MAJESTIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 746, 20 August 1929, Page 14

MAJESTIC

"THE AWAKENING” “The Awakening.” Samuel Goldwy ns first starring vehicle for Vilma Banky is now at the Majestic Theatre their first sound-synchronised production, and is one of those pictures which prove again that simplicity of storvand beauty of production are, after all, the best recipes for a good picture. It has all the romantic ardour, the thrills, and the pictorial effect which make it entertainmer t of the very firsorder. The story pictures Vilma Banky as the acknowledged beauty of the little village of Pre d’Or, sought by many suitors and quietly rejecting them until she has become a symbol of purity and beauty for the whole village. Simultaneously with the annual village festival, a troop of Uhlans, led by Walter Byron as Lieutenant ’ von Hagen, arrive in the village and Byron, a champion Don Juan, determines to make a conquest of the village girl. The fete scenes, enlivened by peasant costumes and rush® humour, present an excellent contrast with, the grim bloodshed of war in the latter half of the picture. Von Hagen, on the verge of the success he wishes, discovers that he has fallen in love with the girl whom he had believed only a passing fancy. The discovery comes too late, for Marie has already disappeared in disgrace, with her grandfather dead of shame. Their second meeting during the war in the midst of a heavy bombardment, is signalised by their coming face to face with the girl’s former peasant lover who drove her out town. The dramatic reconciliation and the thrilling rescue affected by this one-time enemy brings the film to a sensational close. Irving Berlin’s them© song, ‘ Marie,’* dedicated to Vilma Banky, is used extensively in the musical accompaniment with great effect. Peasant tunes and Uhlan marching songs are also appropriately introduced. In addition to this sound-synchron-ised production, the programme includes a number of short all-talkie feature. Chief among these is the clever Dickens characterisation by Bransby Williams, the rioted English character actor, also a Fox Movietone News with events of the day in sight and sound, and items by the Waring Pennsylvania’s Jazz Band. Finally the Majestic Orchestra plays some musical selections. “SORRELL AND SON” AT ROYAL Two of the most entertaining films that were screened in Auckland will bo presented at the Royal Theatre. Kingsland. this evening. The first is “Sorrell and Son,” the beautiful story of a father’s love for his little son. based on Warwick Deeping’s famous novel. “Sorrell and Son” is a tale of postwar England and of an officer who returned from the war to find his Job gone and his wife left him. In order to give his boy a proper education Captain Stephen Sorrell gets work as the porter at a country inn. and the story of his suffering and final success is well worth following. 11. B. Warner is the star. The second film is “Tip Toes.” an amusing story of English vaudeville life, and of a trapeze artist who married into the nobility, starring Dorothy Gish Lily Damita, glamorous French star, is as slender as her floral namesake and hence is one of the few actresses in Hollywood who is not plagued by the nightmare of reducing. The other day, between scenes for “The Cock-eyed World,” she was observed in the studio cafeteria stowing away pieces of apple pie that weighed something like a pound. Solomon’s maxims might be revised to read, “Consider the lilies of the field; they toil not. neither do they spin—all they do is eat apple pie.”