TIVOLI

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 158, 24 September 1927, Page 15

TIVOLI

RACING THRILLS When a racing drama gets approbation from racing folk it must be something out of the ordinary. King Baggot, director of the Universal-Jewel production, “Down the Stretch,” the current attraction at the Tivoli, has received thousands of letters from horse racing enthusiasts praising his handling of the finish of the big racing scene of the picture. “It is more real than half of the actual match races on our track,” wrote one of the stewards of the famous Belmont race track. “Down the Stretch” was adapted from Gerald Beaumont’s story “The Money Rider,” and the leading roles are played by Robert Agnew and Marian Nixon. “Down the Stretch” is the main attraction on the big triple-attraction bill at the Tivoli. An inside story of the race track, it depicts in authentic detail the thrills, joys and terrors behind the scenes of every big race. It is a truly great drama of the turf, outshining the hundreds of pictures of racing which have gone before. Agnew has the role of a jockey who starved himself to win, because his marriage with Katie Kelly depended on the result of the raic'e. On his magnificent white horse, Gary Cooper goes galloping through “Arizona Bound,” saving damsels in distress, beating every horseman in the country, and saving the gold coach in his spare time. The hero stuff fits handsome Gary, and the picture is an enjoyable relapse into the Western thriller type. The third attraction is Colin Crane’s singing. A baritone with histrionic ability, he is on the top of a wav© of popularity.

According to announcements Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer will inaugurate its new* season’s releases with four films of outstanding importance. These include Lon Chaney’s Russian picture “Mockery” Jackie Coogan’s picture “The Bugle Call” with Claire Windsor in the leading feminine role; Norma Shearer’s “After Midnight” and “Adam and Evil,” first of a series of co-star-ring films arranged for Lew' Cody and Aileen Pringle.