"WITH COBHAM TO THE CAPE."

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19114, 24 September 1927, Page 7

"WITH COBHAM TO THE CAPE."

ADVENTURE IN THE AIR. Yet another great picture comos to tho Grand Theatre next week! This time, oir Alan Cobham, perhaps the world's greatest aviator at the present day, captures up a passenger or two and wafts thorn away "'"J 1 i im ever Icarean skips, over Egyptian vail.ys, and tombs of kings and pyramids o: the Pharaohs, a rollicking adventuro right through the .African Continent, from t - alr ° to the Capo, a visionary glimpse of the land that Cecil Rhodes colonised, and an achievement, of aviation only accomplished onre or twii-e in a lifetime. On one of Sir Alan's sensational and courageous flights, on which he was accustomed to take only Arthur Elliott, his late mechanic, the Gaumont Company oi Britain sent one of its most intrepid cameramen on the flight, ana tins photographer, Basil Emmott, brought back with him such a wonder film that only comes to the screen as often as such an undertaking is brought off. For "stars this picture ha 3 Alan Cobham and the equally famous Elliott: for locale it has a whole" continent, and tho fair lands of France, Italy, and Greece: for thrills it has all the dangers that lay in wait for the brave, the safe negotiating of the Victoria. Falls, and the flying over hundreds of miles of trackless forest, cleared of all human habitation in an endeavour to stamp oyt the dreadful sleeping sickness; circling low over the gaping craters of copper, silver, and dia.mond mines; delightful human ami humorous touches when the trio come in contact with the equally gaping and wondering natives, "With Cobhaia to the Cape" is like old Africa herself—rijb with colour and essential drama. From the takeoff at Croydon, the pilot flies over the Mediterranean, over Prance, Italy, and Greece, flying over the Acropolis and the Pantheon and other vantages of historic interest. From thence he journeys across to Egypt, where the impassive Sphinx, the towering pyramids, jthe romantic Valley of the Kings, and the same old Nile that bore Cleopatra on its silvery surface adorning the fac=) of the country, all seen beautifully from the air. The huge Assuan dam, now the second largest in the world since a dam in India beat it, »s seen to great advantage, as are tho Ripon Falls, the source of tho Nile, discovered as late as JciGS. Leaving Egypt, the machine takes the enthralled spectator on to fhe Soudan, the scene of so much fighting some twentyfive years ago, and the British Residency at Khartoum, Gordon's last stand, makes a vivid splash of white against the green vegetation. Through the darker parts of the Continent, with occasional landings (twentysix in all were made in the flight), where childish natives and important chiefs are initiated, Jo the best of their mental ability, into tho intricacies of the magic machine, the de Haviland sails, a giant piece of perfect, mechanism, doing its seventeen thousand miles with scarcely a hitch. One particularly humorous incident is brought out on the screen. On one of hi 3 landings amongst sonic natives, a coy young Zulu thing proceeded to sit herself in the cockpit, with many an inviting glance to the perturbed Elliott, who evidently fancied not an enforced role of Solomon to Ihe Ethiopian Sheba. After many coquettish disappear! ngs and roappearings, the skittish maid was induced to come forth, no doubt with great hopes of more pronounced conquest on Elliott. (Hopes dashed.) Over the Victoria Falls, as mentioned in the first review in yesterday's paper, the spray got into the

carburettor, and the engine began spluttering badly over the yawning chasm o£ raging waters, and only the nerve end skill of Ccbham saved all three men from annihilation in the world's greatest waterfall. That ehot makes sensational "reading." The welcome in Cane Town lends another note of human interest, as does tho picnic with some impromptu friends in some out-of-the-way spot, in Basutoland or Bechuanaland—■somewhere near Pretoria. ".Now we're in Pretoria." "With Cobham to the Cane" ends, humorously enough, back at Croydon, just to see the welcome home, and" the hundred-point Cheltenham posters out in London: "Cobham Home Again." Tha plans for the necessarilv brief season are now open at The Bristol Piano Companv, whore patrons are advised to book their seats.