PLAZA

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 709, 8 July 1929, Page 15

PLAZA

“THE TERRORS In the expressive American slang, the talking picture now at the Plaza Theatre, “The Terror," not only “gets them guessing," but “keeps them guessing." Yet it does not break that old axiom of playwrights, “Never fool the audience." The makers of “The Te,rror” do not fool the audience. Tho audience fools itself. Character after character seems to be the one on whom the blame for the gruesome and ludicrous deeds of the hooded terror, should fall. Not till the last fadeout, however, does anyone guess the identity of “The Terror/' or the truth about the hidden loot and the looter himself. The director has outdone himself in the way in which he has managed characters and situations, and in the uncanny setting for the action. The dilapidated English manor house might well date from the dark ages. It has its sliding panels, its torture chamber, its shadowy passages, its vast fireplace which “The Terror” haunts. It is all cobwebs, and shudders, and shocks —that is, when the panicky antics of the guests at old Dr. Redmayne’s “rest cure” are not setting the crowd off into hysterical laughter. In Dr. Redmayne’s spooky mansion is supposed to be hidden vast sums of money stolen from a certain bank — there, too, the purloiner is believed to lurk. This story has been spread abroad and to the spot come all sorts of people, some to get well, but more to get wealth. In and out among this hit-or-miss company—glides “The Terror”—hooded and mysterious—dealing broken heads and hearts with impartial zest. Tho tale is unfolded by an excellent cast, headed by May McAvoy, Louize Fazenda, Alec B. Francis, Holmes Herbert and others. The short talkie features are particularly interesting. There is, for example, Roger Kahn, son of a multimillionaire who has made a fortune for himself as a night club orchestra leader. He is presented leading his own orchestra of 30 players in his own New York night club. Another interesting personality is Isa Kremer, a woman of extraordinary powers of interpretation and pantomime. She is heard singing a number of old ballads and folk songs. Other features introduce to Auckland tho Aristocrats, an aggregation of personable young men who combine their voices with the playing of instruments. Finally there is Spalding, the violinist, an amusing fire-brigade comedy, an Empire News, and a U.F.A. gem.