THE STRAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 96, 14 July 1927, Page 16

THE STRAND

“THE GENERAL” TO-MORROW To-night is the farewell of the Humphrey Bishop Musical Comedy Company, and it is expected to be a memorable one. This bright and talented company has won its way into the hearts of Aucklanders, who will be very loth to part with such a happy band. Mr. Humphrey Bishop has arranged for his final programme to be the brightest and breeziest, of all. “Scratcher” Ross and Arthur Hemsley are determined to forget all about saying good-bye, and to delight the audience with their finest comedy gems. Walter Kingsley will send Strand folk home with the strains of his rich harmonies echoing in their ears. The rest of the company will provide a rollicking, riotous revelry of colourful ensembles, orchestral, song, and dance novelties. To-night marks the final screening of the great athletic classic and comedy “Slide, Kelly, Slide!” featuring Sally O’Neil and William Haines. Acclaimed as the costliest and most lavish comedy ever produced, “The General,” Buster Keaton’s laugh and thrill feature of the Civil War comes to the Strand Theatre to-morrow. “The General” is unique in filmdom, in that it picturises a true story of the sixties, is historically accurate, contains thrills never duplicated in the biggest dramatic photoplays, and at the same time is comedy from the opening fade-in to the final fade-out. When Buster started work on “The General” as his first picture for United Artists, he did so with the idea of making the year’s biggest comedy. When critical Hollywood audiences previewed the completed opus they pronounced it not only the greatest comedy they had ever seen, but a feature that ranks in dramatic action with some of the outstanding photoplays of the past decade. Nearly a year elapsed from the time Buster and his staff began research work on "The General” until the comedy was completed. Several months were spent on location in Oregon, where Civil War towns were built, a railroad leased, three locomotives and scores of cars purchased and converted into wood-burners and equipment of the sixties, and thousands of National Guardsmen and former soldiers recruited for the battle scenes. One of the big thrills in “The General,” which is based on the Andrews railroad raid and locomotive chase, a vivid chapter of the Civil War, is the plunge of a speeding locomotive from a burning trestle into a raging river. This sceen was made at a cost of 40,000 dollars: the wreckage still reposes in the bed of the river near Cottage Grove, Oregon. Personally directed by the star and photographed by several of the bestknown cameramen, “The General” was produced by Joseph M. Schenck. In a story staged in the colourful atmosphere of Spain, Mae Murray has one of the' most remarkable roles in her screen career in “Valencia.” her new Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture, which will also be shown at the Strand on Friday. It is a vivid romance of the land of senoritas and love-songs, directed on a spectacular scale by Dimitri Buchowetzki. Lloyd Hughes plays the leading male role, and n notable cast, as well as hundreds of gaily costumed people, appear.