AMUSEMENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 February 1916, Page 7

AMUSEMENTS.

THEATRE ROYAL PICTURES. Tim popularity of the Theatre Royal Pictures lias been wonderfully well sustained of late, a circumstance which is deservedly due to the outstanding feature films which have been produced for some weeks past. Another of these was introduced last night, .vhen the biweekly change of program me was made before an appreciative audience. The big film is entitled "The ;,:an on the Box," it nd it tells in a i'aticinatiny manner the old story of the gulf that divides the rich and the poor. The production is the work of the Fa.inous Players Film Co., and at the head of the cast arc Max Figman and Lolita Robertson, two ''stars" of the moving picture realm. When all this has been said, it is super-! fltious to add that the acting and the' staging effects are beyond reproach. Those who view "The Man on the Box" are given an excellent insight into the conditions in whkdi the sweated workers of a huge factory live, and then in glittering contrast they observe the ostentatious festivities which simultaneously occur in the banquet hall of a rich foundry owner. "The Man on the Box" is one of the best connected and most wholesome photo-plays we have seen—it is a perfectly natural story. There is not an unreal situation throughout its great length, yet it is all so very novel, very new and'very delightful. There is a freshness, a piquancy, and a wholesomeness which commends it strongly. Several other good films are also shown. The same programme will be repeated to-night and to-morrow night.

EMPIRE PICTURE PALACE. To-night's change of programme at the Empire Picture Pslaee is a d'iversi--1 (ied one, but the greater part of the evening will be occupied with the development of a pictorial representation by the Selig Co. of Mr. Harold McGrath's story, under the name of "The Carpet from Bagdad." The plot is rich in the element of melodrama, and scene follows scene in thrilling sequence. There is a hero and heroine who find themselves sharing some strange adventures, and quite a, number of picturesque villians, only one of whom has a redeeming feature. The author has, literally, ''held the gorgeous East in fee." The scenes in many cases are a real triumph of stagecraft, and reproduce all the Oriental glamor of romance. There is a plot, and, what may be termed a subsidiary plot, the scene of the story oscillating between New York and the East. The main plot hangs round the theft from the inner shrine of a mosque at Bagdad of a sacred praying rug. The custodian of the rug sets out to recover possession of it, but as it changes hands more than once his vengeance is not confined to one victim. The result is the abduction of the heroine, her lover, and the original thief of the rug to the heart of the desert, were after the hardships of captivity, realistically depicted and including a blinding sand-storm, rescue comes to the trio from a travelling caravan party. The scene of the sub-plot, in which the European characters in the cast are also involved, takes place in Xew York, and consists of an attempt to rob a bank—an attempt only for the fruits of ingenuity and industry are snatched away on the very eve of success. The photography and acting are throughout of a high order. A very interesting film shows some studies of bird life, and the comedy element is furnished by a Vitagraph picture, featuring Mr. and Mrs. Sydney Drew, entitled "The Honeymoon Baby." The European Gazette includes a number of ineresting and instructive views of incidents connected with the war.

WIRTH'S CIRCUS. Captain Frank Ruling, whose troupe of performing seals is such an attractive item Rt Wirth's Circus, which i s to visit New Plymouth on Friday and Saturday next, tells some interesting things about seals. These animals inhabit the rocky parts of the coast of California and live exclusively on fish. They are exceptionally line swimmers and can catch almost any fish, The average life of a seal under natural conditions is from 50 to 75 years, and some grow to a weight of over a ton. Netting these animals is quite an industry. "When they arc first caught," says Captain Huling,'"they are very ugly, and are all the while waiting to bite and injure yqn. This goes on for about four or five months, and when they have become accustomed to yon and are used to being handled, their education commences. Sometimes they take even longer, and sulk. I knew one seal that refused food for 50 dnys. This is only a short way on the road through, for they are about the most difficult animals to train and present that I know of. They have a keen brain, but they seem to be all the while using it to kind of take a rise out of you, but if yon treat them kindly, yon can get along with them all right. ' It takes about two years to break them in for performing before the public." "Yes, I believe in kindness to my animals. I don't think much can be done by cruelty," continued Captain Huling. '•[ have a letter here written to one of the papers in Nancy, France, by Mile. Marguerite Mangen,'the president of the Society for the Protection of Animals. She says '[ have much pleasure in announcing that owing to the way in which you present and treat yonnr animals, your act is really a treat to watch. ] have never seen animals better trained than those and they seem to have a great affection for yen.' 1