EMPIRE PICTURES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 177, 25 January 1912, Page 8

EMPIRE PICTURES.

GRAND NEW PROGRAMME. That picture entertainments have come to stay there can be no gainsaying. Their popularity is attested! by the manner in which theatres in all the chief centres are thronged night after night with crowds of people eager to witness the latest examples of the cinemato.grahpic art. And it is easy to understand why this is so, for there is a very large section of our population unable through stress of circumstance to travel to any extent, and yet who through the aid of the revolving photographic camera find it possible to gain an acquaintance with the most charming scenes all the world over, and to be, .brought closer into touch with the lives and customs of many nai tions. Those who love drama are, by many carefully executed playettes and' representations of the best productions put upon the London, American and Continental stages, amply catered for; others who like mystification are carried into realms undreamt of by Jules Verne j or the most famous" prestidigitators,! whilst the never failing demand for comedy is met by clever and striking (Creations of the picture artists, who are continually developing fresh fields of humour with their marvellous pictorial machine. The manufacturing of films has become a gigantic industry in England, America, the Continent, Australia, and; even New Zealand, and theatre managers have now vast supplies of pictures to select from. It is only by experience that they are able to gauge the class of film most desired by the public, and it is gratifying to find that, responsive to the public taste, there is a tendancy to .build up the quality of tlie entertainments, making them more educational and more reflective of the love of the beautiful.

1 In New Plymouth the project of runJ ning pictures on every evening has been attended - with such gratifying results that the management of the Empire Pictures has been emboldened to undertake a big expenditure in installing a permanent plant of the most up-to-date type, and in making arrangements for the supply of Alms of the highest class obtainable. Last night's new programme at the Empire Theatre saw the initiation of a new service of film, and it was a distinctly higher standard than that which has been presented in the past. The subjects were exceptionally well chosen. On the scenic side, the audience were taken for a tour through Japan during New Year festivities; they were taken to Switzerland and given an insight into the magnificent scenery of Lucerne, and subsequently a visit was paid to Egypt, and the customs of the wondrous country fully explained. BtfC perhaps the strongest set of films were the dramas. The famous Edison Studios were responsible for two of the most powerful series yet shown in New Plymouthy namely, '"The Doomed Ship" and "Captain Nell," the latter showing in a forcible manner the splendid work done by the _ Salvation Army, "A Wife's Awakening" was a splendid Lubin society drama, an(J "The Little Soldiers of '64," a Kalem production of merit. Several laughable comedy films were also included, and a Vitagraph creation, entitled "The Welcome of the Unwelcome," brought a hilarious termination to what was certainly one of the best pictorial entertainments yet provided' in New Plymouth. The projection of the pictures, it should be mentioned, has distinctly improved, and also the incidental music. The same programme will be repeated again to-night and .to-mofrow; night.