"THE TRAIL OF '98."

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19715, 4 September 1929, Page 7

"THE TRAIL OF '98. "

Magnificent in its conception and amasingly. carried oat in its unrivalled wealth of human feeling, "The Trail of '9B" can lay claim to being one of the few really great motion pictures that have been produced. Patrons. of the Civic Theatre this week are assured of an entertainment such as hag seldom been offered at a motion pic* turo house. It is not merely an epic story of the feverish search for gold; it carries the very spirit of adventure that alone ha* evolved the civilisation of the human race, and its transmission to the very ends of lae earth, it is witn a toucn of gcniu* that the great subject has been handled and the packed audience at the Civic Theatre last evening iuuy continued the opinions oi those who neve witnessed the nlm throughout the Dominion.

The film deals with a them* that it not original at far as plot it concerned, but it has carried out the story in a manner that no previous picture has been able to achieve. Its intense and stark reality removes it lroui a mere string oi images ou cell moid, and it becomes a living thing that must have an effect on the most blase picturegoer. The undying courage and fortitude of the pioneers of the gold rushes of America are so vivuiij ,ucc u i;.ai a .nusi >eave an indelible impression on all beholden. They were wild and lawless days, but it was such men as those depicted in "The Trail of 9ci wn . ■■■-■ wanner* ol

all pioneering races throughout the world. While the story embraces in general the great quest for gold in the unexplored country of Northern America a* its dominant theme, the human intereet is heightened by the close following of the adventures oi individual participants in those stirring adventures, and while these adventures are only the experiences of a minute number of those who made this history, the Interest is doubled or trebled as the great human emotions of love. hate, jealousy are played out —a microcosm of the mighty whole. The exultation of triumph, the bitterness ot disaster, are ao much accentuated is those fastnesses when the difference between triumph and disaster is very life itself But not only is the possession of gold and riches at stake when those heroes set out on their gTeat trek—to many, the love and honoar of women was at stake As an added matinee attraction the management announce the engagement of little Baby June, the child wonder, and late of J. C. Williamson's Celebrity Vaudeville. June and her mother arrived in Christchurch yesterday after a most successful tour of the North Island, and the Nel3on and Blenheim districts. Babj June has received most enthusiastic reports from the Press of the towns visited, and Mr Gladstone Hill advises that he has secured this act more particularly for the children, who are now enjoying their holidays. Baby June commences her season this afternoon, and will perform at each matinee for the rest of the week. The box plan is now open at The Bristol. Civic telephone number 9124.