ST. JAMES THEATRE.

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 130, 4 June 1938, Page 7

ST. JAMES THEATRE.

"Cloistered." "Cloistered," which will be screened at the, St. James Theatre on Friday next, reveals many strange and inter* esting customs in a mystic cloister tot women. This remarkable film, th# only one of its kind ever produced, is authentic and was photographed in the convent of an "enclOßed" Order ol Nuns, into which no man, with the exception of the priest administering to the sick and dying, had entered prior to the producer and cameraman gaining permission to photograph the daily routine of the inmates. The producer aimed at simplicity and authenticity, and in the process has achieved greatness for; the picture. The courage and self-abnegation of the girls and women who seek obscurity and peace within the convent walli and the awe-inspiring- rituals of the Order are amazingly; interesting. Amongst the latter are the ceremony or the "living burial" of the novices and other extraordinary glimpses of this unknown world. "Cloistered" is a living document which unveils over 2000 years of mystery and is strangely moving and dramatic, while photographic silly it is superb. John J. Nash, writ* ing in the "Morning Post;" "Cloistered is: the sort of picture which leaves you in awed wonder of some* thing you never knew before." Special attention has been given to such scenes as the shearing of the hair from the heads of beautiful postulants, arid those showing three groups of-women —Penitents, Magdalenes (wearing their crowns of thorns), and Sistersfated to live under one roof but never permitted to see one another during their lives. Nuns who work ag bricklayers, printers, typistes, carpenters, bootmakers, and plasterers, are shown following their particular tasks. "Cloistered" is unique and will undoubtedly attract just as much attention in New Zealand as it has in America, England, and Australia. Box plana will open on Tuesday. '