"BIRTH OF A NATION."

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 117, 20 May 1933, Page 5 (Supplement)

"BIRTH OF A NATION."

EPIC FILM TO RETURN. The ghosts of yesteryear have returned to the silver screen. But not the silhouetted ghosts of pantomime. The ghosts are all dressed up in 1930 clothes. "The Birth of a Nation" is coming back to its millions of lovers. Filmed as a silent picture 10 years ago, making its debut in New York City iu March, 1915, this epic of the American Civil War, it is estimated, was witnessed by more than 55,000,000 persons throughout the world. The original film for the most part remains unchanged. The original cast —Lillian Gisli, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall, Donald Crisp, Spottiswoode Aiken, Mary Alden—survives. The yard-stick by which all great motion

picture classics are still measured is in tact, but glorified by the modern im provements in sound and music.

The present showing of "The Birth of a Xation" in the sound version recalls the careers of the players that composed the cast of the picturc 10 years ago. Lillian Gisli, the heroine, attained the heights of screen stardom and has but lately deserted the talking screen for the New York stage. Henry B. Walthall is remembered as the "little colonel." Mary Alden has forsaken the cinema for the concert stage, where she is carving a new career as a singer. Walter Long, Tom Wilson and Ralph Lewis have become noted for their character roles. Raoul Walsh, Donald Crisp and Elmer Clifton attained prominence as directors and romantic actors. Wallace Reid, comparatively unknown when he played the blacksmith in this picture, became one of the screen's outstanding stars and was called by death at the height of his career. George Sciginan, Robert Harron, and Spottiswoode Aiken have also passed away. Mae Marsh only recently came to the fore in a fine "mother" role in "Over the Hill."