HIS MAJESTY’S

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 238, 28 December 1927, Page 15

HIS MAJESTY’S

“ROSE MARIE” Echoing the words of the famous song, Auckland is wondering how it could ever have lived at Christmas without “Rose Marie.” Some "have seen the show twice, but these are not many, because the booking is very heavy. “Rose Marie” broke records in New York and Australia, and it may do so here. Harriet Bennet is most attractive and tuneful in the name part. Frederic Bentley is exceedingly droll as Hard-Boiled Herman, and on his capable shoulders falls the principal

comedy element. The English comedian obtains his results without the slightest apparent difficulty, and his work throughout keeps the audience in a perpetual ripple of merriment. Stephanie Deste is Wanda the Indian, and her dancing, incidentally, is one of the outstanding features In the production. It is part and parcel of “Rose Marie,” and Miss Deste’s pqpularity is easily understood. “Rose Marie” will be presented this evening.

The entire British and Continental trade is mourning the death of Paul Davidson, founder of the first exhibition company and producing organisation in Europe, the company which later became UFA. Fifty-six Union (later Ufa) theatres were built by him, and he also' erected the huge UFA studios at Tempel Hoff near Berlin, studios which are only second in magnitude, equipment, and natural resources to those at Badelberg belonging to the same company. Many famous stars were discovered by this dean of the industry, including Emil Jannings, Pola Negri, Paul Wegener, Ossie Osvalda, players who afterwards became famous both on the continent or in the United States. Ernst Lubitsch made his big German successes under him. The late Paul Davidson was I known as Europe’s father of Cinematography.