STRAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 473, 1 October 1928, Page 14

STRAND

“RAMONA" No lover of beautiful acting and of romance that is “different" can afford to miss “Ramona," which is in its second week of screening at the Strand Theatre, and is still attracting record audiences daily. In it Dolores Del Rio, the lovely Mexican, plays an Indian wife of the old Spanish days in California when justice was sometimes very cruelly on the side of the strong and race-hatred was allowed to rage almost unchecked. The film begins with some exquisite pastoral scenes in which Ramona, who did not know then that she was the daughter of a squaw, is loved by Felipe, a noble young Spaniard. She herself has given her heart —she does not know why—to Alessandro, the lithe young Indian chief who is in charge of the native sheep-shearers. She runs away with Alessandro, and for three years lives a Western idyll. Then there happens a kind of “pogrom” against the Indians, who are accused of horse-stealing. They are massacred to a man, Alessandro included. Ramona loses her reason and wanders aimlessly about the country, but is at last found by Felipe and awakens to a new happiness. Alike for the acting of Dolores Del Rio as Ramona, and Warner Baxter and Roland Drew as Alessandro and Felipe, and for the atmosphere of the old-time Spanish farm and the Indian encampment, this Edwin Carewe film is one both to see and remember. A charming prologue, outstanding for its beautiful simplicity, precedes the screening of the photoplay. Mr. Birrell O’Malley, Auckland’s leading tenor, is the solo vocalist, and very charmingly sjngs “Ramona.” Eve Bentley’s popular Strand Symphony Orchestra plays a delightful musical programme. Another musical interlude on the programme is the singing of “Ramona” by Dolores Del Rio herself. This record, which is the only one in New Zealand, was made by the star shortly after the completion of the beautiful love story. An hilarious Our Gang comedy, “It’s a Bear,” which depicts the adventures of the merry band of kiddies when they got loose on a farm among the animals, an interesting Strand Magazine, and a unique nature study film, are on this notable programme. The Swiss Industrial Commission, composed of national officials, bankers and industrial leaders, recently visited First National Studios as the guests of Billie Dove, who is of Swiss descent.