PRINCESS AND TIVOLI

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 109, 29 July 1927, Page 14

PRINCESS AND TIVOLI

‘THE ISLAND OF DESPAIR’' j Although action is the keynote of Island of Despair,’’ now being shown at the Princess and Tivoli Theatres, pathos is also present. A strong cast is headed by the well-known actor, Matheson Lang, as the traders’ sea captain, while Marjorie Hume plays the opposite lead. The scenes move with the utmost rapidity right from the rather abrupt beginning to low-down dance halls and tropical islands, and finally back to civilisation at San Francisco. The plot is the old eternal triangle of two men and one woman, but taken in different surroundings from the usual. The acting ?s good, though not up to the standard of the other picture on the programme. but the photography and the continuity of the story are good. The story opens in one of the small islands of the Pacific, where the four main characters are together. A chance meeting of Lang, as the sea-captain, and the heroine, Christine Vereker, ripened into warm friendship under the occult influence of the tropical moon. A drunken brawl arising over a card quarrel in one of the low-down haunts of the seafaring class led to a murder, and the unjust accusation of Colin Vereker. His hurried flight from the justice of the place aboard the palatial yacht owned by Don Felipo, the villain of the story, ended in disaster through shipwreck. This scene is one of the best pieces of photography in the whole film. Thrown by chance on the same small tropical island as the hero, who believes himself to be suffering from an infectious disease, events move rapidly to the final denouement and the unmasking of the villain. The happy couple, once more reunited, fade out to the sound of marriage bells. The other film on the programme is “Dancing Days,” a story of the same old triangle but with two women and one man. It is based on the popular novel of J. J. Bell, and was directed by A. J. Kelly, a former assistant to Cecil de Mille. There is no vamp as usually portrayed in this picture, her place being taken by Lilian Rich as the jazzing young lady who upsets the domestic felicity of one happy home, almost, but not quite, permanently. With Forrest Stanley as the staid and respectable lawyer with a reputation to uphold, and Helene Chadwick as his wife, picture fans can be assured of an entertaining time. Right from the opening scene to the moment when, bruised and battered after a spectacular motor collision, the couple are finally reunited, and their differences forgotten, there is not a dull moment in the whole lllm. It was when his brother brought a young and frivolous girl into the quiet home that the trouble began. The desire for pleasures and gaiety, which is only dormant in all middle-aged folk, was awakened, and complications ensued. The butler and his wife supply the necessary comedy. The famous “Hats” McKay does the vaudeville turn this week. Attired in a dress suit and capped with a lady’s hat, he runs through a very ordinary piece of patter dealing with a man with a defective memory. His musical turns, however, are excellent and were greatly appreciated last night by a large house. Armed with a banjo, “Hats” McKay drowned the bass drum with his rendering of “Heigh Ho the Merry Oh,” “Baby Face,” and other popular tunes. His imitation of a violin on a tin whistle was very effective. He also played several items, including “Bye, Bye Blackbird,” and “Aloha Ooe" on the Hawaiian guitar. He was recalled several times.