EMPRESS, NEWTON

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 921, 14 March 1930, Page 15

EMPRESS, NEWTON

Based on "The Doomed Regiment,” by Ben Hecht, the all-talking picture, j "The Unholy Night," is not one whit I less remarkable than the original manuscript itself, which,. by the way, is : said to bo based on positive tact. I The gripping record of an effort to i wipe out the 14 surviving officers of a i famous British regiment long after j war had finished. "The Unholy Night, I now at the Empress Theatre. Newton, is 1 the finest example of mystery drama ! that the screen has offered its huge j • rmy of devotees for many years. Every scene is vitally related to the story as a "whole, and e\ ery move . ment every gesture, plai s a poignant j part in the unfolding of the problem I as to who is responsible for the gradual | and uncanny death by strangulation : of the officers mentioned. | Those interested in racial back--1 grounds are commonly wont to list ; ! Cecil B. De Mille as of French descent i This producer-director lias French ; connections, but his family line is, ! Dutch and early Flemish. A j ! verv earlv "de Milt” was a bailiff of ] Ghent, Belgium, in the 13th century. ! Ramon Novarro had been borrowing so many decks of playing cards to use I between scenes in filming his new picl ture "The House of Troy,” that he has | presented all of the extras on the set I with autographed decks to take the 1 place of the cards he wore out.