ENTERTAINMENTS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLIV, Issue 9876, 25 July 1923, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE. "THE FAST MAIL.” There can be no doubt about the entertainment value of “The bast Mail,” tne William box melodrama which was shown for the first time last night at ills Majesty's Theatre. It is action plus and contains enough thrills to satisfy even the most critical movie fan, “The Fast Mail” is even better than the original play which ran for 22 seasons. All the thrills that delighted the popular loye for exciting melodrama are shown on the screen with the realism which could not be attempted on the stage. Ther© is not a dull moment in the entire film. The story starts at the historic Dixie Land Steeplechase and pictures some of the fastest dare-devil riding ever shown on the screen. The hero was fouled during the race for die girl lie loved. Crooked gamblers who had the girl’s brother in their power had fixed the race, so that they would win the money. During the argument over the division of the stake, one of the gamblers is shot and the other one. decoys the heroine into an automobile. The hero follows and the most exciting pursuit ever screened follows. The picture is a real, hair-raising thriller and in the words of, William Fox, its producer, is an “Honest Melodrama.” To-night is the last opportunity of seeing 'this film.

“LORNA DOONE.” Heralded by critics throughout the country as Maurice Tourneur’s “greatest masterpiece” and a “thrilling dramatic spectacle of unrivalled beauty,” “Lorna Doone” will open at His Majesty’s to-morrow night. Tourneur’s fictionization of Blackmore’s famous novel has attracted world-wide attention and for once the critics have forgotten to complain that “the picture is nothing like the book.” While the novel has been decidedly condensed in the film version, all the i main dramatic -’episodes which have made the book a “best seller” for three generations have been retained and the spirit of the times have been faithfully reproduced. For those unfamiliar with the novel, “Lorna Doone” offers an evening of exciting entertainment for the love story works out to a triumphant ending illy after tremendous conflicts in which life itself if the stake. A spectacular fight in which one man matches, his wits against the strength of a whole band of outlaws and the burning of the Doone Village after a bloodly battle are “thrillers” that would satisfy anyone. To the book lover, the student of English classics and . the educator, the coming of ‘‘’Lorna Doone. 9 will p£ a rare treat. Tourneur has earned a reputation as an educator in the film industry and his screen versions of classical books and plays have been marked by such artistry that they have won permanent places in the fihn libraries of schools, churches, and coin-* munity houses. Madge Bellamy, endeared to the public by her splendid work in Thomas H. Ince’s “Hail the Woman” plays the title role. With her beauty and undeniable charm, she should be ideal in the part of the gentle “captive maid of Ekmoor.” John Bowers, one of the biggest men physically of the screen, has been appropriately cast for the role of “John Ridd,” Lorna’s lover who was the “strongest man in Devonshire.” Frank Keenan the regal old outlaw chief, “Sir Ensor Doone” with Donald MacDonald as the villainous “Carver Doone,” who meets such a horrible death in a quagmire.