Hollywood has nothing to teach Mervyn Sheppard!

NZ Truth, Issue 1196, 1 November 1928, Page 1

Hollywood has nothing to teach Mervyn Sheppard!

OH, WHO STOLE HIS BRIDE AWAY? ■■■'■'.. L ' . ■ ..-'■ — ♦ ■ ■■;.'•.•.•'-'■•■"■' Whirlwind Honeymooiiers Tell Speechless World How They Foiled Desperate Kidnaping Plot WE MUST ADMIT, TOO, THAT THEY TELL IT WELL

II (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Auckland Representative.) • 11 I 11 TURN OVER THE PAGES of your romantic fiction; view all the sensational movie thrillers on exhibition || || —then ask yourselves whether Walter Mervyn Sheppard, of Sydney, and his young and pretty bride, should || H not be handed the whole biscuit-barrel when it comes to playing heavy lead m real, dyed-in-the-wool melodrama. [| 1 l| Firstly, the plot. A romantic meeting m Sydney, a sudden marriage, teeth-gnashing rivals, the abduction ji II of the bride and a thrilling rescue of the fair damsel m distress from a lecked rocm after a grim struggle with || ;!! her abductors. Then the sequel; A dash for the R.M.S. Niagara, their passages booked for Europe on the || 1! honeymoon trip, and, at the first port of call, an amazing and almost unbelievable story as told by the honey- || If mooners themselves on the arrival of the Niagara at Auckland last week. II ■55 .' ■■ '• ' ■ ' " ' • ■ . • ' ■'■•■.■■.■■■..■ • • ■' '';.■. 1 =

S = > fiiiimiiiiiiiimmiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiimimimimim'mim""'""", 1 """""" 1 "" 11 """""""""""""""" FOR the story the Sheppards had to tell the world has no peer m the realm of fiction or m the tinselled history of Hollywood. And for that very reason, "N.Z. Truth" makes no apology for accepting the story with a certain amount of salt. ■■.■■■• It is a far cry from Auckland to Sydney, and, for the simple reason that it is not possible for "Truth's" Auckland .st^fficto;- -trip, across the Tasman to put the acid- test of investigation on the astounding statements of this melodramatic young couple, the circumstances are set forth with reservation. . The story as told by Sheppard will have to stand on its own feet, and the public must judge for themselves as to its merits. The exploits of the newlyweds, who startled the world when they told the story of their romance, have a peculiar interest for New • Zealand, for Mrs. Sheppard. was formerly well known m Wellington, where she resided. She was educated at the Wanganui Girls' College and for the past six years resided m Sydney. One has only to look at her to realize that she has all the attributes of feminine charm that would cause a love-sick swain to lose his heart — and head. It may be said at qnce that Walter Mervyn, who triumphed over the schemes and villainies of his hated "rival, is a lucky man to be able to call himself husband of such a charming and allm-ing member of the fair sex. Walter evidently- prefers them on the blonde side, for his .bride's auburn hair is indeed a picture. As for Sheppard himself, he has some pretence to being good-looking, although by no means an Adonis. He is a little bit tired of the whole business— or so it would seem when "Truth" got m touch with him on the Niagara, last week. Sheppard with a slight drawl \ Vanquished Lover which betrays his English birth and upbringing m a fairly good school. If he had his way, there would be no more publicity. "Really, we have had quite enough, you know," he told the interviewer. And then, as an afterthought, apparently, he added: "As a matter of fact, we did not want it to be known here at all." "But why deprive the public of the details of such a romance?" he was asked. ■'' "Oh, yes, it is a romance all right," laughed Sheppard. He had been given enough publicity over the affair, he complained, and said that every newspaper m Sydney had "written them up." ■ On the face of it, there seems no reason to account for such a fantastic story as that told by the Sheppards if it is not true, unless it issome crazy attempt to secure cheap publicity and notoriety. There does not appear to be any suggestion of this — or reason for it. /Anyhow, here is their story, which, Sheppard told "Truth," was "true m every detail." It is given for what it may be worth. It is the story of a pretty girl with the. power to attract attention, and of unrequited affection causing an ardent admirer to emulate , the best type of melodi'amatic villain m his determined ■ attempts to thwart the suit of his rival. .-..,-. . The green eyri of the little demon of jealousy gleams balefully throughout the whole course of the melodrama, and it .takes little imagination to con- '■ jure up visions of dire curses hissing , through clenched teeth and all the orthodox paraphernalia of the barnl storming lover. : The kidnapped bride was popular m Sydney and: not unknown among the ' social set. : '. For, to quote the words of the lady herself: "I think we have caused i enough scandal m Sydney already. We . are better known there now than ever before." From which it may be supposed that I this little lady of the real-life play I has a wide circle of acquaintances m , the Ne-\y South Wales capital. -.■'.' 1 As. for Mervyn, the hero who was

mint iiiii timiiiiiumimimiiiimitii i iiiiim iiiiiiiniiii m tit minimum luiiiiMMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimumimiiiuiimiiiiimimiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiimimimiimiiimnHimiiimim the lucky man to oust the villain,' it was a case of love at first sight. His ardor kindled a kindred spark m the heart of his beloved — and within a month of their first meeting they were married. But much happened before the parson eventually tied the knot. No doubt the news of her betrothal came as a stunning blow to the .rival whose heart was set on. the lady i'or : his vexry own. •• ... " '.-.---. — ■.. He gnashed his' teeth over the.^./holebusiness, but was he to be so lightly overlooked? Ah, ha, not he! In true melodramatic style he girded himself for battle. ' "She will be mine," vowed the vanquished one, and true to his villainous promptings he set m train all the cunning of his thoughts. But who is this villain of the piece? That, is the secret, the real motif of the thriller. Oh, yes, Meryyn, the hero, knows llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllMlllllillllllllllllllllMlllllHllllllllllllllllll

him— and so does the little bride. But — no, you don't; you can't wheedle his. identity. No, sir! Well, at any rate, the announcement of the engagement did not assuag« the ardor of the villain. Rather did it inflame him to , desperate deeds, for twice before the wedding did this heartless schemer seek to lure the lady away. On each occasion, so they said, was the little bride-to-be beguiled away by false messages. But the heroine simply laughed m the face of her lover's rival and managed the situation with nice finesse. No "Unhand me, villain," stuff for her. The soft laugh, the nonchalant wave of a dimpled arm, would seem to have been all that was necessary to release her from the. clutches of the terrible man who pursued her. . ■ Of course, all this was terribly, distressing to Mervyn— but how romantic, what? ' . .' . . : A fortnight after they met, they decided to marry and take a honeymoon trip by the Niagara en route to America, England and ; the Continent.,

Mervyn's business m Sydney must be a handsome, one. to enable him to do the grand tour, for th. j .y propose to be away for two years; they hope to do: "London and maybe Paris." On .October 16 Mervyn led his bride up' 'to the altar of St. Barnabas' Church, JBondi, where the vicar pronounced them man and wife. \ ... J«Jow, one would really think m these enlightened days that this little c.erehiqny.. . ah.Q,u.l,cV: haye"... been sufflcient toVs'iience for ever" the hated rival. *-But 'if Mervyri imagined that he had his little bride safe and sound, he. made, the biggest, mistake. of his life. The. wedding bells pealed m a peck of trouble for them both — and it was not long m coming to light. The wedding took place on a Wednesday, and two days later the Niagara was to sail with Mr. and . Mrs. Sh'eppard as passengers. Barely had the bride got rid of the confetti than Mervyn turned pale iiijiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

about the gills and awoke to the fact that his little girl was missing. Now, when a husband of a few hours realizes that his bride has disappeared —and should he have knowledge of hated rivals and their pranks to push him on one side, as Mervyn had — well, it must be allowed that he is entitled to make a noise about it. Where was she? MWhere is my wife?" The echo came back to Sheppard unanswered.' He began to get into a. regular state about it all. Then the imps of trouble whispered terrible things, m his anxious ear. His bride had been drugged and spirited away.. , • . • It .; was enough for Mervyn. He started' out on the.. trail. '.-'•' ■ Now, no modern movie thriller is complete without a motor-car— and it so that the'/old'bus figured m ;the Sheppards' tragi- comedy. Sheppard picked up a clue. He notified the police" that his wife. had been kidnapped , and . spirited away on wheels. He hired another car and then, com-

menced a thrilling chase through' Sydney town. ■ Mervyn was by this time breathing fire. He was out for that villain's blood — no matter how far the chaseled him. And then at last he picked up his quarry ahead; Apparently, speed limits went by the board as both cars careered along '; the busy highways of the city: "■■»■. At las.t,..the end of the trail— a house m Bellvue Hill, where. the villain of the piece (a former admirer of the bride) and a friend of his .(a second villain m a minor role) had conveyed the captured lady. Bang, bang, bang! Crash, crash! What Sheppard did to the door of the house m an endeavor to get inside was only a shame, but the kidnappers held the fort against him and refused him admittance. He then resorted to strategy and nosed about the grounds for a window that looked a likely means of ingress. Keeping well out of sight, he climbed through the window. And, once inside, the fun started! The kidnappers at once closed with him — or he with them— and during the struggle the combatants crashed over a twelve-foot balcony. "Things began to look very ugly," said Sheppard m telling the story, "so I threatened to use a revolver on the two men who attacked me." A reminiscent smile spread over his features. "Of course," he said whimsically, "I never had a revolver at all, but it' was a pretty good bluff. Anyhow, it worked. "I had found out by this time that my wife was a prisoner m a locked room. "When T threatened them with the gun, the two men stood off at a safe distance. "I then got my wife out and we did our get-away. I had the two men absolutely bluffed." When Mervyn first heard that his Publicity Stunt? wife had been carried off, he feared that she was doped and that violence had been used, but it so happened that there was no dope used at all — and no violence. And so the adventure ended. Now, one would think that the husband of a young bride who had been subjected to such indignity would have taken police proceedings against the kidnappers, but that was not m the plot at all. The curtain falls on a pretty scene, m which husband and wife smile and embrace m happy reunion, suitcases and taxi all ready for the boat, and the disgruntled villain cowed m. the background. "You know the men who were responsible for all this?" "Truth" asked Sheppard. "Know them? We do," was the reply. /■'••■. "Why did you not take proceedings against them?" Sheppard did not think it worth while. It would have meant staying over m Sydney and they were anxious to get away on their honeymoon trip. And so the villain of the piece m Sydney town may consider himself very lucky that he is not now awaiting trial, while the kidnapped bride and her doting husband are walking the deck of the Niagara and imbibing the ozone. A very remarkable story, indeed; m fact, a little too remarkable to be swallowed as gospel, although, after all, there is something m the '■ old hackneyed platitude that "Truth is stranger than fiction." It is riot known Whether Sheppard and his bride propose breaking their journey at Hollywood to have a go at writing for the movie thrillers, but should this be the case, then they certainly should put it across m fine style. ..The Sydney 'melodrama m which they figured is enough to stagger the preconceived notions about living m a civilized comrrtunity where such things "do not happen outside fiction." But then, for all "Truth" knows to the contrary, the.\ whole thing may have beena first-class hoax. ' If such be the case, the Sheppards certainly know how- to work the publicity stunt.' ,■■■:•■■ ■>'■'■'■ ■' ■' '■ ■■■••■ I