THE PICTURE HOUSES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 24 November 1927, Page 9

THE PICTURE HOUSES

MUNICIPAL. In these days of civilisation it is difficult to believe that such cruelty and barbarity could have existed in modern times as is shown in “For the Tenn of His Natural Life,” but Marcus Clarke has written from the life, and the characters whom his active pen, has traced with such vividness are based upon living characters. Certainly they appear to live in the film, where all the hopeless poignance of the liver’s lot is brought to the audience. The producer spares nothing in his portrayal of the early days of the Australian penal station, when the convict ships dropped anchor in Botany Bay and discharged their cargoes of human dross, melted in the flesh pots of half a hundred cities, sodden with crime, cowed by the goaler’s lash, come to start afresh a life of misery within the merciless ,sombre walls of the settlement. Yet, there is in every scene in the picture the imprint of the artist. Whether Captain Maurice Frere is wrecking savage revenge upon some miserable convict, or Rufus Dawes is freeing his fellowslaves from earthly bondage in a terrible, if noble manner, or whether there are romantic passages beneath the wattles or by the water’s edge, Norman Dawn, the producer, has given them a significance all their own. Nothing is forced, or unduly emphasised; a truly great achievement. No liberties have been taken with the story, and that, indeed, is very pleasing. i As an introduction to the picture Mr. R. Horsefield last night sang in very pleasing fashion a song of the same title as the picture and specially composed for it. COSY DE LUXE. Dainty and delightful Norma Shearer, the Canadian-born star, has played many roles in her "screen career, but none have afforded a better setting for her unusual beauty than that of the little cigarette girl in “After Midnight,” the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture now at the Cosy Theatre. It is safe to say that if ever cafe and restaurant boasted a cigarette selling young female with the appeal and grace of Norina Shearer, the consumption of the fragrant weed, already heavy, would increase tenfold. In “After Midnight,” director Monta Mell has lifted the veil of mystery that formerly hung*over the lives of girls who earn their living between dusk and dawn. He skilfully depicts the different outlocks on life possessed by. two 'sisters —both of them workers “after midnight”—the drama, the comedy and the unexpected thrills of their existence. Pleasing supports complete the programme. I