"THE MIDNIGHT SUN”

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12607, 18 November 1926, Page 9

"THE MIDNIGHT SUN”

\ UNIVERSAL SUPER EILM FOR . DE LUXE. i T”'*"*” i All the grim bleakness of the Russia of the Tzars is feelingly shown in two great scenes of “The Midnight Sun,” a Universal Super-Production which commences screening at the Be Luxe ; Theatre to-morrow night. Dimit*i Buchowetzki, the noted Russian director, supervised the making of tlio picture which has been given an all-star cast, A military tribunal with a life in its hands is, no matter what its locale, always a gripping spectacle, but given a Russian setting, it takes on all the chill of that mystic country. Such is the atmosphere that. hangs about the great trial scene in “The Midnight Sun.” All this Buchowetzki has caught and given to the screen. The scene is set in a huge columned room of an old Russian fortress. In the centre of the room behind a desk , on a raised dais sits the tribunal. Several of its members are only acting out on the screen what they have done in life, for at least two are former Russian Army officers. But for the desk and low bench' on which the. prisoner sits the room is bare of furniture. The tenseness of the scene reaches out from the screen and will hold the audience. Another great sequence is that showing the_ sentence of the court about to be carried out. The firing squad has been assembled in the court-yard of the grim old fortress. The prisoner, with his back against one of the walls, has received the final blessings of the old priest. The members of the tribunal are there to see the sentence carried cut. Rifles are raised, the command to fire is about to be given and then—but to tell what happens would bo to reveal one of the big climaxes of this most interesting picture. Both these scenes were staged under the direction of men who have actually participated in similar scenes, Buchowetzki having-sought the advice of the various military men who are members of the cast. Laura la Plante heads the imposing list of players that portray the thrilling story of “The Midnight Sun.” Misa la Plante plays the part of the dancing girl who has captured an empire. Pat O’Malley is the cold, overbearing Grand Duke. Raymond Keane, playing his first big part in his first , big picture, is the hero. George Siegmann impersonates the character of the grasping, licentious banker, rival of the Grand Duke for the affections of the dancing girl. The screening of “The Midnight Sun’’ will he accompanied by a special musical programme by the Orchestra De Luxe. Box plans are available at the Bristol Piano Co., at Aitken’s Book Ar- i cade, or at the theatre, telephone : 23-080. ,