ENTERTAINMENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 273, 28 April 1915, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS.

JOSEPH BLASCHECK. TO-NIGHT. "A feast of humor and music" —that is how Mr. George R. Sims, the eminent ] English journalist, described Mr. Joseph Blaseheck's entertainment when he witnessed it at the Queen's Hall, London, and so aptly do these words apply that

they could be used as a sort of trade | mark for the great humorist's performances. Never have we heard in this country s* versatile an artist—a ma» who ca4...thrill us by his dramatic power and coimilso us with laughter. A man like Blascheck is surely unique. It In true that there are many fine actors who ai'j able to play both comedy and tragedy well, but it is impossible to imagine, thai any other living performer has the extraordinary range of powers that he has. It is not simply that he is able to enact both serious and comic parts, tut lie is pre-eminent in both, and he can act, sing and recite as can no other entertainer we have ever heard. Mr. Blascheck seems to have the ability, too, of finding and selecting clever artists to support him, and in Miss Alyce Austin, the charming young lady who shares the honors of the programme with him, we are presented with one of the smartest and most taking lady entertainers on the platform to-day.

UMPIRE PICTURES. Real cowboys, competing in genuine Wild West sports, figure in "California's Round-Up," the picture which heads the new series introduced at tlie Empire Theatre last night. The film is a reproduction of the sports, which thousands of spectators regularly come from all parts of California to witness. The portrayal gives a graphic idea of the dangers that beset the vigorous and virile riders of the Western Plains in the subduing of the quadruped outlaws. Feats are accomplished by these experienced horsemen to ilustrate tlie nature of their daily duties, and many. times man, horse, and wild cattle clash to tlie ground together. The whole of the sports take place in a special arena and one of the most notable features is the race between cowboys mounted on horses which are untamed and unaccustomed to num. This is a scene which realy baffles description by pen. The picture, which is 2500 feet in length, also includes many humorous incidents. Among supporting items is an amusing Vitagraph comedy, "Polishing Up," in which John Bunny and Flora Finch play the principal parts. Bunny flirts with two girls, who invite him down to Orange Beach on the following day, His wife (Flora) informs him she is going to visit her sister, although she really intends to visit Orange Beach. The following day Bunny, with his arms around the two girls, confronts Flora, whose hand is being affectionately petted by a doctor. At first both Bunny' and his wife are desperately angry, but eventually they decide that one is to blame as much as the other, and so a reconciliation is effected. This week's edition of the "Pa the Gazette" gives many fine views. Other pictures are : '• Neidra, the Dream Woman," a fantasy; "Highways of England,'' a beautiful scenic; "Eiffel Tower," a film of interest, and " Shorty" Edison's Pathetic Drama.