TIVOLI

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 392, 28 June 1928, Page 16

TIVOLI

“CHINATOWN CHARLIE” Johnny Hines's latest First National Picture, “Chinatown Charlie,” which has been declared by New York and Hollywood critics to be the comedian’s biggest and funniest production to date, has been secured for the Tivoli Theatre and will be shown this evening. “Chinatown Charlie” is a screen adaptation of the famous old melo-comic extravaganza from the pen of the prolific playwright, Owen Davis, and it scored a great success on the speaking stage at the time “McFadden’s Flats” was on the boards. The film adaptation of the picture has been treated in a highly humorous manner, burlesquing New York’s underworld, and at the same time retaining the thrills of the original play. The producer secured a large cast of comedians to surround his star in the production, with Louise Lorraine playing the leading feminine role. An added feature is the appearance of the famous Mazzetti Troupe of acrobats who take part in the Chinese cabaret scenes, and also furnish a sensational thrill by forming a human bridge from one second storey window to another across a Chinatown street. Louise Lorraine and the comedian effect their escape from a Chinatown den on this human bridge. The action begins in New York’s Times Square, where Johnny Hines is a guide on a sight-seeing bus taking a party through Chinatown. It is when he reaches the Chinese quarters that sequences of a thrilling nature begin to happen. The second feature will be “The Circus Show,” starring Hoot Gibson in a fast-moving story of circus life out in the West. Gibson is supported by an excellent cast, including Dorothy Gulliver, Allan Forrest, Monte Montague, Gale Henry, and the celebrated circus performers, the Three Degarros, while Del Andrews is to be complimented for his masterly services. As the Princess Theatre is closed today for alterations the two pictures will be shown only at the Tivoli Theatre.