RIALTO AND REGENT, EPSOM

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 269, 3 February 1928, Page 14

RIALTO AND REGENT, EPSOM

“THE CAT AND THE CANARY” In “The Cat and the Canary.” a Universal-Jewel, now playing at the Rialto and ' Regent Theatres, a. love theme of absorbing interest, interwoven with the thread of drama on a background of intrigue, mystery and serio-comedy, has been transferred to the screen by the genius pf Paul Leni. An all-star cast supports Laura La Plante, the petite blonde who has flashed across the cinematic heavens as a star of the first magnitude. Throughout the action of the photodrama runs the age-old story of love, the lure of money, thwarted desires and human passions. Down to the very foot of film you will be sitting on edge awaiting the startling denouement. The elements of comedy, which, paradoxically enough, often tinge the starkest tradedy, are by no means neglected, serving but to augment the intensely dramatic sequences. The lighter moments are played up to their fullest possibilities by Creighton Hale, Flora Finch and Gertrude Astor. Arthur Edmund Carew, Tully Marshall, Forrest Stanley, Lucien Littlefield George Siegmann and Martha Mattox, in the featured supporting roles, give sterling performances in this screen adaptation of the outstanding stage success from the imaginative pen of John Willard.

Work at the Fox Studios is well advanced on “Lady Christilinda,” the big production which features Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. Frank Borzage is directing the film, from the powerful drama of the same name by Monckton Hoffe. This is the first cofeatured vehicle in which Miss Gaynor and Farrell, have appeared since their sensational success in “Seventh Heaven,” which was also directed by Borzage. The story of the film deals with a travelling circus, and the littleknown portions of Naples, where an artist’s studio, high above the rooftops, is the scene of many sensational incidents. The title of the film will probably be changed before its release.