MAJESTIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 303, 14 March 1928, Page 15

MAJESTIC

“FUN IN THE CLOUDS” “Fun in the Clouds/' or “Publicity Madness/’ and the merry programme which is now being shown at the Majestic Theatre, will have its final screening at that theatre to-morrow night, for Friday will be another of the many outstanding days in the history of the Majestic Theatre, when “The Magic Flame,” starring the world’s most renowned lovers, Vilma Banky and Ronald Colman, will be presented for the first time in New Zealand. Ronald Colman plays two roles in the film, that of a clown and that of a count. It is Vilma Banky, an aerial artist, whom Colman’s two characters love and struggle for. Into the warp and woof of that conflict Henry King has woven romance, surprising situations, humour, satire, physical struggle, a pair of murders, a balloon ascension and parachute jump, a whole circus filmed in its colourful details, and directorial wisdom such as the public has come to associate with his name. The action of the story occurs in a Mediterranean country, Baretti’s circus furnishing the background against which Vilma Banky and Ronald Colman make love. It is when Colman, the clown, has triumphed over Colman the count that the locale is switched to the royal court, with the clown accepted on all hands as King of Illyria. When Vilma Banky arrives at the court to avenge the murder of her lover, the clown, she does not suspect the true identity of the monarch. It is with the disentanglement of this tense situation that the plot hereafter is concerned. Gustave von Seyffertitz, who will be remembered as the Grimes of Mary Bickford’s “Sparrows,” appears in the court sequences as the chancellor. Others in the cast are Augustino Borgato, who supported Huse on the stage; Harvey Clarke, a descendant of Henry Wadsworld Longfellow; Shirley Palmer, newest Samuel Goldwyn discovery; Cosmo Kyrle Bellew and George Bavis. Preceding the film will be a delightful stage prologue presented by Miss Bettina Edwards. The usual high class musical programme will be presented by Mr. H. Whiteford-Waugh and his talented Majestic Orchestra, while an interesting supporting programme will include the ever-popular Majestic News, a scenic and a highly diverting comedy.