NEW REGENT

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 560, 12 January 1929, Page 13

NEW REGENT

“THE DRAG NET” Crookdom has changed. No longer do members of the underworld live in cellars, lean over a tabLe with a candle for light, and plot their latest forays against society. Quite the contrary is true, as is graphically shown in “The Drag Net,” Paramount’s latest production, starring George Bancroft, now being shown at the New Regent Theatre. The present-day crook cannot be told from the respectable citizen, for he frequents places of entertainment and conducts himself in a regular drawing-room manner. This new style of living on the part of gangsters is brought to light in “The Drag Net,” a picture of the law’s ceaseless vigil against the underworld; by the staging of a banquet, with dress suits, tuxedoes and the latest formal gowns. True, some of the jewellery worn by the gangsters and their sweethearts may not have been acquired in the orthodox manner, yet nevertheless a display and “show” such as one would expect from a group of business men and their ladies is held. The banquet scene with the cabaret celebration which preceded it, is said to far surpass all but the most dramatic spectacle. Seventy-five extra players were used with dinner clothes and expensive gowns as the highlights of the scene. Surely the ways of gangdom have changed! George Bancroft has the leading role, that of a gang leader, and Evelyn Brent has the leading feminine role. Others in the cast are AVilliam Powell and Fi-ed Kohler. A second picture is shown in “Beau Broadway,” starring Lew Cody and Aileen Pringle. Cody as the gay boulevardier, dilettante and manager of a young and promising heavy-weight fighter, is his whimsical, sophisticated and deVil-mav-care self—matched only in his resourcefulness and wiles by his perfect foil —charming and talented Miss Pringle. Sue Carol, beautilml and youthful new “flapper” star, is featured in a cast that includes Hugh Trevor, Kit Guard and James J. Jeffries, former heavy-weight champion. The Regent Operatic Orchestra, under the baton of Mr. Arthur S. Frost, provides an excellent musical programme. The cast of the latest Esther Ralston starring picture for Paramount, “The Case of Lena Smith,” includes James Hall, Gustave von Seyffertitz, Emily Fitzroy. Leone Lane and Ann Brody. It is being produced under the direction of Josef von Sternberg.