THE PLAZA AND TIVOLI

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 454, 8 September 1928, Page 16

THE PLAZA AND TIVOLI

“SOMEHOW GOOD” It is commonly believed by most people that the English-made pictures are not as good as the Hollywood product. This belief will go by the board

with everyone who sees the Britlshm ade picture “Somehow Good” which is now being 1 shown at the Plaza and Tivoli Theatres. There are two main reasons why “Somehow Good” can be called a great picture. The

Charne Murray first is the unusual nature of the plot and the remarkable way it unfolds. The second .reason is the personality of the principal actress, who is no less than Miss Fay Compton. Miss Fay Compton has long been regarded as one of the best stage players in England. She has carried over into the films all her wonderful ability for really natural acting. The result is that one watches her characterisation in “Somehow Good” with an uncanny feeling of forgetting that she is only an actress taking a certain part in a play. And it is not a small part either, for on her capable shoulders rests the main dramatic work. She takes the role of an English woman whose husband, an English army officer in India, divorces her. Years afterwards the husband, while endeavouring to save his wife’s child is badly electrocuted, with the unfortunate result of affecting his memory. He is nursed by the woman he once divorced, but does not remember anything of his former life. With returning convalescence comes a deep love for his benefactor and he proposes marriage. She, torn with doubts and fears, accepts in the hope that her action will bring happiness and erase the past. But, alas, at the end of their honeymoon his old memory is stirred and the past comes back. He realises he has married the woman he once divorced. The great emotional climax is one of the most dramatic scenes ever filmed. “We blunder on hoping that somehow good may come of our actions,” and in this great picture hope is realised and peace comes to two troubled souls. The photography in this production is something of which any studio may well be proud. The visions and mirages of the disordered brain are unique . and the scenes of comfortable old English homes, quiet gardens, and the background of a typical West Country fishing village something to soften the heart of every true Englishman.

The characters are all well cast, but particularly that of the ex-Indian army officer. He looks the part in a way that an ordinary actor never can. A second attraction is provided entitled “The Poor Nut.” This is an uproarious comedy of American university life, with that inimitable actor Jack Mulhall in the leading- role. He plays to perfection the role of a shy country lad, burning with ambition, but continually thwarted by his own “inferiority complex.” Gharlie Murray, another character comedian, is in the cast.