ENTERTAINMENTS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 210, 11 March 1912, Page 4

ENTERTAINMENTS

BARTON'S CIRCUS. ' The Palmerston Times says of Bar- 1 ton's Circus, which will be in New Plymouth on Wednesday:—The confidence was well merited. The stars of the company are Mounier and Franz, weight lifters, strong men and jiu-jitsu exponents. After various weight-lifting and balancing, culminating in Mounier raising a 260 lb bar above his head single handed, Mounier and Frang performed their thrilling "bridge of death" act. Two planks were laid on the ground at one end,,the other end resting on their backs, eyer which a' .40-h.p. Overland motorcat, containing six, persons, was drivea by Mr. N. Porter. * It was a tremendous feat of strength and endurance, which brought down the house. In the second part of the programme Mounier and A Franz gave a demonstration of various p jiu-jitsu grips, and a very willing andi. keenly contested three-bout jiu-jitsu wrestling go, Mounier winning two out l of three. "Silver Queen," the Hungarian pony, trained by Mr. John Ty.bell, | seemed able to do anything but j talk, t s politely bowing to the audience on re- ! tiring, and little Tom, the mjniatura j trick pony, also displayed a vast amount of horse sense. Tartan, the greyhound, jumped some 13 feet. Tybell and Pedro gave a splendid exhibition on the tent top horizontal. There was also juggling and tight rope walking, three-horse riding and driving, Master Lindsay; the hoy contortionist, the Alton trio of acrobats, the Musical Travares and the monk&y steeplechase. Tlie programme concluded with the "local steeplechase," six hur-; dies being jumped within sight of the audience. The whole performance went [ with a snap from start to finish. The ■ clown and dummy were distinctly good, and the band, unlike circus bands, is really musical. Popular prices will be . charged (2s and 3s); children half-price.. |

EMPIRE PICTURES.' ... 1(

After witnessing last week's performance of the Empire Picture Palace one would think it impossible to produce anything better in the way of pictures, but the unexpected often happens. Saturday night's films at the Empire! [ eclipsed all other previous exhibitions given in New Plymouth. This new serieß is a most attractive one and includes all ranges of subjects, frojn farcial comedy " to deep tragedy, and from beautiful scenic effects to ludicrous eccentricities at the hands- of the cinematographer. A truty beautiful film is one entitled "Winter in Finland." This picture is, rich ' in scenic loveliness and takes the spec- r | tator on a delightfully pleasant journej over bridges, through tunnels, through _ the forests of majestic pines waving their silver-backed leaves in the gentle , breeze, up through the groves of stunted firs, striving for a footing on the snowclad heights, and so almost to • the regions of eternal snow, affording a beautiful panorama of a real fairyland. It is a picture to be remembered. Another scenic film of interest is "Over . Mountain and Valley," in which one is / afforded realistic glimpses and panoramic views of crags, glens, streams, tree ferp, > waterfalls, and romantic spots, awe- \ inspiring scenery meeting the eye at every turn. Films depicting the scenery * of far away lands are always fascinating and bring foreign travel to our very door. All people, however, do not find their chief interest in this class of subject, and for such as have the romantic bias there are several dramas of sterling merit. A to«ching and unique story from the pen of Richard Harding Davis, and depicted by the Edison actors, is contained in "The Disreputable Mr. Reagen," a drama of sensational • action, wherein the villian is worsted and merit i eventually claims its own. Other gopfy dramas are "Courage of Sorts" (Vita-" graph), "The Outlaw Samaritan" (Es-l sanay, Wild West story), and "On Pan* is ther Creek" .(Lubin). The comic films contain a rich vein of humor, some of it latent, and much of it obvious, but the audience was evidently there to be amused, and it was. "Stolen Skates" contained a regular hurricane of hilarity; and "Trailing the Counterfeiters" and "The Widow's Visit to Spprigtown," are comedies from the studios of the 4-B. Co. and the Vitagraph Co. respectively. -- This splendid programme will be repeated to-night and to-morrow night. The usual bi-weekly change will be made OB; Wednesday.

ROYAL PICTURES. i

AT THE EAST END BEACH. 1 An excellent collection of pictures has been secured by the Royal Pictures and Orchestra to be shown at the East End i Bathing Reserve to-night. The pro-'i gramme includes scenic, _ dramatic, aero-i batic, historical and comic studies. Given j. fine weather, the East End Bathing Re- • Serve Committee may safely look for- ( ward to a vtry large attendance of th» I public, as thjs season they have. been i very unfortunate owing to the unsettled weather. Should the weather liot permit, this programme will be screened in the Theatre Royal to-morrow. ' ;,.1