“THE MIDNIGHT SUN”

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12605, 16 November 1926, Page 4

“THE MIDNIGHT SUN”

FEATURE FILM FOR EE LUXE. The screen has presented many thrilling fights between men, but it remains for “The Midnight Sun” to give motion picture audiences the greatest physical encounter between a girl and a man. “The Midnight Sun” is the latest Universal super-produc-tion, being a dramatic story of the Russia of the Czars, and was directed' by Dimitri Buchowetzki witty force .and vigour. It will be screened at the De Luxe Theatre commencing next Friday, November 19th. The principals in this great fight sequence are Laura La Plante, who impersonates the premiere danseuse of the Imperial Russian Ballet, . whb holds! an Empire in the hollow of her hand, and George Siegmann, the “heavy,” id the character of Russia’s most powerful banker. The dancer had been lured upon the banker’s private yacht. In one of its luxurious saloons the banker seeks to force his attentions on the girl. In avoiding him there follows a terrific physical encounter between a slip of a girl and the great hulking man. From one end of the saloon to the other they battle. Table and chairs are overturned. At ono time the banker almost has the ' girl . in his grasp, but she fights him off with a cane. Another tune, a heavy 'vase, hurled by the girl, crashes against the wall. The actual fight before the camera lasted ‘■almost a full ten minutes. At its conclusion the saloon was a wreck, while the physical condition of the principals was almost the same. In.one corner Miss La Plante lay exhausted. In another was Siegmann in the same condition, and with blood flowing from a cut on his chirq where the cane, wielded by Miss La Plante had found its mark. The strain on the players may be better appreciated when it is known that Siegmann weights 260 pounds and Miss La Plante but a scant 116 pounds. This great picture, with its romance, tragedy, and intrigue of Old Russia boasts a. wonderful cast, being headed by Miss La Plante as the dancing girl. Pat O’Malley, handsome and colourful in his many uniforms, plays the Russian Grand Duke. Raymond Keane is introduced to picture-goers as the hero. Siegmann 'is the “heavy.” Among others in the cifst aro Arthur -Hoyt, Earl Metcalf, Cesare Gravina, Nino Romano, and Charles A. Handcock.