“BEAU SABREUR”

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 352, 12 May 1928, Page 15

“BEAU SABREUR”

WREN STORY FOR REGENT

"If Beau Geste” had never been picturised, the screen version of ‘‘Beau Sabreur” would have stood upon its own merits. To essay a "come back,” as every artist knows, is rarely successful. Neither is a companion picture—one could hardly term the new P. C. Wren feature a sequel—a certain winner. Yet interest in the Sahara, with its dashingly-moustached sheiks, and the motley throng with their full-bottomed trousers, who assist France in imposing her rule upon the unruly NoFch Africans, has never faltered. Lost evening’s packed audience at the New Regent, when the new Wren story was screened, was eloquent testimony of that fact. Though the cast of "Beau Sabreur” is by no means the same as in its forerunner, this did not minimise the interest in the slightest. Gary Cooper, handsomely virile, played Henri de Beaujolais, a youth who had some difficulty in recalling the motto of his house when there was a pretty woman about. Eventually, however, he did serve France just as gallantly as his distinguished uncle of "Beau Geste,” and, withal, retained his gallantry. Gary Cooper acts simply and naturally. He was every inch the hero. In the pantaloons of the Foreign Legion or half-hidden in the flowing robes of an Arab chieftain, he was equally effective. Prftttv Evftlvn Brent, sufficiently attractive to ensure, an uprising in the whole of the Sahara, was the innocent cause of all the trouble. William Powell was again cast as a villain. By this time he must have a positive rogue’s gallery of similar char acterisations. That genial bluffer the Sheik El Hamel, Beau Brummel of the desert, was none o Slier than Noah Beery. In addition, there were Touregs aplenty, galloping fearsome, and positively itching for • a scrap with the "Christian swine.” "Beau Sabreur,” the tale of the beautiful swordsman, positively bristles with action. One of the most interesting items on the Regent’s bill for some time was a series of glimpses from the life of Michael Balfe. Maurice Guttridge and his orchestra in a thoroughly praiseworthy manner played several excerpts from the works of the Irish composer, ranging from his "Killarney” to the "Bohemian Girl.” The overture "Orpheus” (Offenbach) was also appreciatively received. Leslie Harvey, at the Wurlitzer, selected the familiar "Barcarolle,” from “Tales of Hoffman,” and something quite new, “The Blue Room," from “The Girl Friend.” A cartoon, the Regent review, and a comedy completed an admirablybalanced bill. The pupils of Miss O’Leary are presenting a pantomimic version of “Babes in the Wood” at the afternoon sessions. / James Murray, King Vidor’s sensational discovery, who recently appeared in "Old Kentucky,” has been selected as the male lead in "Tides of Empire.” Murray's rise in pictures has been phenomenal. He was featured by Vidor in ’The Crowd,” not yet released here, and was recently given one of the most important roles of the season, that of Jim Kenyon in "Rose Marie.”