MAJESTIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 703, 1 July 1929, Page 15

MAJESTIC

“THE RESCUE” “The Rescue,” which was shown to crowded houses at the Majestic Theatre again on Saturday evening, is an event in motion picture history in several ways. It shows Ronald Colman to the public for the first time in the capacity of an individual star, it brings one of Joseph Conrad’s romances to the screen for the first time in an important production, and it introduces a new film-character by the name of Lily Damita who seems fated to become one of the best-known actresses in Hollywood before she has finished her career. Add to these facts the other facts that Samuel Goldwyn is the producer and the picture was directed by Herbert Brenon, of ‘’Beau Geste” and Sorrel and Son” fame, and you have the reasons why the audience was so enthusiastic over “The Rescue.” Almost everyone knows the story of “The Rescue,” which was Conrad’s own favourite among all his novels. Colman is given the role of the English trader and freebooter in the Java seas, enmeshed in a web of native intrigue, and torn between his obligations to his native friends and his love for another Englishman’s wife. Colman has never appeared to better advantage than as the commander of the brig “Lightning,” and he rings every change in the emotional potentialities of the role with masterly acting. A finale for the picture as impressive as anything ever dene on the screen is furnished by the explosion of a schooner loaded with dynamite, ruining all hope of success for the trading captain’s intrigues. The scenes in the nati\'e village are second in authentic beauty only to the sequences on board the “Lightning” where the Goldwyn photographers have out-done themselves to capture the atmosphere of salt water and those who go down to the sea in ships. Certainly the most outstanding feature on the supporting programme is the screening of the first official pictures of the earthquake-stricken areas on the West Coast. The film shows vividly scenes of the devastation caused in Murchison, Nelson and Glenhope. The remaining items include a Majestic News, a Charlie Chase comedy, an Eve’s Review, and new music by Mr. Whiteford Waugh’s Majestic Orchestra.