STRAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 598, 26 February 1929, Page 15

STRAND

“THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES” There are few pictures being: made now that can evoke a large audience into a silence of tears, and the very next moment make them laugh—a loud guffaw of spontaneous merriment —yet D, W. Griffith’s “The Battle of the Sexes,” now at the Strand Theatre, can do that very thing. The story is built upon the theme of a modern “gold digger,” who wrecks

a man’s home and steals the man to satisfy her own lust for gold. In the end she loses the man, but is victorious in that she has accomplished her purpose money. Throughout the story there is a strong upper current of pathos as

the man’s wife and two children struggle to regain their home—the old battle of the sexes. Jean Hersholt, as the erring father, portrays what is easily one of the finest character roles of his great career. Phyllis Haver as the gold-digger, Marie, plays an unsympathetic role, and is the direct cause of much of the comedy. Belle Bennett gives a sympathetic performance as the mother who becomes half-crazed: Sally O’Neil | is natural as an unsophisticated liome- | girl who is instrumental in bringing her estranged parents back to the domestic fold: and Don Alvarado as Jimmy plays the role of a male golddigger. The film is preceded by a colourful stage presentation. “Love’s Triumph,” in which Miss Gwen McNaughton is the dancer, and Mr. Walter Brough the soloist. Enjoyable music is played throughout by Eve Bentley’s Orchestra.