ENTERTAINMENTS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2873, 11 September 1916, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE,

A first-class evening's entertainment is announced tor tho popular Fuller house this week. Miss Kosa Spellman, an entertainer at the piano with a big European and American reputation, who arrived by tho Alaitai direct from the -United States, is said to produce an act of very unique character. Miss Lallie Brooke" will portray the feminine fads and fancies from crinoline days to the present period, and Messrs. Gully and Ferrier are announced as exponents in all that is new in the comedy-cuni-talk-ing-cum-acrobatics line of business. Mr. Clement May, the Dickens impersonator, will givo new extracts from the immortal author's works in .character, Val. and Lottie Newman will make a welcome reappearance; a charming balladist called Miss Grace Compton is announced for a first appearance, and the remainder of the bill will include the Four Kings, Shipp and Gaft'ney, Harry Howe, and Ethel and Les Warton. There will bo a matinee on Wednesday afternoon next.

"THE NE'ER-DO-WELL." A number of the "feature" films now being produced are adaptations of novels or plnys by popular .authors. Some of theso pictures have been meritorious productions, but in a number of cases they have not been of a high standard. "The Ne'er-do-Well," screened 'at the King's Theatre on Saturday, is* a highstandard film, and affords two and a half hours' good entertainment. The story is Hex Beach's celebrated novel, and was produced by the Selig Company, and is exciting, well staged, teems with incident, and the photographic setung"is'the region of the Panama Canal. The leading players are Miss Kathlyn Williams, as Mrs. . Couttlandt, and Wheeler Oakman, as Kirk Anthony (the "ne'er-do-well"). The book has been widely read, but the makings of the man iii Kirk Anthony are interesting. He is the son of a millionaire and a reckless money spender. After a brawl in a cafe a friend puts him, in a drugfed state, on a Panama-bound steamer, lero he meets Mrs. Courtlandt, tho young wife of an elderly diplomat, Mrs. Courtlandt secures his release from a Colon gaol, where he has been placed for causing a meleo with the fire brigade. Ho spends a holiday with tho Courtlandts, and Mrs. Courtlandt ar-t, ranges an outing and contrives that she and Kirk shall miss the boat, and thus be forced to spend the night on cm island; Courtlandt is suspicious, and in the morning brings a boat from the, mainland and takes them home. Kirk falls in love with and becomes engaged to a Spanish girl named Chiquita. Mrs. Courtlandt is enraged,' and threatens Kirk. However, ho marries Chiquita despite the counter-plotting of Mrs. Courtlandt. Then comes flio tragic death of Courtlandt, for tho murder of whom Kirk is charged, but subsequently cleared by the intervention of his father. Appropriate music by tho orchestra under Mr. H. H. Jerome enhances the enjoyment of the piece. The 'season closes on Friday evening next.

EVERYBODY'S THEATRE. Varied and interesting is the' programme which 'was shown for the first time at Everybody's Theatre on Saturday, and which will be shown till next Friday night. Tho principal attraction, "Tho Good Bad Man," is a good production, and deals with life in tho Far West of America, where,, it is stated, law, and order aro not even yet properly maintained. Douglas Fairbanks (the thousand pounds a week film comedian) takes the leading part, supported by Bessie Love. Tho picture deals with tho lone outlaw "Passim.' Through" (Douglas Fairbanks), and his life. Ho becomes an outlaw on account of doubts as to his parentage. Later ho discovers that he is a legitimate child, aud that, a leader of a band of outlaws, called "The Wolf," killed his father.' Ho vows vengeance, and later finds that "The Wolf" has taken away tho girl of 'his fchoioo. Hie- immediately rides to "town," finds the girl, and then goes after "The Wolf." Some exciting gun play follows, and the sheriff of tho town makes Mmsolf known. Men aro collected, together, and the baud of outlaws are killed to a man, "The Wolf" included. The picture ends dramatically, showing where the girl and "Passij)' Through" leave to cross tho border. Another picture,of interest,- "Women Workers for Victory," 6hows how tho women are ivorking in tho, shell factories in England, "doing their bit." This picture shows also some of tho machines, including ono which is capable of turning out five or six finished shells in an hour. Supporting items are> a comic cartoon, "Mutt and Jeff"; a beautiful scenic entitled "A Summer Trip Through Nova Scotia," and the Gauniont Graphic.

EMPRESS THEATBE. "The Lion and the Girl," a TriangleKeystone comedy of tho funniest order, was presented at the Empress Theatre on Saturday, to crowded houses at every session. In" addition to its merits as a laugh creator, tho comedy is filled with thrilling feats of daring that are quite awe inspiring. Tho dramatic portion of tho programme is an excellent one. "Life's Yesterdays," with popular Leo Deliiney in the lead, is a heart-throb-bing' drama, tho plot of which turns on a doctor who became a victim to tho drug habit. The climax is terrific. "Tho Artist's Wife" is a pretty heart-interest drama, wjfih. a wide appeal and an intense love story. "Alaskan Dogs at War" not only shows tho sagacity of these animals, but embodies some charming scenic viows. "Industries of Borneo" is a splendid educational feature. "Trebizond" is a travel-sconic in Asia Minor, while the "Topical B.udget" shows a. big collection of animated news. For variety and entertainment the whole programme has not been excelled. "THE DIVINITY OP MOTHERHOOD." A well-known classic*'ivritor once quoted the immortal remark that there were three words in the English language only, and they were "Mother, Home, and Heaven." It might well have been that the story of the "Miracle of Life," or "The Divinity' of Motherhood," had been woven around this pronouncement, for it is certain that no picture has caused more interest and more commendatory criticism than the "film that is to be shown at tho Britannia Theatre this week, opening to-night. Briefly, it is tho story of a woman who preferred the vortex of pleasure to the joys of maternity, and who found out as- the years wont by.that she had sacrificed the "larger for the lesser, and that while other mothers were living a life of happiness with their growing little ones, she was doomed to the barrenness of 'a lonely desolation. .The theme is delicately, treated, and the incidental effects are said to he of a most charming nature. They include a number of exceptionally pretty child eifects, showing the gathering of the babies from the flower beds, the old gooseberry bushes, under which every baby has been found since "Adam delved and Eve sang." * SUNDAY CONCERT. A concert was g?ren in His Majesty's Theatre last night hy the lately-formed Municipal Tramways Military Band. This band is 50 players strong, and the new players who have come into it to convert it from- a brass band to a military band are not mere novices with woodwind instruments. It is a strong musical combination, which, if it holds together and devolops, will yet become one of the most popular that Wellington has ever known. The concert last night was a decided success. The programme was attractive, if not ambitious, and was creditably played. The only vocalist was Mr. It. M. Weekes, who sang "Tho Two Grenadiers," and Mr. W. W. Crawford gavo a dramatic recital. As usual, the auditorium was crowded.