“A Magnificent Picture”

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 206, 19 November 1927, Page 23 (Supplement)

“A Magnificent Picture”

PRINCE OF WALES AND “BEN HUR” Strand Secures Classic AUCKLAND picture enthusiasts can look forward with considerable interest to the feature productions to be screened in this city in the course of the next few weeks. As a box office attraction “Ben-Hur” has been a success the world over. It has more than fulfilled th» expectations of Fred Niblo, well known in these parts, its producer. The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer feature will be screened at the Strand Theatre in Auckland on December 16.

A MAGNIFICENT picture." said the Prince of Wales, after “BenHur” had been shown in London to the Royal Family. And this praise is in effect what the world thinks of Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer’s screen triumph.

King and commoner, noble and nonentity, alike have been overwhelmed by “Ben-Hur." It is ageless and creedless, and by the very measure of its universality, breaks down all barriers of race and religious belief. It is a message for the multitude, and by the multitude has been raised to a pinnacle of unprecedented popularity. “Ben-Hur” is a masterpiece of surpassing beauty and magnitude, and in screen form dwarfs the stage play that itself created a furore. Not alone on the dignity and power of its theme does the fame of “BenHur” depend, and that it both elevates

and inspires, but also for reasons dear to the hearts of a pleasure-lov-ing world. Scenes of immensity that beggar description; scenes of beauty and fragrance that dry the wells of imagination; scenes of elemental vigour and majesty and grandeur that to see them is to marvel

at tli© power of men so to create; this is why “Ben-Hur” is a picture to be seen again and yet again. The sweep of sea-fleets, the tramp of countless legions, the pulsing heart of Rome and the agony of Israel, the battle of men and steeds and racing blood, things buried under the dust of centuries, are re-created and live again in this miracle of motion pictures. The cast includes*as leads Olive Borden, May McAvoy, Ramon Novarro, Francis X. Bushman and Carmel Myers.