ENTERTAINMENTS I

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 283, 19 August 1918, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS I

"THE RAINBOW" TO-KIGHT. A Sydney critic wrotu of "The Eainbow" in Sydney ciuite recently:-"When it, was remarked that 'Daddy' lioiik !"-■£«' was surely written for Miss Kiithleun Jl-uc-ltouoil, that dainty youns liwly luid not Iwon fcen in "The liaiiiljow.'" The plot of tho play is simple, but problematical, aud eaoli charocicr coutrihulcs to the happy vein of humour Unit murks tho dialogue throughout. The story rovolvco round Neil Summer, ii wealthy man of leisilro, whoee married life after ye;!i-:i of happines.s cams to priol' upon : U:o rocks of uiimimlerstamUnfr. His rallii-.v questionable aasocialea do not nuit 3iis highminded wife, \7ho, with her little daiißlUer Cyiitliia, chose to live apart. Yeara later, lifter Oyutlila has coiiipletrd her education, it is arranged that she should visit her father, whom she hits not seen since she was a littles child. After much uiauoouvrins;, which gives hlhs ample scope for her .fine actiiiß. a reconciliation of father and mother is brought about, after a 'separation extendinir over ten years. "The Cinderella. Man" will be staged to-morrow night, and the season will conclude 011 Wednesday night ■ Tvit.'i tho popular production, -"Daddy Long Less."

THE SCABLDT TROUBADOUES. Tie talented litvlo costume comedy company now appearing nightly at tho Concert Ghainhor of the Town Hall, and ltuown <is tho' gcarlot Troubadours, aio (Uitte, in some respeota, different to other corapanioa of tho kind. From a vocul standpoint also the company makes a most creditable showing. Some of their ensemble numbers are surprisingly good. There is also a. liberal sprinkling ai comedy in ihe programme, in which aJI members of the company tako part. Individually and collectively the company ie fully qualified to sustain popular interest and enjoyment. The company will appear again this evening. j THE KING'S THEATRE. j Second in importance only to the artr-or ! has it become au inciiißtry f— of producing moving pictures is tho art of wfiting their titles and what are technically termed "sub-titles," which are to tho moving picture what the chapter headings are to the book. Not infrequently titles are ohosen • not so much for what they indicate of tho nature of tho picture as for what they do > not indicate. This chargo cannot bo laid against the title of a Goldwyn picture now being screened at the King's Theatre— "Nearly Married." To the uninitiated I such jb title would immediately suggest 1 Rometning of the ludicrous, despit* the | ofßcial designation of a . And "Nearly Married" is, in fact, a series of wholly drfijiitful absurdities which, ' when they reach their height, aro cleverly I given the appearance of the legitimate ty 1 the introduction of a serious note sufll- , ciently pronounced almost to convert farco . into tragedy. Such, evidently, is the intention of Ihe producer, and on the whole I he 'has been successful. It all happened I because of Betty Griffon's (Madgo Ken- | nedy)—a bride-to-be—over-fondnese for a . spoilt and eccentric brother. Party .because of an accident, partly because of ' hie dieliko to his prospective brother-in- I law, the brother fails to arrive to "givo ! the bride away." Hcsult-the bride he- | lioves she is not really married, and this , leads to a series of amazins situations, ' which include an action for divorce, an ' elopement, a second and still ; a third and final ceremony, before the bride is convinced that eho is "really mar- ] ried." Absurd as it all may sound, never- ,

theless "Nearly Married" survives the test as to a picture's merit—the capacity to entertain and, better still, to amusK. On the, same programme is a presentation of O. Henry's little masterpiece, "Tho Gift of the Magi." Ii 'is a question whether, O. Henry's inimitable storiee can ever bo quit* successfully interpreted on tho screen, but in the film under notice Jim Young (who. sold The Watch to buy his Delia The Combs, while the same Delia ■« as selling her glorious hair to buy her Jim , a watch-guard) ie excellently portrayed. EVERYBODY'S THEATRE. A drama of the daye of the gold fevor in tho Far West of North America is th.o feature of the new bill at Everybody's Theatre for the week. Tho film, which has been mado by the Triangle peo.ple, depoude foremoßt for its success on the actiuff of the pretty and charming Alma Rubens, who plays tho leadin? role. "Firefly of Tough Luck," the darling of the mining camp, and principal dancer in the cabaret, who married a worthless ecamp,. by whom she -was robbed and deserted. She camo to the mining town and became interested in the bicgesfc of tho ventures thero. But just then the luck -was not good; the yoin "petered out." and the village emptied. Presently tho vein was picked up again, and tho town once more became a busy place, with lots of dusband grog and faro. he oabaret :yas full always, and the mino was paying dividends. One of the other shareholders in the rich vein asked Firefly to marry him when things wore about, at their best, but just then the wretched husband arrived. He was the scorn of every decent man in the camp, and ,poor Firolly had a snd time while tho young mnn passed all her money over the faro tables. Her friends in the mino, in order to protect her from this continuous and hopeless robbery, told her than the vein had "petered out" asain. Tho direct rosult of thie -was that thero was a little matter of a gold robbery, anfl the husband was given a very short time in -which to get out of the town. To the oonsternation of her friends. Fireily perBisted in going with the fellow, .saying that her place was by his side, and the unhappy pair went out on the long trail over the desert. Again the husband robbed aiid abandoned the woman, tired to exhaustion, and heart-broken. Finally fate takos a hand, and between a Winchester and a rattlesnake Firefly gets her "divoTce." Ohief among the other in tho programme was the twelfth episode of the serial, "The Mystery of the DouMe Cross," a most intricate and sensational drama. EMPRESS THEATRE. A photo-drama based on a powerful novel by the popular authorr Mr. 11. W. Chambers, entitled "The Woman Between Friends," is at present being produced at the Empress Thentre. The film 'is a Greater Vitagraph production, featuring Mies Alice Joyco and Mr. Marc MacDermott, two popular kinematograph players. The story deals with the tragedy of a bad woman and the love of a good one— "once to every man comes a great pure lovo" is tht basic idea, of the whole theme. Tho picture is splendidly produced, and j tho acting is very tine. The photography is admirable, and undoubtedly enhances tho film, and the scenes, which are at once stirring and pathetic, cannot fail to make a strong appeal to the imagination. A life partnership between two friends is unhappily severed through one ol them running away with the other's wife, and the climax, whero the guilty one attempts to take his own life in accordance with an agreemont he made with hi? erstwJiilo companion, after his iaso treachery has been laid bare, is dramutio | in tho extreme. The remaining items of j the programme are all of a high order of j merit, particu'arly an educational flm showing a collection of various types of wild horsee and zebras in the New York 7,00. The programme will be repeated today. "JOAN THE WOMAN." The unconquerable spirit of France is j the great theme of the picture "Joan tnc Woman." which opens a season at the Crown Theatre, Moleaworth Street, next Friday evening. For this performance the ' ] trrosii proceeds go to the Red Cross Copper , Trail, for the film, the theatre, and tho | whole Btuff arc given free to help thn ; trail In make a good bound forward. All tho host eeats in the theatre are bciuß rcrerveii, and although the chargo of fiva , shillings is higher than-- lisunlly paid for feats at picture shows, the workers for the trail who aaw a preliminary display of tho film are quite satisfied that l,here is excellent value for the money. No ordiuary stage production could present on such a lavish scale, either in the way of pageantry or brilliance of cast, thie magnificent 'historical story.