MAJESTIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 187, 28 October 1927, Page 15

MAJESTIC

NEW LAUGHTER PROGRAMME Another popular programme has been arranged for presentation at the Majestic Theatre, commencing tonight. Sparkling comedy, variety and excellent music will be the principal features of the new programme. In accordance with the public’s declared preference for bright entertainment, the Majestic presents the great black and white comedy, “Topsy and Eva,” as the chief picture, while the popular Majestic Quartette, Messrs. Arthur Ripley, Allan McElwain, Herbert Richards and Ernest Thomas, will present a colourful musical interlude, “Cottonfield Melodies.” An excellent stage setting has been arranged and shows a realistic scene of a plantation on the Mississippi River. “Old Black Joe,” “Carry Me Back to Tennessee” and “Kentucky Home” will be presented by the “Popular Four” in their own inimitable way. Racing across huge snowdrifts with Simon Legree and the bloodhounds in pursuit would naturally be thought of as a situation both harrowing and exciting, but as it will be presented on the screen at the Majestic Theatre in the Duncan film, “Topsy and Eva,” it becomes uproariously funny. “Topsy,” played by Rosetta Duncan, finally eludes the snarling Legree and his dogs, only to run full smack into a graveyard with hoot owls and live spooks. The snow scenes for this film version of the musical comedy, made famous by the Duncan Sisters through four years of success in the United States and Europe, were mads at Lake Tahoe, sometimes called “the California Alps,” and at an altitude of approximately 10,000 feet. “Topsy and Eva” is the first film venture of the Duncan Sisters, who were finally persuaded by Joseph M. Schenck to picturise their successful stage vehicle for United Artists. Included in the cast are Gibson Gowland, Marjorie Daw,, Nils Asther, Myrtle Ferguson, who toured in the play with the sisters, Noble Johnson and Henry Victor. An appropriate orchestral accompaniment has been arranged by Mr. Whiteford-Waugh for his New Majestic Orchestra. Musical gems included in the incidental music rendered are “Rememb’ring” fox trot (written by Duncan Sisters for “Topsy and Eva”), “Flight of the Bumble Bee,” RimskyKorsakoff, “Kentucky Babe,” Old Folks at Home,” “Chicken Reel,” "Bama Coon,” “American Sketch,” “Down South,” “Berceuse,” Jocelyn, “Funeral March of a Marionet,” Gounod, and “In the Gloaming.” A beautiful New Zealand scenic, showing the gem of Westland, “Lake Kanieri,” is a notable feature of the supporting programme, which is full of entertainment and topical interest. The pictorial programme will be completed by the Eve’s Review, a beautiful English scenic, “Rambles Round Richmansworth,” and a screamingly funny comedy, “Suite Homes,” a jazz version of the O. Henry story. i