PLAZA AND TIVOLI

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 606, 7 March 1929, Page 15

PLAZA AND TIVOLI

“THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK” The same combination of director and star that made such successes as “The Drag Net,” again functioned as a unit in the production of “The Docks of New York,” which will be shown at the Plaza and Tivoli Theatres this evening. George Bancroft, who made his screen debut as a smiling villain and

who more recently became the smiling hero, was engaged in the difficult task of shovelling coal into the mouth of a huge furnace and still continuing his famous smile. The director was Josef von Sternberg, exponent of ultra-realism o n the screen, who does not care to what lengths he has to go to make

a scene true to life. His most recent exemplification of this desire for realism came when he moved his troupe down to the stokehold of a tramp steamer at San Pedro and filmed scenes of Bancroft feeding coal into the giant boilers. Paramount has gone to a great expense in providing Mr. Bancroft with the best of supporting talent. There is the ever popular Betty Compson in the chief supporting role. Then Baclanova, the fiery Russian actress, has a prominent role too. Theatre-goers will recall her work in Jannings’s “The Street of Sin,” and with Clive Brook in “Forgotten Faces.” Also included in the cast is Clyde Cook, who gives a very human characterisation. The story is typical of a Bancroft picture. It lias all the elements that go to fit the ability of this popular actor. It is from the pen of John Monk Saunders, who wrote “Wings” and “The Legion of the Condemned” Last, but not least, Josef von Sternberg directed this production. His success with previous Paramount productions, such as “The Last Command,” speaks for itself. A Western picture with a mystery background is the second attraction, “The Phantom City,” a story of the old Western mining towns, and pres-ent-day ghosts, in which Ken Maf nard, the popular and hard-riding cowboy, is the star.

The supporting- programme will include views of the Mount Eden reservoir collapse and songs by Mr. Ernest Thomas. basso. Howard Moody’s Symphony Orchestra will play.