REMARKABLE MOVING PICTURE

Evening Star, Issue 17312, 27 March 1920, Page 2

REMARKABLE MOVING PICTURE

! 'WITH CAPTAIN SCOTT TO THE | SOUTH POLE.' I There was a veryJarge attendance at *he Octagon last niglit to witness the first screening of a remarkable series of films and elides of Captain Scott's gloriously tragic adventure to the South Polar regions. This picture has come here after breaking the two previous records for films in Auckland and Christchurch, I and, judging by the' enthusiasm displayed by the auuience last evening, there is every chance that it-will create a record in Dunedin also. At the outset we can safely 53V that it is a genuine moving ploture, interspersed with a large number of equally absorbing lantern elides. It is, , further, a pictu fo which every child should see. It takes over an hour and a-half to screen, and the story of the great adventure is simultaneously unfolded by Mr Walter Searle, who can be described as one of the most entertaining raconteurs heard in the City. The theme is inevitably tragic, but in many of the scenes there' is an element of liveliness and comedy. The picture was taken by Mr Herbert G. Ponting, 1.R.G.5., the official camera man to the Scott Expedition. The film depicts the arrival of the ship and her noble crew at their destination; and thereafter shows the wonderful endurance and .pluck of the il" 1 tv°* Britisn heroes whose mission to the Polar regions was in the interests of education and science. Not only is the record of their diaries shown, but the animal and bird life scenes in the Antarctic also, and these are profoundly interesting. Perhaps the most beautiful sections of the film are the views shown of the ' huge icebergs and icefields, the Itle and habits of seals, skua gulls, penguins, killer wholes, and other creatures peculiar to these cold regions. After listening to Mr Walter Searle's instructive lecture last evening one could not help thinking that these films and slides are by far the most wonderful of the visible results of Captain Scott's Antarctic expedition. The audience see the movements of seals and penguins, the brealtinp of icy waves against Antarctic icebergs, the work of the sledsins parties, with the hardylooking ponies and dogs, the sunlight on Mount Erebus, the men of the expedition engaged in a game of football on the ice, . and scores of other absorbing scenes too numerous to mention. That the seals and penguins we real, that the men who smiled through all their hardships and died lie there, still can only be realised by seeing the picture. No great event in history has been so trulv recorded by the kinematograph as is Captain Scotts' illfated pilgrimage to the South Pole in this film. Then there is the world's most unique record in the photograph taken at the South Pole showing the five gallant explorers, Scott, Dates. Bowers, Wilson, and Evans. They have been 12 weeks without a wash or having their clothe 3 off; they are burned with exposure and the reflected heat of the sun on the ice until -they are the color of Indians. Their faces are scarred with frostbites, yet the indomitable spirit of the Britisher is evident in every feature. The picture will be shown at the Octagon for one week. There will be a special matinee at 2.30 p.m. each day, and arrangements have been made for the scholars from each school to see the picture at special prices. There was a crowded house at the matinee this afternoon, and patrons should boob their seats for this evening to avoid disappointment. The box plan is open at .; Messrs Begg and Co.'s music establishj ment.