FOR THE FIRST TIME IN NEW ZEALAND.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19132, 15 October 1927, Page 9

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN NEW ZEALAND.

t'BEN HUB." A TALE OF THE CHRIST. Qhristchurch is to have the signal honour of being the first city in the Dominion publicly to screen "Ben Hur,"' tho gigantis Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production of General Lew Wallace's story of old Judea in the time of the Messiah, and this picture will commence. its long local season at the Grand Theatre on Monday, October 24th, Labour Day. When a reader opens a copy of '.'Ben Hur," the first thing that captures hia startled attention is the caption under tho title—"A Tale of the Christ.' From the very outset, it gives the impression of grandeur and solemnity, dignity and power, reverence and sanctity, qualities which, you might say, the motion picture screen cannot capture. Certainly, in trio past, the screen has not featured these emotions and, virtues conspicuously in its productions. But Mr Fred Niblo, who produced and directed this lonely masterpiece, has caught the holy spirit''of Judah, the imperious,' 1 tyrannical spirit,of Home, the mystic, exotic allure of Egypt, the aeething,; cosmopolitan atmosphere of Antioch—in short, he. has brought to the screen, a canva3 of astounding majesty and exquisite beauty. As & spectacle of gorgeous splendour and haughty wealth, "Ben Hur"-. is a proud triumph. The thousands of readers of the book will recollect its locales of Jerusalem, Rome, Antioch, and Bethlehem, the Vale of Hinnom, tho hideous Valley, of the Lepers, either scenes of opulence and beauty or emotional import. So that, in seeking .to, bring to the screen a material masterpiece as well as a gem 'of fiction, Fred Niblo determined' to oust all other producers from the field..The result is a vision of those. places; on the screen. For. moments during the' story you are completely wafted • away to Imperial Eome, to Antioch, the hubbub of the Eastern World, to conservative Judea, where the struggle between the Jews and the followers of the New Prophet is just beginning—and to crown .this achievement in this particular arena is the famous chariot race, wherein Ben Hur races Sheik Hderim'a white Arabs against the blacks of .the - Messala, a race that has personal revenge and hate as its motive. Who does not know of Ben Hur's chariot race ? It is as well known, as personal a happening almost as the Grand National, and in the picture this mighty event is produced with a realism, 'a magnitude that defies description. The sea battle between pirate ships and the Roman triremes, olympio bouts in the Circus Maximus, the scenes in the Grovo of Daphne, the Manifestation to the Gentiles, the Via Orucis, the healing of the lepers—these scenes of worldly and spiritual significance lend to "Ben Hur" that fervent grandeur - that has made it the greatest film in the world. Christ-church people will be delighted to learn that Mr Winter Hall plays Joseph, the Carpenter, in the picture with a dignity and gravity that are most impressive, while Earn on Novarro plays Ben Hur to the life.