PLAZA

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 775, 23 September 1929, Page 15

PLAZA

“THUNDERBOLT” Bancroft and Von Sternberg! Marvellous portrayers on life on the screen. With “Underworld” it seemed that these two, star and director, achieved the greatest things possible on the screen but “Thuiderboit” is now being shown at the Plaza Theatre, and, in the all-talking screen medium, the miracle workers have perfected a new and greater picture of life in the little known melieu of the underworld. No stronger drama has ever been conceived; no greater emotional climax ever screened than Von Sternberg and Bancroft have brought forth in “Thunderbolt.” Opening in the intriguing atmosphere • of Harlem’s black metropolis, where Bancroft as a fearful death dealer sways the lives and destinies of hundreds of human beings, it swings to the awe-inspiring setting of Sing Sing’s Death Row, where the final exciting climaxes in this most exciting drama are enacted. The story captures and vivifies the dramatic incidents that cross the news horizon in the newspapers every day. It goes behind these flitting episodes and brings tlie whole tale forward. Superbly acted by a splendid cast, headed by Bancroft, Richard Arlen and Fay Wray, it is a slice of contemporary life made to live. In “Thunderbolt,” the all-talking medium of screen presentation is exceptionally effective. There are so many things to hear as well as to see that the combination of picture and sound is necessary to the complete entertainment. The perfection of the dialogue recording matches the perfection of the direction and the acting. “Thunderbolt” is wonderfully well rounded—truly a master motion picture. The remainder of the programme includes a number of short talkie features, including an all-talking comedy, “Tuning In”; humorous songs accompanied by musical instruments by Miller and Farrell: selections by the Hix Brown Boys and their jazz band: and items by Horace Britt, celebrated cellist.