THE STRAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 25, 21 April 1927, Page 15

THE STRAND

“EVERY MOTHER’S SON” An appropriate programme has been arranged by the Strand management for Poppy Day and the following week. Britain’s mighty film tribute to the unknown soldier entitled “Every Mother’s Son,” heads the last. This presentation is in conjunction with the Returned Soldiers’ Association, who will receive a proportion of the day’s takings. Every loyal New Zealander should see this remarkable British film an<l encourage the industry. The motto for the Dominion should be “Empire Films for Empire Theatres.” The greatest asset of this British production is its sincerity. It has also pathos and comedy. The story is told with the greatest simplicity, not so much of scenic resources^—which are wholly adequate—but of terms which never stray into untrodden paths. Janet, a pretty village girl, is wooed by the squire’s son and by a young’ labourer, David. They go into the world war, side by side, but with bitter rivalry between them, and one, the squire’s son, should have lived to make Janet his wife. But it is David who lives—David, who had to be kept up to his duty by Jonathan, his halfbrother. Jonathan, too, is left on the field of battle, while David returns to face a period of unemployment and the •tragic downward drift. Again it is Jonathan—though this time only in a vision—who spurs David to further effort. Eventually he wins through to happiness on the land, with Janet by his side. Humour, sentiment and familiar types of British fiction will endear this film to all. A striking scene of the two-minutes’ silence at the Cenotaph is'foremost amongst its purely pictorial efforts, and is, indeed, singularly impressive. Rex Davis plays the part of David with a solid earnestness that is in keeping with the whole conception of the film.