STRAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 154, 20 September 1927, Page 16

STRAND

"HIS NATURAL LIFE” The programme now showing at the Strand Theatre offers excellent entertainment. The screen version of Marcus Clarke’s famous novel, “For the Term of His Natural Life,” without doubt the greatest picture produced in Australia, is the foremost attraction. Many of the scenes were filmed at the old penal settlement at Port Arthur, Tasmania, the well-known inlet so realistically described in the famous novel. Other scenes were secured at Abbotsford, New South Wales, and near Sydney. The beautiful scenery of the island state of Tasmania, constitutes a splendid background for many of the outdoor effects. The cast is exceptionally strong, the principal feminine role, that of Sylvia Vickers, the wife of Captain Frere, the brutal commander of the prison camp, being enacted by the popular American actr€;ss, Eva Novak. The dual roles of Rufus Dawes and John Rex are taken by George Fisher, while Dunstan Webb appears as Frere. The Lyric Quartette appears in the appropriate stage presentation. A most attractive feature of the programme is the orchestral score which has been arranged by Eve Bentley for the Strand Symphony Orchestra. This includes Tschaikowsky’s

“Meditation,” Schubert’s “Unfinished Symphony,” Massenet’s “Eiegie,” Wieniaswki’s “Romance,” and Gladsanowski’s “Meditation.” “The Rose” (English Airs) is played as the overture. The supporting programme is composed of a Strand Magazine, showing the latest world news, and a laughable Aesop Fable cartoon, “The Organ Grinder.”