Round The Shows

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 487, 17 October 1928, Page 18

Round The Shows

TUDOR, REMUERA “THE FIFTY-FIFTY GIRL” The popular screen actress, Bebe Daniels, is seen at her best in the comedy-drama, “The Fifty - Fifty Girl,” now being shown at the Tudor Theatre, Remuera. The theme of “The Fifty-Fifty Girl” is the tale of a modern young woman whose ideas on marriage are a bit out of the ordinary, and who changes her mind considerably when she comes up against the ideas of her leading man, in this case James Hall. The story is set in an old goldmining town in California, and in the abandoned tunnels of the mine. “The Wizard,” a fascinating and exciting mystery story starring Edmund Lowe, will be the second feature. “A record for this town” is the dominant note being sounded in nearly every telegram being received by Australasian Films offices, both in Brisbane and Sydney. Nearly every exhibitor in the north is reporting phenomenal business as a result of screening this Union Master Production. “The Adorable Outcast” is to be released shortly in New Zealand.

PRINCE EDWARD “FOOLS FOR LUCK” “The Gateway of the Moon,” a colourful drama of the South American jungle, with Dolores Del Rio in the leading role, will be shown again this evening at the Prince Edward Theatre. Miss Del Rio, who achieved wide world fame with her characterisation of Charmaine in “What Price Glory,” again scores a triumph in the part of Toni, a half-caste girl in the wilds. Perhaps no star in motion pictures has both the alluring beauty and emotional capacity for portraying the role of such a primitive child of Nature as this same Miss Del Rio. “Fools for Luck,” starring W. C. Fields and Chester Conklin, is the second attraction. Miss Estelle Brody, remembered for her excellent work in “Madamoiselle from Armentierres,” will be seen shortly in Cinema Art Films’ release “Hindle Wakes,” a story of Lancashire life actually produced round about Bradford, Leeds, and the famous English seaside resort, Blackpool. Norman McKinnell, who plays the “heavy” with excellent finesse, will be remembered for his excellent work during the Irene Vanbrugh and Dion Boucicault visits to this country.

PLAZA AND TIVOLI NEW PROGRAMME TO-MORROW The big picture, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” which has had a wonderfully successful run in Auckland, will be shown at the Plaza and Tivoli Theatres for the last time this evening. The entirely new programme to be presented to-morrow will be headed by “Three Ring Marriage,” featuring Mary Astor and Lloyd Hughes. This is a genuine circus story, wdth the flavour of the sawdust ring, red lemonade, clowns, bareback riders and wild animals. It is a genuine circus story for most of the cast is made up of circus performers, and a real circus was staged intact, from opening to hippodrome races. “Three Ring Marriage” is the picturisation of Dixie Willson’s gay romance of the circus. “Help Yourself t.o Hay.” It was directed by that master of comedy touches, Marshall Neilan, and it gives both Miss Astor and Hughes ideal opportunities for their talents in the roles of circus riders. There are giants and midgets, clowns and prancing horses, blaring bands and flying trapeze artists as the background for this interesting story. Miss Astor portrays the daughter of a rich ranch owner who falls in love with a cowboy. Hughes, the cowpuncher, is fired from his job because of it. and joins a circus. Miss Astor follows him, also becoming a circus rider, and the experiences which develop while the circus is on the road make a fascinating story that holds attention from start to finish. The second attraction to-morrow will be “The Shield of Honour.” an epic tale of the American police and their fight against a girl who was the leader of a bandit gang. Neil Hamilton, Ralph Lewis and Dorothy Gulliver have the featured roles. “SIR LUMBERJACK” AT EMPIRE Many things not included in the curriculum of a rich man’s son may happen to a wealthy young wastrel who suddenly finds himself dropped, in tramp’s clothing, into the middle of one of his father’s logging camps. The efforts of Lefty Flynn to establish his identity, and the thrills which follow the first* actual “work” he had ever done in his life, keep “Sir Lumberjack,” now at the Empire Theatre, moving at top speed. Laura La Plante is the beautiful star of “Finders Keepers,” which is the second feature. While the search for Ravenal and Magnolia goes on, the production department at Universal City is trying to secure from some actors’ library or antique shop scripts of “The Minister’s Bride” and “Tempest and Sunshine,” which have been actually in use. They are to serve as properties in the back-stage scene of “Show Boat.”

LYRIC NEW PROGRAMME TO-MORROW The story of the Battle of Jutland. “When Fleet Meets Fleet,” will be shown at the Lyric Theatre for the last time this evening. The final screening will also be given of the picture, “Partners in Crime,” starring Wallace Beery and Ramond Hatton. Commencing to-morrow, “The Girl From Chicago,” starring Myrna Loy and Conrad Nagel, will be shown. This picture tells of the spectacular career of a -Southern girl, whe comes to the great city to free her brother from the clutch of an underworld gang who have been the cause of his sentence of death. Thrilling and absorbing, but with the admixture of humour and human kindness without which any play is untrue, “The Girl from Chicago” is a tremendous drama. It is not a picture of evil for evil’s sake, but of love battling against the forces of evil, to win all that makes life worth while. The “Girl from Chicago” won not only her brother’s freedom, but the love of the man she believed to be a leader among the crooks. , 5 i( * ers of the Dark,” starring Tim McCoy, will be the second feature. The story centres around the evil activities of a gang of law-breakers in a small border town in the 80’s, more particularly with the fate that overtook the local newspaper owner, a fearless old man who bitterly attacked the gang—and his pretty young daughby Dorothy Dwan), who, with the aid of a cavalry officer, firing J and find a romance of their own.

EVERYBODY’S “UNCLE TOM’S CABIN” “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” the screen masterpiece of this well-known story, has been so warmly welcomed by Aucklanders that it will be screened for a second week at the Everybody’s Theatre. Neither time nor expense has been spared in an endeavour to make this film a perfect picturisation of the novel. The entire company visited the actual scene of the famous novel, filming sequences in the very surroundings immortalised by Mrs. Stowe. The “Kate Adams,” a noted Mississippi sidewheeler, was chartered for nine weeks, two weeks being spent by technicians in its metamorphosis into the “La Belle Riviere” of the book. The most pretentious sets ever erected were constructed at Universal City, exact replicas of actual homes in the South being made for the Shelby, St. Clare and Legree plantations, as well as the many other interesting and unusual settings. The poignant love story of Eliza and George permeates the massive production, a beautiful contrast to the epic sweep of the powerful story. CLICK CLACK CABARET Dancing will be enjoyed at the Click Clack Cabaret this evening from 8 o’clock to midnight. A grand Labour Day ball, with special cabaret items arranged by Madame Edith Baird, will be held at the Click Clack next Monday evening.

HIPPODROME AND EMPRESS “THE COWBOY KID” TO-NIGHT Radio and a mysterious Hindu play prominent parts in “The Cowboy Kid,” Fox Films’ production, starring Bert Bell, commencing at the Hippodrome and Empress Theatres this evening. The story deals with an ambitious young cowpuncher, who yearns for better things. A haunting melody sung by an unknown entertainer over the radio is responsible for a dramatic change in the boy’s life. The action grows apace when Jim. the boy, saves a money shipment for a local bank. The banker is grateful and gives him the chance he is looking for. A thrilling chase in an automobile up a precipitous mountain side almost ends in disaster when the machine gets out of control and backs madly down the mountain road. The scene is very effective, and is one of the many smashing episodes in the production There is a predominating sense of uncanny mystery throughout the spectacular and effective screen version of Arnold Ridley’s play, entitled “The Ghost Train** which is the second attraction this evening. The director, who has kept all the humour and thrills of the play, has succeeded in making one’s flesh creep even more so than it did when the stage, success was witnessed. FINE PICTURE AT GRAND A squad of police, armed with machine guns, routing a band of gangsters in a desperate street battle, shooting down doors to capture their quarry, and sweeping a street with bullets, is one of the scenes of “Diamond Handcuffs,” the vivid drama of love, diamonds and the underworld, now playing at the Grand Theatre. This new picture is a vivid drama of society and the underworld, the central theme being the adventures of a great diamond, from its discovery and theft in the African diamond mines through intrigue, tragedy and theft into the underworld, and through a sensational underworld war. An enjoyable “Our Gang” comedy heads the supporting programme. “Ramona,” the beautiful photo-play, starring Dolores Del Rio, which has recently completed such a successful season at the Strand Theatre, will be shown at the Grand evening. __ The complete male cast has now been decided upon for the British International Picture “Widdicombe Fair,” which Captain Norman Walker will personally direct. In addition to the well known artist William Standing, George Gee, the famous J. C. Williamson comedian, will play one of the principal parts. It is claimed that “Widdicombe Fair” will be a' real English picture in respect of story, scenery, cast and every type cf workman employed upon it. Many of the locations are in Devonshire. Cinema Art Films Will release this picture during 1929.

QUEER COINCIDENCE FILMED ON SITE OF ATLANTIS While on location during the production of the U.F.A. picture de luxe, “Secrets of the Orient,” director Alexander Wolkoff made a discovery near the village of Gabis, in Tunis, which was as unexpected as it was sensational. While excavating a trench, his men found a great nnmber of arrow-heads and fragments of artistical vases from a long forgotten period. Three days later Dr. Paul Borchardt. of the University of Munich, a recognised authority, arrived on the scene and, after a careful study of the fragments for several days, came to the conclusion that, some three thousand years ago, the mysterious city of Atlantis, with its famous Temple of Poseidon, had been standing on exactly the spot where Wolkoff made his exterior shots. It is a queer coincidence that Atlantis, known to the Arabs as the “copper city” of “Thousand and One Nights,” is also an important factor in the new U.F.A. production, since it is the dream of the cobbler Ali, the hero of the picture, to reach this mysterious city with its untold riches. “DANCING VIENNA” AT CAPITOL Drama, action and adventure all mark the big picture “Somebody’s Son,” to be shown again this evening at the Capitol Theatre. Eddie Burns, well known in Australia and America, and Pauline Garon, an equally well known American player, were specially imported to Sweden to portray two of the leading roles. Mady Christians and Willy Fritsch, the famous UFA stars of the “Waltz Dream,” play equally important roles with delightful, charming, little Lillian Hall Davis, the well known English actress. “Dancing Vienna,” a story of jazz among the old feudal homes of Vienna, will also be shown. Lya Mara and Ben Lyon are the stars. Maria Casajuana, renamed Maria Alba, who won the Fox beauty contest in Spain, has her first leading role in the Fox Films production, “The Road House.” This production deals with a youth who becomes involved with a gang of thieves, and then is charged with being a murderer. Besides Miss Alba, others in the cast include Warren Burke, Lionel Barrymore, Julia Swayne Gordon, Joe Brown and Kay Bryant.

ADELPHI, GREY LYNN “CIRCUS ROOKIES” The excellent comedy, “Circus Rookies,” starring Karl Dane and George K. Arthur, will be shown at the Adelplii Theatre, Grey Lynn, this evening. The burly Dane is seen as a lion tamer, and Arthur plays the role of a small-town newspaper reporter, who subsequently joins the circus as press agent. With these two as circus hands, the fun commences. “A Race for Life,” a thrilling pj c . ture, starring Virginia Faire Brown j and Rin-Tin-Tin, is the second feature The musical programme is provided by Miss Jagga.r-Smith’s Orchestra. “PEAKS OF DESTINY” WONDERFUL ALPINE SCENERY A picture that deserves to succeed is the latest U.F.A. production, “Peaks of Destiny,” or “The Wrath of the Gods.” All along the picture seemS to break entirely new ground. It is said to have taken two years to produce, and one can well believe it. Some of the amazing shots of ski races, actually filmed during the International Carnival in the Alpine Regions, and some of the remarkable alpine climbing could only have been secured by painstaking patience. Then there is the story, a simple eternal triangle affair, but handled as a cinema film has never been handled before. To the discerning picturegoer “Peaks of Destiny” would be a thing of beauty, just as much for the artistic handling of the story as for the gorgeous photography which pervades the entire film. It will be released during the present year by Cinema Art Films. David Butler, Fox Films director, interviewed virtually every old-time football player and coach in California before beginning his shooting schedule for “Win That Girl.” This was necessary because Butler used three phases of the game in this snappy comedydrama of the gridiron—lßßo, 1907, and 1927. Butler wanted authentic data before photographing his characters and the action representing those periods. Sue Carol and David Rollins have the leads in this production.