PRINCE EDWARD

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 293, 2 March 1928, Page 14

PRINCE EDWARD

NIGHT OF VARIETY

Children are generally attractive oo the stage because they are possessed 3i naturalness which “grown-ups" lose in the growing up process. It i* this pleasant lack of affectation whicfc makes the work of the Royal Australian Sunbeams so attractive. Last evening they delighted a large audience at the Prince Edward Theatre where, in addition, an excellent picture programme was shown. The Sunbeams, a fair-sized company of clever youngsters, held the stag* for an hour, and in that time they showed that brightness and taler were not qualities lacked by them. They put on a show which mar roughly be classed as revue, for it contained all the elements of good s * n^in &» dancing and comedv. The introductory theme, so to speak was the wedding of Baby Doreen, and what followed was the wedding entertainment. The ballet and solo dancing throughout was excellent, and tiw chorus singing was satisfactory. The vocalists were little people of talent, and songs, comic and sentimental, were sung with understanding. Jackie Clarke, clever and precocious, did good work. The more ambitious ballets were admirably staged, and particular mention must be made of the whirlwind acrobatic ballet. The principal picture was a mystery drama, “The Thirteenth Hour* in which Lionel Barrymore was starred. Certainly among the greatest of its kind, this film held and intrigued the whole time. The scene is laid in an American city plagued by a series of brutal murders all committed at the thirteenth hour. A young detective and Napoleon, his dog, decide to solve the mystery, and one night they came very r ear doing so. However, the next fateful case takes them to the home of Professor L« Roy, who had offered a reward for the capture of the criminal. In the house a series of unpleasant things happen, and later the detective’s suspicions are fully aroused. Le Roy .and the murdered are one person, and the great chase begins. The house is honeycombed with secret passages and disconcerting devices for entrapping intruders. It is a night of agony in which the resource of one man is pitted against that of another. Finally, it is the dog who ends the murderer’s career, after a dramatic struggle on the roof of the house. There is a strong supporting programme which includes a comedy and a New Zealand scenic.