MAJESTIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 705, 3 July 1929, Page 15

MAJESTIC

LAST DAYS OF “THE RESCUE” Using Joseph Conrad’s masterpiece, “The Rescue,” as the vehicle for his first appearance as an individual star for Samuel Goldwyn, Ronald Colman appears before his public in a new light in “The Rescue,” now at the Majestic Theatre. The hero of “Beau Geste” and “Two Lovers” now has a role of the sea and desperate intrigue among the natives of the Malay archipelago. Herbert Brenon, the same i director who made Colman in “Beau • Geste,” wielded the megaphone for this United Artists picture, and Lily ; Damita, Samuel Goldwyn’s new French : find, plays opposite Colman as the beautiful Mrs. Travers. There is every opportunity for beauty of setting and matchless drama in the plot of “The Rescue.” In the midst of Captain Tom Lingard’s lawless affair of honour involving the throne of a Malayan prince, blundered an English yacht, fatefully stranded in the midst of what was to be the dark theatre of war. Of the three white passengers, only the owner’s wife understood the situation—and Lingard. On him fell the decision —to save the whites and ruin his enterprise—or let the natives have their way with them and fulfill his debt to the Malay prince. To Lingard this woman, “imperfectly civilised,” her husband said, came as the first blinding flash of all woman could mean to man. Integrity—the duty of a white to his countryman in the South Seas, the never-broken word of King Tom to a natiye, his whole career—and this woman.' The inevitable climax of “The Rescue” cannot bo guessed. Ronald Colman has never appeared to better advantage than as the daring wanderer of the sea—“ King Tom,” in this thrilling, romantic drama. The chief item of interest on the supporting programme is the film showing the first official pictures of the earthquake-stricken areas of Murchison. Nelson and Glenhope. On Friday the Majestic will present two particularly interesting British films. The first of these is “The Farmer’s Wife,” a vivid characterisation of homely romantic life in Levon, starring Lillian Hall-Davis and Jameson Thomas.

The second film is Edgar Wallace's brilliant thriller, “The Forger,” a sensational drama interpreted by Lilian Rich and a big cast. O’BRIAN’S REVELLERS GOOD SHOW AT ST. JAMES Without a doubt the programme being presented by Frank O'Brian and his company at St. James Theatre is one of the best ever presented by any revue cornr-nv in this city. From the princip down to the last chorus girl they an know their stuff” when it comes to sending the show merrily ! along. As in all revues, the comedy element is well to the fore, but running it a | close second is the dancing. This is a feature of the show. In concerted and solo items the dances are snappy and original, and there is none of that sameness which one encounters. Perhaps the best dancing in this week’s show is seen in “Song of the Legion,” a dance scena with the whole company dressed in French Foreign Legion uniforms. At < / er times the Versatile Eight, a clever lot of chorus girls, show the latest thing in steps. Janice Hart, whether singing or dancing, is a constant delight, and her work with the chorus and in sketches is of a high order. Frank O'Brian is a show in himself. Commencing as a naughty schoolboy he is later a very much henpecked husband, with a great discovery of how to even up with his mother-in-law. and a wrestler displaying a knowledge of the game which would make Kilonis green with envy. Other members of the cast give all the backing necessary, both individually and collectively. Tiny Douglas's “Varsity Boys” play jazz as it should be played and set all feet trapping. Douglas Fairbanks’s “The Iron Mask” is the fourth picture within a year in which Belle Bennett and William Bakewell have played mother and son. Miss Bennett plays Anne of Austria, Queen-Mother of Louis XIV. and his twin brother, both of these boys being played by Mr. Bakewell. “The Iron Mask” concerns the further adventures of L’Artagnan and “The Three Musketeers.”