AMUSEMENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 December 1915, Page 5

AMUSEMENTS.

THEATRE ROYAL. "THE JOCKEY OF DEATH." The head-liner at this popular place of amusement last night was a wonderfully exciting dramatic picture entitled "The Jockey of Death," which was secured by the management to replace the much -criticised "Woman and Wine," which- was withdrawn. "The Jockey of Death" is a marvel of the kinema art and is full of thrills from start to finish. It deals with the old theme of a scheming uncle, who desires his brother's property and will stick at nothing to secure his own ends. He causes his brother and his wife to be shut up and loft to die in the castle dungeon, and their infant daughter is abandoned in a circus tent. She becomes apprenticed to the circus proprietor, and is a star of the sawdust and spangles. Sle had a brother, however, a noted horseman, who is hurt by a fall from a liorse. While lying on his bed he sees in his delirium the skeleton of bis father beckoning him to the cellar. Together with bis servant the two enter the cellar. They observed by the uncle, who clamps down the trapdoor upon them. They escape, and then follows sensation upon sensation. The young man goes to the circus and there, from a photograph of their mother, recognises his sister. The escape from the. circus by means of ropes, is an enthralling scene, the performance of the chief actors being marvellous. Pursuit follows, and a serious of death-defying scenes is filmed. Particularly thrilling—almost hynotic, in fact, is the scone where the two attempt to cross a river by means of a bicycle on a tight wire. But mere words fail to do justice to this wonderful picture, which must be seen to be believed. Nothing like it ihas ever been screened in New Plymouth; for beauty of scenery, for realistic acting, and for its wonderful acrobatic features it is incomparable. "The Jockey of Death" is supported by a Topical Gazette, Egypt (a very fine scenic), "A Pair of Stars" (comedy), and a delicious Vitagraph humorism, "They Loved Him So." This great programme will be repeated to-night for the last time, and all lovers of a magnificent picture should make * point of seeing "The Jockey of Death."