PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 19783, 6 February 1928, Page 1

PICTURE THEATRES

QUEEN'S AND KING EDWARD Lon Chaney, who plays the starring role in ' Metro-Goldwyn-Maycr’s new mystery play, ‘The Unknown,’ now showing at the Queen’s and King Edward Theatres, is. perhaps the main outstanding male figure on the screen horizon to-day, and famous as one of the screen’s greatest box office attractions. Born in Colorado Springs, Colo., Chancy started his career as a stage hand, then a dancer and comedian in musical comedy. He first went on the screen as a comedian and Western rider, and scored fame with his role of ‘The Frog’ in ‘The Miracle Man.’ Among his recent successes are ‘ Tell It To the Marines,’ ‘Mr Wu,’ ‘ The Road to Mandalay,’ ‘The Unholy Three,’ ‘He Who Gets Slapped,’ ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame,’ and others. ‘ The City,’ a powerful drama ol human destinies and desires, adapted for Fox Films from the melodrama by Clyde Fitch, is the second_ feature. 'Walter M'Grail is seen at his best in the role made famous by Tully Marshall. Robert Frazer plays the part of the young attorney, whose ambitions take* him to the citv, but who is not able to cope with the conditions that surround him there., Nancy Nash, a new .find of Fox Films, plays the ingenue lead, May Allison has an.important role, and Richard "Walling is cast as the boy in the picture. EVERYBODY’S One of the’most dramatic romances seen on the screen in many months has been woven into the ‘ Convoy,’ a picture of the navy at war, now occupying pride of place at Everybody’s Theatre. A tremendous spectacle of the sea, a ‘ war picture that has caught the spirit of sacrifice and courage and tragedy ■ along with the adventuresome romance, ‘ Convoy ’ well merits the enthusiastic endorsements it has received from army and navy chiefs in Washington and civilian critics everywhere. In ‘ Convoy ’ an attempt was made to set down in dramatic form--an accurate history of the navy’s part' in ‘ the ' World War, through which is woven the story of a girl’s sacrifice in bringing about the apprehension of the head of the German Secret Service in the United States. Dorothy Mackaill, Lowell Sherman, Lawrence Gray, Buster Collier, lan Keith, and Jack Ackroyd arc featured with’ an impressive cast. Included on the same programme is ‘The Lawful Cheater,’ a rapid-fire action romance which gives full scope to the dynamic personality of Clara Bow. ‘The Lawful Cheater’ is a picture with punch and action, an excellent cast, and "well directed. PLAZA AND GRAND < Tainted Ponies,’ a Universal-Jewel starring Hoot Gibson, which is the chief attraction at the Plaza and Grand Theatres, provides another important leading role for the pretty and vivacious Ethlyne Clair. She has an especially sympathetic part to play in the character of a girl who runs a merry-go-round in a rodeo town. The carved wooden steeds of the carousel give the story of its name, ‘Painted Ponies.’ The picture was directed by Reaves Eason from the story by John H. Hamlin. The cast includes “Slim” Summerville. William Dunn, and others. ‘ Sunshine of Paradise Alley,’ a production of Denman Thompson’s famous play, is the supporting picture, and is a comedy of merit. Set in the most interesting of locales, New York’s East Side, it is a'swiftly moving story of the life problems of the alien peoples who are huddled together in the slums.