NEW REGENT

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 293, 2 March 1928, Page 15

NEW REGENT

RICHARD DIX IN “SHANGHAI BOUND” Another very powerful and varied programme commences at the New Regent to-day, and should draw crowded houses throughout the week. The chief pictorial attraction will be “Shanghai Bound,” starring Richard Dix. Dix has the role of Jim Bucklin, captain of a Yangtse boat. Up the river from Shanghai, he finds a party of American tourists, who are unaware that food-riots and bloodshed are about to break out. How he takes them on his ship, impresses them as substitutes for a deserted crew, and falls in love with the girl in a dangerous trip through the river pirates’ sampans, furnishes the skeleton of the story. It is ideal material for two-fisted Dix, and he gives a great performance. This feature will be preceded each ’evening and at a matinee to-morrow by an elaborately staged prologue. “The Derelict’s Dream” in an original phantasy in three acts. A strong cast includes Dorothy Woolley, Australia’s most beautiful model, as the king’s favourite dancer; George Welch, leading comedian from J. C. Williamson’s, who plays the dual role of “a derelict” and “King Ko-Kane”; Arthur Lord, as a Chinese drug trafficker; Charles Prendergast as a policeman, and Miss Cecil Hall’s prize ballet. Opening in a street in Soho, London, one sees a derelict buy some drug from the Chinaman. In his dream he wanders away to a woodland glade, where dancing nymphs transform him into a king and lead him to the jewel chamber of his royal palace. Elaborately staged, with delightful dancing, and an interesting plot, this prologue is typical of the excellent stage productions put on by the New Regent. A strong supporting pictorial programme includes another of that interesting “Haunted Houses of England” series. The story of “The Mistletoe Bough,” though sad, is one of those pretty and effective old English tales that tug at the very heart-strings. A short scenic shows the beauty of the foreshore and surroundings of Portland, the oldest settlement in Victoria; then there is an eccentric “Inkwell Imps” cartoon, and an interesting budget of world events which includes some excellent shots of the French tennis players, some beautiful river scenes in Bangor, and some interesting Australian news. Another Bill Dooley comedy, “The Mooney Mariner,” one of the biggest shrieks of laughter ever seen on the screen, completes the strong pictorial items. Leslie Harvey, at the Wurlitzer, will, plav Schubert’s “Serenade” and “Hello, Aloha,” while the Regent Operatic Orchestra will by special request render “Light Cavalry,” and a carefully chosen musical programme under the baton of Maurice Guttridge. Film enthusiasts will welcome the news that Douglas Fairbanks’s new picture is to be screened in Auckland some time during the next few months. “Douglas Fairbanks as the Gaucho” is a picture of Gauchos, pilgrims, banditry and conquest, and is heralded as a romance of unusual force and spectacular appeal. The scenes are laid on the South American border in the pampas countries. Picturesque riders and vast herds appear, and there' is a whirl of fierce conflict. The capture of the rich shrine city under the nose of the dictator of the country, begins the story proper, following a spectacular prologue. In the cast are Lupe Velez, as a wild, mountain girl. Eve Southern, as “the girl of the miracle.” Gustav von Seyffertitz. Michael Vavitch, Charles Stevens. Nigel de Brulier,, A 1 MacQuarrie, Fred de Silva and Carlotta Monti.