STRAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 250, 12 January 1928, Page 14

STRAND

“BEN-HUR” To-morrow, at the Strand, the wrderful photo play, “Ben-Hur,’’ cot mences its fifth triumphant week t that theatre. Tt ere seems no dimink ing of the crowds of theatregoer* see this wonderfully moving story c the most momentous and signifio: period of the world’s history. Tfc

stor'j offers exceptional opportunity for gorgeous settings on a lavish sak and the Metro-Cioldwyn-Mayer stud; have produced them with consumin’., artistry and immense splendour. Tk j romantic appeal of Lew Wall** mighty book has kept it popular r:_ the English-speaking races, whileodr ? ! works have flashed into prominefc and been forgotten. The stor it tells is mellow with the wisdom the ages, and as new -as to-morrr* Sympathetically interpreted as it hi< £ been, it has become an epic of fr J screen. The story is one of mew and of love. Revenge that is soo£ by Ben-Hur for the wrong done hii jff and his noble house by the Roman When the new senator, Valerius Gn- ? tus, is being welcomed to Jerusalem and as he makes his triumphal w*T | along crowded streets, a tile from r p overhanging roof falls from the , of Judah, Prince of Hur, and itnte his head. That the occurrence **= an accident is an explanation wniccarries no weight with tho Romcr: and Ben-Hur is sent to the gaileTi for life, and his mother and ms'-* | the hideous dungeons on Ben-Hur slaves in the awful ooaw* tions of the galleys, but never m*** his one purpose in life —to avenge windignity and suffering so done to his house. At last tunity comes, and in a chanot - which, as a spectacle, will swj® one of the greatest motion scenes yet produced, he grains do revenge and victory over the naus patriarchs of Rome. | There is a prologue to the story .v t per, just as there is in too , wherein the quest of the wise 7 the East, their following otJOU ■ and their eventual arrival at use in Bethlehem, provide some *ce e I moments of exquisite beautb.. tional and spiritual force. - Blake’s famous painting, Tlie =■» Bethlehem," has been -compieieu ( produced in colour and detail scene. For some of the scene* picture, scenes in which u> - ] invisibly figures, the masterpl _. ; Italian, British, and Flemish ■ f have been utilised, so that gorgeous “Last Supper, __ colourful “Pool of Siloam. “Sistine Madonna.” Munkacsjr* : Before Pilate," r.[atc' Family," and Bore « I*® l ** _ for the scene in the faBWJ ftsplendid tableaux v.-hici gi« greatness and richness. 1 j. who play the roles in ‘ Benrecruited from the most aisas ranks. Ramon Novarra is rebellious, bitter, dutiful. ro an array of varying moods m ning personality- guarman, as Messala, is a Rom- • j. ides is perfectly p ayf d by t? Brulier; Esther, wistfully May McAvoy: Joseph carpe portrayed with gravity am* ggr Winter Hall; while the Mat? at* Bronson is a cameo of Quiet and youthful dignity. ,j, e SBA fine prologue introduces m Mr. Birrell O’Malley singing * of Bethlehem." The Strand e , Orchestra, specially augmeu u jca. season, interprets tie speci score written for the picture.