TIVOLI’S NEW FILM

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 761, 6 September 1929, Page 14

TIVOLI’S NEW FILM

ELINOR GLYN STORY BILLIE DOVE AND ROD LA ROCQUE Billie Dove has often been called the most beautiful girl on the screen. Such a reputation usually detracts from the histrionic ability of an actress, and in past years this may have been true of Miss Dove. But in her last few First National starring vehicles, critics have come to realise more and more that Miss Dove has given the motion picture screen something besides her cameo-like beauty—that she is a finished actress of skill and finesse, and that her characterisations are becoming more and more vivid and compelling. Her latest stellar vehicle, “The Man and the Moment,” came to the Tivoli Theatre last night, and theatre lovers were out in large numbers to greet their favourite. This time Miss Dove appears in an American story as a typical American girl. The story, by Elinor Glyn, has all the torrid feeling and passion that Mme. Glyn usually bestows upon her literary efforts, yet it has an unusually novel and interesting plot, well worked out, with suspense and thrills alternating with the love scenes, of which there are many. Briefly, the story deals with an orphan girl who thinks her guardian is a little too exacting. Her seaplane breaks down in the midst of a water party of jazzy youths, and one member of the party, a gay young roue, played by Rod La Rocque, mistakes the girl, who has fainted, for a man. His surprise when he discovers the sex of the pilot leads to a violent love affair, which culminates in the girl's agreeing to wed the man, just to escape from the authority of her guardian. There is an agreement that they will separate immediately after the ceremony. Considering that “The Man and the Moment” is an Elinor Glyn story, it can well be imagined that the agreement did not go through just as planned. Hectic jazz parties, wild nights on a luxurious yacht and all the typical Glyn trimmings embellish this story, which, as we observed before, really has an unusual twist to the plot. There was the usual bright supporting programme, the whole making up an enjoyable evening.