DRAMA IN THE BALKANS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 394, 30 June 1928, Page 14

DRAMA IN THE BALKANS

FEATURE AT NEW REGENT Had Count Dimitri faced the firing squad one winter's morning, there would have been bleak tragedy, but the wicked Crown Prince, suddenly told of his meanness and perfidy by a pretty lady, cancels the death sentence, and all turns out well in the matrimonial sense. This fragment gives an idea of the course of the plot in “The Last Waltz,” a Paramount feature presented at the New Regent last evening. It is a picture with a Balkan setting, and the action takes place in a palace built amid majestic mountains. There is none of the romantic Anthony Hope touch about it, neither has it the gaiety of “The Merry Widow,” but instead it strikes out in new' and individual way so far as plots relating to Balkan royalty are concerned. There is a certain amount of artistic cohesion in the story, and the picture certainly has its grand moments. The State in which the story unfolds its ruled by a practical, motherly sort of queen, w'hoso principal concern in life is to bring about a convenient marriage betw'een her son and a neighbouring princess. The Crown Prince, whom she. believes to be a quiet, statesmanlike fellow', is really more concerned with gaudy amours and hunting. However, the time comes when he is forced by diplomacy to his first meeting with the Princess Elena of Avonia. Accompanied by his aide and friend, Count Dimitri, he makes the formal call, and finds not only the princess, but her friend, a fascinating countess. The girls, following an odd whimsy, mix their identities, and the prince, in consequence, pays riotous court to the countess, and JDimitri, knowing the true position resents this, for he is in love with the countess. A little later, he draw’s his sword against the Prince when he has to save his lady from the amorous attacks of royalty. This offence, the drawing of a sword on a superior officer, brings with it a retributory death sentence. Things look very black for the count and his lover, and there comes a high moment in the piece when the lovers have their last dance together at the royal betrothal ball. When the Princess learns what the situation is, she upbraids her lover for cowardice, and after a formal, bloodless duel, Dimitri is reprived. There is an excellent cast of actors in the principal and the general production of the film is full of restraint and beauty. “The Showdown," the supporting feature, has as its hero a man who is continually being dragged and thwarted by spies clustering about his oil wells. He is a bitter, cynical fellow, and it is not thought by his associates that he has any grain of fineness in him. Yet, when the time of real stress came to him in the tropic heat, he overcame a great temptation, showing not only restraint, but also a certain nobility of mind. There is excellent drama in the picture, and the principal parts are played by George Bancroft and Evelyn Brent. The programme of incidental music played by the orchestra, under Maurice Guttridge, was gratifying as usual, the operatic selections being excellent.

Two Metro-Goldwryn-Mayer productions, “Anna Karenina” and “The Crowd.” have recently completed re-cord-breaking seasons on Broadway, according to word received from America. The former picture co-stars John Gilbert and Greta Garbo. On Broadway it played 17 weeks at the Embassy Theatre. “The Crowd,’* King Vidor’s film, made film history at the Capitol Theatre.