"WITH COBHAM TO THE CAPE."

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19112, 22 September 1927, Page 6

"WITH COBHAM TO THE CAPE."

THE GREAT AVIATOR TELLS HIS STORY. •GRAND -.THEATRE, MONDAY. If Sir Alan. Cobham-. were to issue an invitntiou' to ' a few privileged persons ,of Cl'rislcburch to take a journey with bim on ono o» his own individual, daring) reckless .flights",< who .would not go? Bui sucli a..tiling, 110 ,matter, liow tempting, cannot be. liut' it' is ; always ■ possible, to take a jcuruey with anyone via -the motion picture route, and so fai has' this' most modern of' arts progressed that even Sit Alan Cobham .is -not safe , from its exploring tentacles. Thus, .011 one of tbo great aviator s sensational and lonely fligbtß, the famous Gaumont Company, whose celebrated Gas- ! mont Gra.phica are so popular on theatre j programmes,, sent qnc.of its most intrepid cameraman with the fiyer and his late mechanic, Elliott, and , this photographer, Basil Klnmett, has followed with his magic and allseeing : lens the spectacular and eventful journey to tho Cape, - across the Mediterranean frotn ; the take-off .at Croydon, over .to Egypt, through the Soudan, colourful with brave tales'of Gordon and British heroism, along- the valley of 'the Nile,' with its memories of Cleopatra and her gorgeous passage to meet Antony; over the silent- Sphinx, tli-3 Pyramids, down the African. Continent, over the Assuaii dam, down through to Rhodesia, over tbo Victoria Fails- oil the' Zambesi, and' tlius on to more civilised. parts and' t'o Cape Town. "AV ith Cobham to- the Capo" opens at the Grand Theatro next Monday. Hero follows the welcome afforded by the vociferous DutcliEnglisb population to the cool heroes, making a delightfully' human and humorous touch to the thrilling and romantic narrative. One event.on the journey is worthy of mention- in tliia necessarily brief review As Cobham was flying low over the Victoria Falls, (the■-largeit falls in the world), to enable. Emmott to get some exceptional "shots, the spray which reaches over a thousand, feet high, into the. air got into the carburetter, and the engine stalled over the yawning chasm of raging waters All three men thought their last, hour had come, but. Emmott. kept .grimly grinding away at his. camera hoping that the film .might be saved,. •' when the aeroplane made a sensational' recovery, and rose to safely. Th;s incident is brought vividly out on ■ the acieon story, and lends, a further uuman touch to the whole brilliant, courageous, and ertertaining ensemble. On tlie «way back to London we pass-over France, Ttaly, and Greocdy. .France, "the. chosen land of chivalry, the garden of "romance", ".we near the land'where beauty; smiles.' the sunny shores of the . Grecian Isles/' ' and as for Italy, ill!, literature is, flooded with extravagant verses• of her, .beauty.-and charm. All this wealth of loveliness aricl historic • interest is captured, and the circling over the Panwonder and interest in Athens lend another note of colour and romance in this remark able film There is no doubt that ( the picture, '"With Cobham to the Cape" is one of the most interesting and unusual film productions of "star; attractions *in : Cobham and the late Elliott, whereas the story it tells and back* grounds against which the "plot" is eo tlinl'lirigly developed are'aspects which no Hollywood fabrication could ever duplicate. The box plans' will open at The Bristol Piano Company, for the season, this morning. -