HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLI, Issue 9290, 11 August 1920, Page 6

HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

"The Man' They Could Not Hang," which attracted a . large audience to His Majesty's Theatre last evening, presented a remarkable record of human history. It depicted the tragedy of a man's life, of his sufferings, and his final ''happiness. The story was not a very attractive one and had it been made the basis of a fiction story it would probably have been looked upon as an impossibility. As it was, • the plain story of John Lee had a thrill and appeal which could not be pet with in fiction. It was the realisation that the whole was true and genuine that impressed itself on the audience. The picture showed in a forceful manner ' what remarkable changes may be made in' an ordinary man's life by a chain of circumstances. John Lee had ambitions of going to sea, but after serving as a navalcadet his health became impaired and he had to abandon the idea of entering the navy. He became gardener to Miss Emma Keyse, who was' one of the maids-of-honour" to the late Queen Victoria. One evening John Dee became aroused'-by the smell of fire, and, entering his mistress's room, found the place in flames. He endeavoured to check the fire, cutting his hand on the window glass in endeavouring to pro-* vide an outlet for the smoke. Not until he had subdued the fireftdid. he notice the dead body of his mistress on the floor. He had picked up the dagger with which the. deed had been done and was leaning -over the body when the police entered the room. He was arrested, tried, and sentenced- to death for murder. He went to the gallows protesting his innocence. The noose ! was adjusted, the last' prayer said, and the lever was thrown over. The trapdoor failed to "work, although when the prisoner was taken down and two bags of sand placed there, the result was satisfactory. He". was . again placed on the scaffold, and still the trap-door would not work. 'After a third attempt the effort was abandoned, and Lee's sentence was changed to servitude for life,. Then, after ?3 years'of' imprisonment, the real murdered made a death-bed confession, and John Lee was once more a free man, free to rejoin the wife,' who had been married to him in a prison cell shortly before his execution was to take place. The picture was explained throughout by the English elocutionist, Mr Frederick Haldane, whose words fell in naturally, with the story unfolded on the screen. This*' stirring production, and a siipporting programme, including the Topical Budget and an excellent comedy entitled "Lonesome Luke 'Messenger," will be screened again to-night.