MAJESTIC THEATRE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 413, 23 December 1932, Page 3

MAJESTIC THEATRE

TO-NIGHT Lionel Barrymore, eldest of the three famous Barrymores, adds another splendid characterisation to a lifetime of distinguished acting with his portrayal in "The Broken Lullaby" now at the Majestic Theatre. In this story based on the play by Maurice Rostand, famous French playwright and author, Barrymore essays the rolo of a middle-aged German parent, who, although the war has been past historyl for a decade, is still a bitterly national partisan. Violent in his accusations against the French, he inspires his entire community, a small town in post-war Germany, to subscribe to his own point of view. His neighbour, Nancy Carroll, has been the sweetheart of Barrymore's son, a German soldier who was killed in the war. When Phillips Holmes, the French youth who killed him, and since suffered a profound remorse, comes to tell the dead man's family of his deed, Nancy intercepts the errand. Should Holmes tell the father, she feels sure the old gentleman would kill him. Holmes meets the family, but because of Nancy's entreaties, he refrains from telling them the harrowing facts that have preyed on his soul. But Barrymore soon forgets his nationalistic fervour, and becomes very friendly toward Holmes. And Nancy falls in love with the youth. Holmes is determined that he must malce a clean breast of it, and tell Barrymore of ihe part he played in Nancy's former sweetheart's death. He is on the point of carrying out his resolve when the pinnacle of drama is reached — and all ends happily for the sweethearts.