REGENT THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 June 1939, Page 2

REGENT THEATRE

“FOUR’S A CROWD."

The “Four’s a Crowd” programme will be finally shown at the Regent Theatre tonight.

“ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT.”

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” which is to be shown at the Regent Theatre tomorrow night fully equals the success achieved by Erich Remarque’s famous book. The production is a magnificent picturisation of the fate of youth in war. Its hero, young Paul Baumer, is a German, but he stands for the youth, of all nations subjected to the most terrible of all human experiences. The picture portrays the effect of war upon young Baumer and his companions. It is the poignant story of youth that has been denied its chance in life, of youth hurled into a ceaseless hell of body and soul before it has begun to live. There are many scenes that will remain etched permanently upon the memory of the beholder. And always in the background is the tremendous panorama of the world’s greatest conflict. Lew Ayres is the central role, and the late Louis Wolheim and John Wray give performances that have never been surpassed on the motion picture screen. Others in the large cast who stand prominently forth are Slim Summerville, Russell Gleason, William Bakewell, Ben Alexander, Owen Davis, and Zasu Pitts. The broad sweep of war is never allowed to obscure the human beings whose fate is the foremost consideration in the picture. The story of "All Quiet” is based on the experiences and observations of Remarque, who went to the war as a schoolboy. Every character and every incident is authentic. Critics have proclaimed the grim realness of the book, the secret of its record-breaking success, and it is this powerful appeal that Universal have again brought to the screen. Remarque wrote All Quiet” simply, setting down the story of his own experiences—without glamour or heroics. The battle scenes in “All Quiet," in which more than two thousand soldiers, war veterans of all nationalities, participated, arc the most spectacular and yet thc most genuine ever filmed.