“HANGMAN’S HOUSE”

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 520, 24 November 1928, Page 15

“HANGMAN’S HOUSE”

MAJESTIC’S QUALITY BILL Haunted by the dead faces of men he had sent to the gallows, the old Irish judge sat in his weird castle hall and awaited the coming of death. As the hour drew near his daughter bowed to his last wishes and surrendered her youth to a husband she neither loved nor admired. That is the key scene of “Hangman's House,” a Fox dramatic production which held pride of place on the new Majestic programme last evening. The latest bill is hall-marked by a unique standard of quality, and achieves a uniform degree of excellence from the overture to the playing of the National Anthem. As£ is usual when the Majestic has something particularly good to offer, the management has seen to it that the atmosphere is not lost by poor or mediocre supporting features. Each screen item has real worth, but “Hangman's House,” as befits the star attraction, has something more. It has powerful appeal, and gripping realism, such as few pictures possess. Moreover, the treatment is superb, and the photography is an artistic triumph. It will not be easy to forget those exterior scenes of “Hangman’s House.” The quaint rural suggestion of Ireland, the peeps at the grim house, pregnant with remarkable “atmosphere,” the mist scenes on land and river But a full recital of these photographic virtues would be unending. The photography of this remarkable production rivals that of “Sunrise,” and we suspect that the same brain guided the‘cameras in both cases The story belongs to the class usually described as “powerful.” and. in this case, the adjective fills the bill neatly. The scenario was written from the novel by Donn Byrne, and a modern director who knows his business and is blessed with imagination has caught the spirit rather than the letter of the thing. Victor McLaglen plays the part of an Irish renegade in the French Foreign Legion who hears of the death of his sister following desertion by her husband. He journeys to the land of his birth and finds that his sworn enemy lias married the daughter of the man who owns “hangman’s” house, and is wrecking her life. Aided by an Irish boy he puts matters to rights, but not before a gallant racehorse has been brutally destroyed, and a lofty mansion Ims been devoured by flames. “The River Avon, Christchurch,” Is a tastefully photographed New Zealand scenic film that opens the programme, and the latest Majestic news budget contains a generous selection from the most interesting events of the day. “A Struggle for Existence” is a Nature study from the Bray studios that adds fresh laurels tow the camera in botanic fields. It was followed last evening by a really funny Pathe comedy of matrimonial errors. Last, and of special importance from the point of view of public appreciation. was the Gilbert and Sullivan airs presented as a musical selection by Mr. J. Whiteford Waugh’s Majestic Orchestra. The item placed a seal of perfection on a fine cinema evening that could hardly be bettered.