English Gaz- <• elite," "The Patho Australian Gazette," '~ and "Winter Sports in Bodelo." Tho last|f named picture deals interestingly with the a joys and pains of ski-running, and incidentally introduces some,beautiful mountain scenery. The "Reward of o nnce"is a comedy picture which simply - compels laughter. The same pictures will be screened this evening and on following 0 nights. . £ SHOBTTS' THEATEE. A fresh progrnmme was screened at n Messrs. Shortts' Picture Theatre yestero day, Ono of the best items is that which n tells the story of Sorgeaht Byrne, of the North-Wast Mounted Polico. Byrne lores

a girl named Jessie, and Jessie loves Byrne, but she marries Harvey, when tho former presents himself drunk. Byrno finally pulls himself together and joins tho mounted police. Hanvy drifts _ to tho outskirts of-a 6awmill settlement, ■ whero he makes .liquor illicitly. Byrne is assigned to the duty of • investigating He discovers Jessie and her child in mis- , cry, but duty is first, and he proceeds to attempt the arrest of Harvey. There is a chaso of ninny days, but the mounted £ police never give up, and Byrne plods on until he finds tho dead body of his quarry; In the meantime Jessio has moved into the sawmill settlement, where she secures 3 work as a waitress. Byine stops at'this , boardinghouse, and encounters Jessie. He ( gives her the news of Harvey's death. Of V the comic section of the programme "Pa Trucbell's Troubles" is the best. Other ■ good items include: "The Wildmah," a Sotig drama; "Over tho 'Phone," arid , Pathe's Australian Gazette. To-day "The Money Kings" will also be screened ' in addition to tho above programme. ] THE EMPRESS THEATRE. j A new programme was screened for the ] first time at the Empress • Theatre yes-. ( terday. ,The various items taken together j form a very entertaining programme. "The CringeT" is a rather unusual dra- , matic study of a shepherd who is evi- ■ dently half-witted. He is subjected to extremely rough' treatment both by his ■■ employer and by' the cowboys of the dis- . trict. In fact more or less everyone he : comes in contact with thinks it funny to give him a cuff or a kick. He takes this .. treatment in a cringing manner and never remonstrates either by word or by deed. However, tho r worm turns at last, , and the "Cringer" determines to show ' himself and the world 'at'large'" that he ' is not a coward. He starts by stealing a horse from his employer; then he sets firo to a factory to give the townsfolk something to think about, while he pur- ' sues his main project and robs the bank. He manages to get away with a bag full of notes, but the alarm is given and ho is pursued by a band of cowboys. - Ho makes for his own hut, whither the cowboys track him. Single-handed he puts up a bravo fight until wounded and overcome by numbers, he dies, and with his last breath, informs the eowbor* toot "he wasn't afraid." "The Hospital Hoax" is a good comedy. In love with 1 a nurse, a would-be suitor gets taken to ;: the hospital for a nerve cure with this : particular nurse to look after him. His rival informs the. nurse of tho trick and ': he gets a' bnd time in the hospital till '. ho eventually escapes by way of the window. Other items include the "Gau- 1 niont Graphic".(a bright budget), "Gold ! and- Glitter" (an A.B. exclusive drama with a powerful plot and elaborate staging), "Jasmine" (a delightful story of a pretty orphan girl), "Williams's Weekly" (budget of' Australian topics), and a diverting, comedy "The Reward of Pcrscverance."-. . .■, ■ ✓ THE NEW THEATRE. The. change: of programmo at the New Theatre yesterday and last evening attracted largo attendances at all sessions. The "stall" film is a.Nordisk production, entitled "A Marriage of Convenience"—a pretty story of a, jealous husband, who. "fell in love with his wife."- The acting in s this study is splendidly '■ done. "Picturesque Rumania" is:a delightful series of pictures, showing glimpses of the. hemp industry, where the-flax is. handled more by hand than is done in. New, Zealand; one of the.most strikinlf scenes depicts a flock of geese descending on to a ' river. The Selig Company is represent,ed by a Wild West photo-drama of merit, which deals , stirringly , with "whisky running" across the- bonder. ; There is plenty of exciteinent, in the shooting that takes place, the discovery and destruction of the kegs; and the really splendid horsemanship displayed by one of the characters .in particular. "Tho Cringer" (Lubin) is another .testimony to the high standard achieved in the making of moving" pictures. The splendid dramatic work by the Nordisk Company, entitled "A/Marriage of Convenience," was\also repeated.