AMUSEMENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 205, 8 December 1910, Page 7

AMUSEMENTS.

THE JEFFRIES-JOHNSON FIGHT. The Auckland Star says:—Although columns have been written describing every detail of the most 'historical fight ever decided in the history of the. prize ring—that between Jeffries and Johnson —the public are evidently not yet satisfied, for His Majesty's Theatre was not half large enough to hold the crowd, which included a large percentage of ladies, that attempted to get in to see the pictures of the contest, which were shown for the first time in Auckland by the Messrs. McMahon Bros, last evening. Long before the appointed time of starting every seat was occupied,! and hundreds were turned away. For a continuous film, the pictures are as near perfection as it is possible to get, and one could easily imagine they were sitting at the ringside, without being able I to hear what was going on. That the opposition of the pictures from a moralist point of view was entirely unwarranted is plainly apparent, for there is nothing at any stage of the contest to offend the most sensitive, and although there are people who cannot see a man knocked down without having a sinking feeling themselves, the pictures do not show Jeffries to be beaten to that stage of helplessness that one was led to believe from the reports. The knock-out is not a complete one, and when the seconds rush the ring Jeffries is quickly assisted to his feet, and taken to his corner, and shortly after leaves the ring unassisted. As a spectacle, there is nothing degrading, and the films art; easily the best of the kind yet seen in Auckland. As to being able to win at any stage of the contest, this is emphatically disproved by Johnson's attitude when he scored the first knock-down in the fifteenth round, and the eagerness he showed to finish the fight was clear proof he was glad it was over. . Mr. A. Forrest graphically described tire contest round by round, and also gave a short, interesting description of the arranging of the details. The pictures will be shown in New Plymouth next Saturday for one night only.