MAJESTIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 761, 6 September 1929, Page 15

MAJESTIC

“SINS OF THE FATHERS” | Reverting to his own nationality for I the first time since his original Amej rican-made picture, Emil Jannings now I stars in “Sins of the Fathers,” which j comes to the Majestic Theatre today. The current production is Jannings's fifth Ame - ! rican-made picture ; and in it he takes i the role of an Ame- ■ rican of German extraction, his actual status. | In “The Way of i All Flesh,” in which J Jannings first apI peared after he i came to Hollywood, j he played the role j of a German-Ame-j rican. In “The Street of Sin” he was a bully of the Limeliouse district in ! London. In his last two pictures. “The j Last Command” and “The Patriot,” lie has been a Russian, a grand duke in j the former and a Tsar in the latter. In “Sins of the Fathers.” Jannings portrays a role of a man in three stages of his life. Starting out as a J waiter, he becomes a saloon keeper, | then a rich bootlegger, and then back jto a waiter again. Throughout he j plays the kind of a man the Amerij can audience is familiar with. This ■ was not true of the roles he has been j seen in heretofore, as his four previous hits had Continental back- | grounds. Zasu Pitts, called by Erich von i Stroheim “the screen’s greatest trage- : dienne.” has an important role as the . first wife of Jannings. Harry Norton, the “mama’s boy” of “"What Price 1 Glory.” and later one of the flyers of “ r fhe Legion of the Condemned.” In this sound picture Jannings is heard singing a German operatic numi her with great gusto and artistry. .Besides that feature the synchronised music score, rendered by a concert orchestra of eight pieces, is also brilliant. The sound effects, too, come in for renewed interest in the picture Among the excellent short talkie features which will also be presented will be an all-talking comedy bv George Jessel, film and stage comedian, a comedy interlude by Claphara and Dwyer, vaudeville players, and a Fox News with the latest world events. ' The Majestic Octette, under the baton of Mr. J. Whiteford-Waugh, will play a number of enjoyable musical : selections.