MAJESTIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 989, 4 June 1930, Page 17

MAJESTIC

"HIT THE DECK” COMING “The Great Gahbo,” now at the Majestic Theatre, is a wonderful picture. It is not a back-stage picture in the ordinarily accepted sense. It is a novel and amazing story of a ventriloquist who can think of nothing else but himself. His supreme egotism amounts almost to madness. He believes he is the greatest artist that ever appeared on the stage. There can be no show without “The Great Gabbo.” There you have the essence of the picture. Erich von Stroheim, an actor without peer on the silent screen, emerges triumphantly in his first alltalking role. His characterisation of Gabbo is a masterpiece of dramatic acting, and must remain one of the classic performances of stage or screen. Betty Compson reveals great dramatic ability, coupled with a beautiful singing voice. “Hit the Deck” Radio Pictures’ lavish all-talking technicolour musical comedy opens at the Majestic Theatre on Friday. A cast of 14 prominent players, headed by Polly Walker, Broadway beauty, and Jack Oakie, sensational comedian, interpret the roles.

No expense or talent was spared to make the screen version the most pretentious offering of the season. A chorus of 200 singers and dancers lend a variety to the screen version that the stage could only suggest. Luther Reed, who directed “Rio Rita,” and Robert Kurrle, responsible for the photography of that sensational hit, again have given their talents in making “Hit the Deck” equally great. Nine songs, with a musical background by three orchestras, will be heard. Scenes made at a naval base lend reality to the exteriors.