AMUSEMENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 204, 7 December 1910, Page 6

AMUSEMENTS.

JOHNSON-JEFFRIES FIGHT PICTURES. The Times of November 18 says:— The crowded state of the Opera House last evening indicated the extraordinary interest which has been aroused in the moving pictures of the Johnson-Jeffries prize fight for the championship of the world. No other moying picture has been brought so much under" the notice of the civilised world as this filmbanned in various parts of the United States for fear of racial trouble, and the object of hostile agitation by sections of the community in other countries. The opportunity of witnessing the first screening of this film in Australasia was reserved for a Wellington audience last night, under direction of Messrs. MacMahon Bros. Amongst the' audience was a fair sprinkling of ladies, and although the contest was a desperate encounter between two men of unusual physique, with a huge sum at stake, at no time did it present a repug- , nant spectacle. From a photographic I standpoint the .picture is incomparably [ in advance of any previously shown. The '■' definition" is distinct, and at all times the picture is vivid, while the lighting also contributed to the success of the reproduction. The latter part of the first half of the programme is devoted to the incidental training, and introductory scenes at Reno, Nevada, before the great fight. The social life of Jeffries is unveiled, and'he is seen playing cards with his friends, with Mrs. Jeffries and others looking on. "Jeff" is also snapped playing with his .pet fox terrier, and is taken at the finish of a training sprint. Mr. Roosevelt also smiles blandly at the camera from the centre of a graining ring. Various notorieties of the ring are "inveigled" into the range of the camera. John L. Sullivan, the hero of bygone days, indulges in an indifferent display of ball punching to the amusement of the onlookers. The box plan opens at Colliers' at 9 o'clock to-morrow morning.