REGENT THEATRE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 83, 31 December 1937, Page 8

REGENT THEATRE

"THEY GAVE HIM A GUN." "They Gave Him a Gun" screens finally to-night at 8 o'clock at the Regent Theatre. Commencing at a special New Year's Eve screening to-night at 10.30, is "Jericho" he reveals very powerful actaclor and singer, Paul Robeson. Robeson has been given a part which has proved to be a worthy successor to "Sanders of the River" and which fits him like the proverbial glove. Full scope is given in several songs to the magical voice of the star, and in "Jericho' 'he reveals very powerful acting ability. Jt is a human story of a negro soldier wrongfully convicted of murder, who escapes to Africa, there to be eventually traced by the officer whose career he had inadvertently ruined. It is a particularly straightforward and plausible story, giving convincing details of the negro's heroism when a ship is torpedoed, and again when he is court-martialled for striking and kflling his superior officer, his escape to Afriea, and his eventual acceptance as the head of a tribe. Tremendous scope has been given in ! a colourful note which introduces tribal warfare in the desert, dominated by an unprecedented speetacle of thousands of camels on trek in the Sahara. Superb camera work and the realistic desert settings topped oif by the magnificent singing of Paul Robeson make "Jericho" a never-to-be-forgotten film. Co-starred 'with Pahi Robeson in this mighty tale of the desert is lovely Princess Kouka who takes the part of his native wife. ~