“THE TRESPASSER”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 893, 10 February 1930, Page 14

“THE TRESPASSER”

AT ROXY TODAY

Gloria Swanson’s outstanding dramatic production, which has already surprised and delighted Auckland audiences, has now been transj.ei red to the Roxy Theatre, Queen Street, and will commence there this evening. Miss Swanson both sings and talks in this new work.

Her spoken lines are the more effective because “The Trespasser is a play of modern life constructed to meet the requirements of the new screen medium, rather than a story designed for a silent picture, into which dialogue has been injected. Her singing likewise is expected to be more highly appreciated, because the two songs she offers interpret the mood of the story and sustain its tempo, instead of disrupting its trend of thought.

“The Trespasser” is a drama of the moment. Its setting is Chicago; its environment the “smart set.” And through its intimate study, of a. girl ■who becomes a trespasser in this restricted social sphere and in the lives of its people, the story delves into vital affairs of life.

Miss Swanson, in her portrayal of “Marion Donnell,” is supporetd by established players of both stage and screen. The leading man is Robert Ames, who has been extremely popular on Broadway. He portrays “Jack Merrick,” whose romance with “Marion Donnell’ 4 indelibly stamps her as “The Trespasser.” Purnell Pratt, who has appeared on the talking screen, plays Hector Ferguson, wealthy corporation lawyer, and the “other man” in Marion Donnell’s involved scheme of things, Henry B. Walthall, one of the screen’s earliest figures, has a strong character role. Wally Albright, three and a-half years old, who appears as Marion Donnell’s son, is regarded as one of the most promising of all the child actors in dialogue pictures. The music of the song, “Love,” one of Miss Swanson’s numbers, was written for her by Director Goulding. The lyric was written by Elsie Janis. Her second song is Toselli’s “Serenade.”