NEW REGENT

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 390, 26 June 1928, Page 15

NEW REGENT

“THE FLIGHT COMMANDER" Those who look forward to the appearance of British films in Auckland will be interested in the picture now being shown at the New Regent Theatre. This is a British film entitled “The Flight Commander,” and is a story of a detachment of the Royal Air Force in China. Sir Alan Cobham, K.8.E., the well-known British aviator and explorer, has a part in the picture. The exciting life of a little colony of white people in the wilds of China is the background of “The Flight Commander.” Native uprisings imperil their lives and only hard fighting and heroic sacrifices on the part of one of the men save them. The featured roles and some of the romantic scenes are taken by Estelle Brody and Jack Stuart, while a quantity of comic relief is provided by a trio of an American, a British, and a French sailor, who all love the same lass. An ideal love story set against the picturesque background of rural England. That describes “Doomsday,” the second feature on the programme, starring Florence Vidor and Gary Cooper. “Doomsday” is more than just a love story. It is a story of life and life’s vital problems. It depicts in vivid fashion a girl’s struggle between her desire for love and her dread of work, with the intense longing she has for the luxuries that have always been denied her. Florence Vidor, as the toil-weary girl who hesitates between accepting love and more work with it or wealth with no love, gives a great performance. It is something new, and something never to be forgotten to see Miss Vidor as the rebellious slave of drudgery instead of the polished woman of the world. Gary Cooper’s role is also outstanding. This brilliant young actor has an even better part than he had in such great pictures as “Beau Sabreur” and “The Legion of the Condemned,” as Captain Arnold Furze in “Doomsday.” Maurice Guttridge, who has now returned from organising the orchestra for the Regent Theatre, Dunedin, will be seen back again in charge of the Regent Operatic Orchestra.