MAORILAND PICTURES.

Shannon News, 1 May 1928, Page 3

MAORILAND PICTURES.

WEDNESDAY—"THE TENDER HOUR."

A film drama . replete with novel thrills is how* "The Tender Hour" might be described. It will be shown at the Maorrland theatre on Wednesday. The cast is a strong one, the principal parts being taken as follows: Marcia Kane, Billie Dove; Wally Mackenzie, Ben Lyon; Grand Duke Sergei Sergeiyitch, Montague Love; Gorki, the Kalmuck, Constance Romanoff; Vicompe Rene, Laguaste, Chjnilly, Alee B. Francis; Tana, the maid, Laska Winter. The story chiefly has to" do with Marcia Kane, who is persuaded by her father to marry the Grand Duke Sergei. Believing that her lover, Wally, is dead, life has lost its savour for her. Wally is heartbroken when he discovers she is another man's wife. She -realises that she has been tricked by her father and the Duke, and repulses the attentions of her brutal, ruthless husband. For weeks in the Duke's villa she manages to elude him. Chinilly, a dapper American who is very fond of Marcia, at the request of Sergei arranges "a' spectacular society pageant in which she is to be starred. Hearing of Wally, Chinilly finds him in a dive in Paris. He takes him to Marcia, and Sergei finds them in an embrace, but Chinilly convinces the husband that it is but the rehearsal for a pageant. After the pageant, Wally and Marcia plan to flee, but are stopped by Gorki, the. Duke's giant Russian servant. Sergei promises to spare Wally's life if Marcia will be his wife in more than name. Marcia goes back to the villa, but realises that she cannot face the ordeal, and sends Wally a note, informing him of the Duke's condition, and asserting that she will be dead when the letter reaches him. Wally breaks into the villa, and with the aid of three underworld characters enters Marcia's room, where they find the Duke with a pistol against her breast, threatening to kill her if they come any closer. The Americans by strategy and quick thinking force the Grand Duke to consent to a divorce. THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. THE EPIC FILM, "BEN HUR," The magnifieeit plot, brilliant char-, acterisation and beautiful love story are among the outstanding reasons why "Ben Hur". has gripped the imagination of the world for fifty years. In the motion picture coming to the Maoriland Theatre on Thursday and Friday, the'splendid portrayals of Ben Hur by Ramon Novarro, Esther by May MeAvoy, Mother of Hur by Claire McDowell, and Tirzah by Kathleen Key, ad'd to the effect and enhance the romance. These players live the romantic side of the story, which is just as enchariot race. Miss MeAvoy, who previously was best remembered by her role of Grizel in "Sentimental Tommy," is a charming Esther, daughter of : the Merchant of Antioch, who secretly has saved the Hur fortune for the young heir; and Ramon Novarro in the Ben Hur role is handsome, valiant, and His portrayal is marked by sincerity, "and depth of feeling. . Perhaps the deepest note is struck after Ben Hur sets out to find his lost kin, who have been condemned to a living death in a forgotten Roman dungeon, and (unknown to him) finally released as outcasts. The mother and Tirzah find the youthful Ben Hur asleep on a bench outside the disused Palace of Hur. The sister kisses his shoes, but the mother does not dare touch him. Silently they go away to save him from the ruin which is theirs.

There are few dry eyes during the enactment of this scene, but the sorrow is turned to joy after Esther discovers the outcasts in the Vale of Hinnom, takes them to the Divine Healer; Avhose benediction cures them, and the happy four are reunited. Claire McDowell's Mother of Hur is a masterpiece that should be seen by all lovers of fine acting.

The spectacle will be ; preceded by the appropriate prologue, "The Star of Bethlehem." "Ben Hur" will be shown at Tokomaru on Wednesday.