ENTERTAINMENTS

Southland Times, Issue 20082, 20 January 1927, Page 10

ENTERTAINMENTS

CIVIC PICTURES. NORMA TALMADGE, RONALD COLMAN, AILEEN PRINGLE AND CHESTER CONKLIN. It was with pleasurable anticipations that Invercargill picture-goers awaited the screening of Nonna Talmadge’s latest “Kiki” and last night every anticipation was realised to the fullest extent, for “Kiki” is delightful. This picture shows Norma Talmadge in her first comedy role. On seeing “Kiki” one’s first impression is of a cameo of extreme beauty, both a material and an emotional beauty, for the story is a gay and gallant battle against an unkind fate, a battle that is waged by little Kiki with no weapons but the lash of her tongue and her wheedling ways. There is really no farce about the comedy of this picture, for in farce the element of sadness is never allowed to enter, and in “Kiki” there is just a note of sadness amidst all the pure spontaneity of its mirth. Kiki steads one’s sympathy with a cunning hand, evoking laughter at the same time, and to be capable of stirring such varied emotions there must be in the picture a touch of genius, and this production has certainly been conceived by a master brain. It has required a vast amount of experience and experiment to evolve such a character as Kiki. To appeal wholeheartedly to the public tastes, she has to be a composite blending of laughter and tears, of reserve and unconvention, an enticing little creature who would capture tha heart with her first flashing smile and her first “bon mot.” Norma Talmadge brings her to the screen in all her April moods. Whether trailing disconsolately the Paris streets, or selling her papers with witty cries, or delighting the Parisian public on the coveted stage, she is an irresistible imp of mischief, hiding an aching heart and a despairing soul behind her mask of bravado. That is where the genius of “Kiki” appears. It is life, because life is a comedy-tragedy that it is best to laugh at. “Kiki” is presented on a lavish scale. Georgeous sets representing the saloons, the opera, the boulevards of Paris lend interest and reality to the picture, and the frocking of the principals is all in the most approved and chic French style. A cast of popular players support Mi&s Talmadge, Ronald Colman playing as her leading man with his customry polish and reserve. George K. Arthur, Marc McDermott and Gertrude Astor have important roles. .And the highly successful comedy-drama is “The Wilderness Woman.” Comedy-dramas, the usual ones, invariably have every attribute save sensationlism but “The Wilderness Woman” possesses this quality in its literal conception. Humour and melodrama, adventure, both in the Alaskan goldfields and in polite society, a hint of pathos to balance the artistic structure, all go to form its pictorial make-up. The story epitomises, in faintly satirical vein, the claim “the female of the species is more deadly than the male” not, as most stories do, from its purely emotional angle, but it applies the old adage literally hence the comedy of the piece. There are many phases of the feminine composition which may exploit this proverb, but only one which can provide comedy, and “The Wilderness Woman,” with delightful disergard for theatrical convention and the ethics of the scenario, proceeds to coin, as it were, a wholly original and pleasing type of dramatic comedy. The compelling personality of Aileen Pringle, who plays the title role, a personality of almost mystic allure, is strikingly adaptable to the role she portrays. Chester Conklin is responsible for much of the comedy and Lowell Sherman heads an excellent cast. This programme is one of the not-to-be-miss-ed ones. ALBION TO-NIGHT. ENTERTAINMENT DE LUXE. “TOWER OF LIES” AND “MONTE CARLO.” “The Tower of Lies” a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production, directed by Victor Seastrom, will doubtlessly be ranked as one of the outstanding six productions of the year. This picture opened last night at the Albion Theatre, and received the acclaim that audiences elsewhere have been giving to it. Without doubt the popularity of Norma Shearer and Lon Chaney, co-stars, add to the attraction of the production, but Seastrom’s directorial genius has given the picture a touch of appeal that cannot go unheeded. We had thought that Seastrom had reached the pinnacle in “He Who Gets Slapped,” in which Miss Shearer and Chaney also appeared, but this picture could never attain the heights reached by “The Tower of Lies.” The picture is a screen adaptation of Selma Lagerlof’s popular novel, “The Emperor of Portugallia.” The continuity was prepared by Agnes Christine Johnson, who has certainly got everything out of the original story for her screen version. At no time in the careers of Lon Chaney or Norma Shearer hag either of these two stars been given such a wonderful screen vehicle. Miss Shearer has far outdone any of her former successes and Chaney has made a very radical departure from his usual characterisations with highly gratifying results. The two are supported by a remarkable cast, which includes lan Keith, Claire McDowell, William Haines, Edward Connelly, David Torrence and Anna Schaefer. As a sequence of “Monte Carlo,” the Metro-Gold-wyn-Mayer picture also screened at the Albion for the first time last night, director Christy Cabanne staged a fashion pageant and style show surpassing in magnificence and splendour anything of this nature ever before attempted on the screen. The evolution of milady’s dress, from the figleaf of Eve down to the present day, is depicted by exquisite creations filmed in technicoL our, with the most beautifully-formed girls in the motion picture colony acting as models. Lew Cody and Gertrude Olmsted are cast in the leading roles, and are supported by Zasu Pitts, Roy D’Arcy, Harry Myers, Karl Dane and Trixie Friganza. The comedy, also, was one that made one’s sides ache with laughing—completing a perfect entertainment.