STRAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 266, 31 January 1928, Page 15

STRAND

LAST NIGHT OF “BEN HUR” To-night is the last and only night for Aucklanders to see the famous photoplay, “Bei>-Hur,” before it is replaced by “Seventh Heaven.” Pieturegoers are advised to make the most of this last opportunity, as it will be many months before it is again screened in Auckland. Critics have lavishly praised this great picture, one- writer summing up as follows: “The story is too well known to recount, and Fred Niblo lias brought out all the«dramatic greatness of it. It opens with the appearance of the Star of Bethlehem, with Joseph and Mary led to the Cave of David. The rede of the Madonna is marvellously portrayed by Betty Bronson, and the nativity scenes, done in delicate colouring, are wonderful. Ramon Novarro was the ideal choice for “BenHur.” Young, handsome, an excellent actor, he makes his role strikingly vivid. Francis X. Bushman is Messala, the Roman centurion, and he is perfect in the part. There is a tender love story with May McAvoy as Esther, the daughter of Simonides, the slave, and Carmel Myers is the Egyptian siren. As a spectacle the film is magnificent. Scene after scene of tremendous scope is flashed on the screen. Whole villages with their entire populaces are involved in the drama. Great navies with hundreds of proud vessels sailing through Italians waters are engaged in combat. The chariot race is a vivid experience to anyone who sees it. A special musical score is played by the Strand Symphony Orchestra, and an atmospheric prologue precedes each screening.