NEW REGENT

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 612, 14 March 1929, Page 15

NEW REGENT

“THE TRAIL OF ’9B” To provide a successor to “BenHur,” universally acclaimed as the greatest motion picture achievement of all time was for long considered an impossibility. Then, as the titanic Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer undertaking, “The Trail of ’98,” neared completion, impartial observers declared that the producers of “Ben-Hur” had surpassed even their own great work. Subsequent events have proved it is. The Press of two continents has searched in vain to find adject)' l 's that would fittingly describe this miracle of human achievement and screen artistry. In practically every instance it has been described as “even bigger than ‘Hen-Bur’.” Indeed nothing else fittingly describes “The Trail of ’98.” Not only by reason of the number of people engaged in its creation, not alone by virtue of its colossal immensity, its amazing thrills, its ever present drama; not simply because of its wealth of money and labour lavished on it, does “The Trail of ’9B” rank as the greatest picture of all time. It is because :H carries its message home to the heart of every man and woman with great force; because it tells, against a background of grim reality, the most amazing epic of human courage and fortitude within the record of mankind: because it tells the story of men and women who displayed, in spite of the beckoning lure of hidden gold, all those traits of kindliness, self-sacri-fice, bravery and tenacity, that is, the glory of the human race. That “The Trail of *9B” will be welcomed when it is shown at the New Regent Theatre this evening is a foregone conclusion. Such a picture will probably never be made again. It is unique and inimitable. It commands success. This it has proven up to the hilt in England, Europe and America. It is the most outstanding event in picture history. The huge cast of 15,000 is headed by a cast of 35 principals, including Dolores Del Rio, Karl Dane, Harry Carey and Ralph Forbes. A special musical accompaniment has been prepared by Mr. Maurice Outtridge for his Regent Operatic Orchestra.