STRAND THEATRE

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 50, 21 May 1927, Page 16

STRAND THEATRE

SOMETHING UNUSUAL Laughter, irrepressible, gay and rejuvenating, thrills that hold the audience breathless, gasping, and a tender touch of pathos, all combine to make Buster Keaton’s latest comedy. "Go West,” undoubtedly his greatest success. All Keaton’s pictures have a “somehing” that stamps them as different from the usual run of photocomedy. Perhaps it is the unique plot in this story that holds more than ordinary appeal to the hardened picturegoers, or maybe it is the invigorating tonic of uncontrollable merriment that sends them home refreshed and smiling. Keaton is seen as a young adventurer who "Goes West” and obtains a job on a ranch. During his education as a cowboy he is entangled in the most ludicrous and laughable experiences. Where there are cows there also are unending opportunities for the most hilarious scenes, and the little man-with the expressionless face extracts the drollest humour on occasions when he fails to procure milk. A pretty romance, involving a charming little county girl, adds a dainty love theme to a delightful tale. Brown Eyes, an old cow, which becomes devotedly attached to the hero and emulates Mary’s little lamb, is responsible for many a situation of rollicking absurdity. In short, this is just the picture the public has been longing to see and one which is not forgotten when others fade from the memory. A second attraction is provided in a tense drama of absorbing interest and unbelievable thrill, the plot of which is woven round the daring life on a great railroad. "The Danger Signal” tells of the sufferings of a poor girl who married a rich man: of her sacrifices in giving up one of her twin babies to the care of her stubborn father-in-law, in order to save her other child and herself from the pangs of destitution. Novak, as the mother, has many opportunities to prove her dramatic i genius, if proof were needed. The story reverberates with sensational railway daring and one of the most remarkable train disasters ever photographed is vividly transferred to the screen, when a runaway locomotive, carrying a dead convict on the footplate, dashes by on its way to destruction. Robert Edeson, famous as a stage star as well as one of the best character actors playing before the camera, is the grandfather. Dorothy Revier has the romantic lead. The Strand Symphony Orchestra was heard in a spirited overture, and by j 1 way of an entre’ acte Mr. Arthur Ripley and Miss Alma McGruer sang a bracket of duets, which were highly appreciated.