ENTERTAINMENTS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 24 July 1929, Page 6

ENTERTAINMENTS

"METROPOLIS" A FUTURTST FANTASY AT THE REGENT Every now and again from out the vortex of crude melodrama and sentiment created by the constant stream of pictures (lowing fro; 11 the studios of the world emerges a film equipped with qualities to make it stand out from its fellows. Such a picture is "Metropolis," which commenced at the Regent Theatre this afternoon and will be screened again to-night, also to-mor-row at the matinee at 3.30, and in the evening, with two final performances on Friday afternoon and evening. It ; s a futurist fantasy emanating from U.F.A.'s Berlin studios. "Metropolis" is a presumably typical city of a hundred years hence, when mechanical achievement has made strides as huge again as those made during the post century. Gigantic buildings, beside which Chicago's biggest skyscraper would be dwarfed into insignificance, rear themselves in stalely grandeur to incredible heights. Graceful ssupension bridges wind between the buildings, tier on tier, hundreds of feet from the ground, avenues for the city's traffic. Aeroplanes thread their way 111 ai.d out, passing over a train here, a line of motor cars there. At night the city is bright with dazzling electric rays, which, ever moving, give it added beauty. And supplying power for sill this, engine rooms filled" with extraordinary machines of enormous proportions, controlled by strange levers and electrical devices. Tending the machines, workmen who are l.ttle better than serfs, forced to toil in ten-hour shifts and made to live an unnatural life in an underground city of their own. And over all the master brain which rules the city, John Masterinan.

Clever and ruthless, he has but one dream unaccomplished—a. mechanical man which will enable him to do without human aid in carrying out his projects. To this end rlutwang, the inventor, works incessantly, and the ultimate result of their" experi-' ments provides one of the biggest thri'!;. of a picture which der.ls in thrills Threaded through tho picture is the love story of Eric, Masterman's son, and Mary, advocate for the workmen. The "human element" is apparently unavoidable, even in the best of films, and must be endured patiently. "Metropolis," we are told, took two years in the making, but how it was made is not. divulged. It is. impossible to conceive how some of the if fleets have been obtained, 'even though one realises that models have been used. The photography is magnificent, and there is nothing that would seem to mar the artistic success of the whole. To undertake to produce such a picture must have required courage, and the result is therefore the more praiseworthy. The average member of an. audience viewing "Metropolis" would probably be too staggered to collect his senses sufficiently to find fault, but since it is the province of the critic to look for flaws, two fallacies may be detected in the argument of progressive development. In these days of trades unionism, higher education for the lower classes, and so forth if seems hard to believe that in tlte brief .space of ii century in spite of the omnipotence of brain power over human driving power, the workers will have slipped back into a. slate, of semi-slavery again, needing once more to find a mediator to soften the hard heart of the employer. Secondly, steam is permitted to play a largo part in providing the motive power of this vision, city, though to-d§}', being recognised as exceedingly wasteful, it is yielding more and "more to electricity. These are unlikely retrogressive .steps in a vision of progress. _ For the rest two overworked adjectives may be justly applied here. "Metropolis" is speclauJar to an extent undreamed of in Hollywood and fascinating i.o a degree seldom attained by any picture. _ The box plan is at the Regent Confectionery, or seats mav be reserved bv telephoning 1102.

MAJESTIC: "THE LAST COMMAND"

, .Tannings litis scored aga-in, this lime in a remarkable characterisation as a military general. His newest Paramount picture has been titled "The Last Command," and it opened an engagement .'it the Majestic Theatre to-day. Tin's Ame-rican-born German actor presents in this new production so commendable a figure. that it cannot he compared to those of ;Tlio Way of All Flesh" and "Variety." "Tin- Last Command" is a story of the red revolt in Russia, shewing .Tannings as a mighty gen era I. strictlv military but beloved by his men. He befriends a girl but imprisons her companion, the "ill in imn saving; him from death at the hands of the blood-mad revolutionists. He then comes to America in search of this fair saviour, and there the thread of the story lakes a strange twist. It is a gripping story, one with poignant love and drama, mystery ;tnd thrills. Great settings mark" "Tin.- l.a-.t Command" as an elaborate production and the fine acting of everyone particularly that of Jannings, marks it as one of the finest pictures ever made The supporting east is headed by William Powell and Evelyn Brenl. Hans are at the Majestic Confectionery, nr •■.eats tnav be reserved by telephoning 186.