STATE THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 October 1939, Page 2

STATE THEATRE

‘•FIVE CAME BACK.” Intelligent people—that is, those of the public who go to see films not merely to shriek with laughter and weep at shallow sentiment, will appreciate “Five Came Back,” the picture which opened its Masterton season in the State Theatre, last night. They will appreciate a powerful plot, starkly realistic acting and a sequence of dramatic scenes building up to a climax which will set patrons pondering on the futility of men and their lives. Twelve men and women were on board the air liner when a storm buffeted it hundreds of miles off its course and caused a forced landing in unexplored South American jungle. Eleven people were alive after the landing, but only five ever went back to the maelstrom called civilisation. And the man who selected those who deserved to go back was a murderer, condemned to death by, yet not poisoned against, his fellow men. That is the vital plot and there is a wealth of meaning behind the polished acting by Chester Morris, C. Aubrey Smith, John Carradine, Kent Taylor, Lucille Ball and Wendy Barrie. There is enough adventure and thrill in this picture to keep the most seasoned person gripping his seat; there is, too. sincerity, depth and philosophy enough to turn the head and the heart of the most cold-blooded cynic. Included in the interesting supporting programme is an explanation of television, which includes pictures of an actual regular broadcast from the New York Television Studios. Walt Disney’s latest Silly Symphony, “Mother Goose Goes Hollywood,” caricatures well-known actors and actresses—with surprising results.