STRAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 383, 18 June 1928, Page 15

STRAND

“MOTHER MACHREE” “Mother Machree,” the famous story of the little Irish mother and her son—the story of mother love and sacrifice — is now in its second week at the Strand Theatre, and is still attracting large crowds of enthusiastic picturegoers. When Fox Films were filming “Mother Machree,” the screen version of Rida Johnson Young’s story of mother-love, Ernest R. Ball, celebrated composer, was one of the interested spectators in the studio. Ball wrote the music of “Mother Machree” in conjunction with Chauncey Olcott, the Irish tenor, who enjoyed great popularity twenty years ago. The lyrics were written by Rida Johnson Young, and Ball considers they are the most torching of any he has read. He was much impressed with the work which Belle Bennett does in the title role of the Irish widow, and felt that she had invested the screen play with all the haunting sweetness of the song. The sorrows of Ellen McHugh, the mother, are made wonderfully vivid by Belle Bennett, and her depiction of pathos is very real and intense. Supporting Belle Bennett i 6 an excellent cast, in which Victor McLaglen, Ted McNamara, Neil Hamilton and Eulalie Jensen are prominent, with Phillipe de Lacey, the clever juvenile, appearing as Brian, the boy. A great deal of sparkling Irish wit has been injected into the picture, partly by the efforts of Ted McNamara, the wellknown comedian, and partly by John Ford, the director. He is a true son of Erin, and has brought all his vivid imagination and romance to bear in making te film. Delightful Irish musical gems are given by Eve Bentley and her Strand Symphony Orchestra during the screening of “Mother Machree.” “Emerald Isle” is very charmingly played as the overture, while Mr. Birrell O’Malley, the eminent Irish tenor, sings the famous ballad from which the photoplay is taken.