THE PICTURE HOUSES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 18 November 1927, Page 9

THE PICTURE HOUSES

COSY DE LUXE.

Love, hate, sacrifice and revenge—all the emotions that life is made of —surge and seethe in this dynamic drama. The salty tang of the sea was in the blood of Anson Campbell. It called to him with a niightly voice, but it had been ordained that the pulpit was to be his place in life. Then came a night of storm and terror, of plunging seas, shipwreck and disaster—and out of the welter of rain and win there canie a woman—a human derelict, a lost soul on whom the villagers turned their backs, careless whether she lived or died. With her coming, drama—stark and terrible—stalked into the life of Anson Campbell. Drama that took him into the jaws of death, down into the depths of degradation and despair, into the stinking hold of a convic ship. And all tl\at saved him and brought him back was the unwavering faith of the woman of the waterfront—a faith that was stronger than life itself. Ernest Torrence plays the rascally captain of a slave ship bound for the salt mines of South America, and gives a vivid, gripping portrayal. Lars Hanson and Marceline Day have, the leading roles, while the supporting cast includes George Fawcett, Pauline Starke and Flora Finch. Matinee Attraction.

Buck Jones, as the roving cowboy in “Desert Valley,” his latest starring drama for Fox Films, which is showing at the Cosy on Saturday afternoon, gives a rough and tumble portrayal in a struggle to protect a desert water supply against the machinations of an unscruplous land promotor. Fist fights are frequent. Buck gains a triumph in behalf of the cattlemen. MUNICIPAL. When John Barrymore first appeared on the screen, there was something casual about his performances that made one doubt it he was taking his picture work seriously. Doubts vanished with his performance of “Beau Brummel,” and ‘‘The Sea Beast” proved convincingly that he was superbly in earnest as a screen star. But it has remained for “Don Juan,” now at the Municipal Theatre, to demonstrate that Barrymore is as great on the screen as upon the stage. No more thrilling individual performance can he recalled than his playing as the greatest of all lovers. Incredibly handsome in Renaissance costumes of the days of the Borgias, he fairly blazes his way through scenes of gorgeous splendour to a memorable triumph. He is surrounded by a score of noted players, among whom Mary Astor, Estelle Taylor. Helene Costello, Phyllis Haver, Montagu Love and Warner Oland stand out. The producers, the Warner Brothers, have done their job expensively, handsomely, and with an intelligence that deserves the great success they have achieved,