STRAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 239, 29 December 1927, Page 15

STRAND

§ “BEN-HUR” Perhaps there has never been such a thrilling tale of Biblical days and the days when Rome clashed with the Jews in Palestine, as the enthralling novel, “Ben-Hur,” from the pen of General Lew Wallace, and certainly there has not been a film seen here of equal magnificence, or so brimful of human interest and enthralling incident, as that now showing at the Strand Theatre for the second week. The book “Ben-Hur” has been produced on the screen with an extraordinary regard to detail and exactness, and its splendour of plot and unabounding thrill has been reproduced with great realism. In short, it is the film gem of the year; it is gripping, it is pathetic, it is inspiring, it has been treated with rare restraint and charm which adds, if anything, to' the natural lustre of a classic story. Not one thing has been spared in the production that the accusation could be made that the picture is tawdry, as is so often the case when an American film producer gets to work on what was originally a fine tale. This film is almost the perfect specimen of a book perfectly reproduced. All the many phases of fIV story in which the noble house of. Judah, with Ben-Hur as the hero, fights against the Roman yoke, has been brought out in brilliant fashion. Nor can it be said that this film is but another of the “spectacle” type as has been the case with similar pictures of its kind. It is much more than that. The human element is ably brought to the fore and silhouetted against a background of magnificence which makes it all the more pleasing. The spiritual side of the story is a. glowing example of this, for it has been treated with exquisite taste, especially in the prologue portion of the photo-play. Ramon Novarro as Ben Hur gives a very fine portrayal of the part. May McAvoy is most appealing in the role of heroine. Francis X. Bushman is superb as Messala, the haughty and villainous Roman.

The Strand Symphony Orchestra, augmented for the season, plays the special “Ben-Hur” score under the conductorship of Eve Bentley. Preceding the photo-play is a prologue, during which Mr. Birrell O’Malley renders “The Htar of Bethlehem.”