THE PICTURE HOUSES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 23 November 1927, Page 8

THE PICTURE HOUSES

MUNICIPAL, The Hastings Municipal Theatre held an expectant audience last last night, when Australia’s greatest screenic production of all time, “F.'nthe Term of his Natural Life,” received its initial screening. To what extent the expectation of the audience was realised could be weighed by the tense interest with which they watched the silver sheet, upon which the poignant story of Rufus Dawes and of the early days of the Botany Bay penal settlement unfolded itself. A film based upon a well-known work of fiction is always, as it were, weighed in the balance, and is in many cases found wanting by the more severe critics amongst its audience, but in this case it may truly be said that the throbbing intensity of the fictional work has been, if anything, magnified in the photoplay, which must- assuredly go down to history as one of the most intensely human, if supremely tragic, masterpieces ever produced and a triumph of triumphs for the Australian picture industry. Although in every respect a tragedy, in that it portrays a phase of life that is essentially barbaric, nevertheless it has its bright side, and a delicate vein of romance steals in to impart a lighter atmosphere, while the audience finds contentment in a happy ending. In the all-important role of Rufus Dawes ,and also as John Rex, George Fisher, a comparative newcomer to the screenic firmament, scores a genuine triumph, while Eva Novak is superb in tho difficult role of Sylvia Vickers. The whole east is well balanced, and the production should not be missed by a single man, woman or child in Hastings, for it has an educative value, as well as a message to humanity. As a prologue to the screening, Mr. Horsefield sang the song specially composed for the picture and bearing the same title The melody, of a doleful nature, fittingly reflects the main theme of the picture. COSY DE LUXE. When you see “After Midnight.” Norma Shearer's latest starring picture now showing at the Cosy Theatre, you will witness a drama that lids its foundation on real fact. Monta Bell, the young genius who directed “After Midnight,” was once a newspaper reporter, and is a keen student of human nature, as a good reporter must he. He reasoned that there must be much dramatic interest in the lives of the girls who earn their living in night clubs and cabarets, so he determined to find out. Miss Ruby McCay, a brunette cigarette girl at the' Montmartre Cafe in Hollywood, gave him his inspiration, and a stirring and introguing story is the result. “After Midnight” tells of two sisters, one a cigarette seller in a night cabaret, the other a chorus girl. One is thrifty and steady. The other is extravagant and flighty. But in their hour of greatest need—when the steady, dependable girl does not care whether she lives or dies—it is the jazz-mad Maizie who protects her regardless of her own safety. As an entertainment this picture is superb and has the further point that it shows how unwise it is to judge by external appearance—all is not gilt that glitters.