'THE SEA HAWK’

Evening Star, Issue 18919, 18 April 1925, Page 4

'THE SEA HAWK’

A FINE PIRATE PICTURE Who does not thrill at a good pirate yarn; it is well told, and, as in tho case" of a motion picture, well and vividly screened ? Bitch a yarn and such a picture is ‘ The, Sea Hawk, which was released for (ho first time last night at the Octagon and Empire Theatres, and which drew admiring crowds to each house. There is something about tho old, hold davs of dashing, bloodthirsty pirates, and the pretty maids they coveted, which appeals to the imagination, not only of juveniles, hut of the older generation, who have perhaps done nothing more darhm in their lives than chased an applestealing boy off their promises, or come home late with n lame excuse to the wife. ‘ Tho Rea Hawk ’ is a tale of Queen Elizabeth’s days, and fairly bristles with thrills; while' the settings and photography are equally hold and fine. Hie hero is Jasper Tresillian,- and a splendid stamp of a hero he is. At the outset of the story ho is comfortably living in a grand old castle, apparently settled _in life after a strenuous lime at sea settling the pretentious of, amongst, other foes, (he Spanish Armada. He anticipates marrying pretty Rosamund from the adjoining estate, hut the bombast of one brother (hers) and the blundering of another (his) make a of all his plans. His .brother (or half-brother,_ really) iVmllv i kills Rosamund's brother in a duel, and, I to save his own skin, commits another I cowardly act by bribing a fearsome-look-j ing sea-'dog to kidnap Jasper, and take 1 him away and sell him ns a slave. It is : then the rough-and-tumble adventures begin. There are engagements between gaFloys and ships, tierce hand-to-hand eii--1 counters, captures, and hard huftetings 1 generally. Jasper is put to work on a : Spanish' galloon as a galley-slave, and some I ot the creepiest scenes are those in which ! (.he poor wretches, chained to their | benches and constantly spurred on by the , lash, labor ceaselessly at. the oars. But I the plot of the story need not he repented. | Suffice it to say that Jasper encounters trials and tribulations: is scorned by fair Rosamund, for whom lie sacrifices a good deal, but finally this Elizabethan damsel, unreasonable and ununden-tamlahle as any damsel before or Miur, realises the manly worth of her old lover, and stands between him and the hangman s rope. Hut, lots and lots of things happen bclorc this Happy consummation-- exciting things, stirring tilings. Rea engagements there arc. not tin- modern kind wit 1 1 shooting at foes ton, twenty, thirty miles away, but j grappling-iron, swarming, cutlass affairs, j with lots of dead men, and probably i bottles of mm afterwards. Then (here is 1 Jasncr’s escape and rise to power as head iof the Moorish galley. It is here ho earns tlia name of ihu Sea Hawk, and leads his men to tho ca.stlo at. (ornwail jn>( in time to stop the wedding between fair Rosamund and tho cowardly half-brother, Lionel, and to carry tho bride off to Ab'eriu. Hern she experiences just a little oAhe degradation that Jasper had ex- : nerienced; sho is offered at auction as a skive. But Jasper buys her for a couple of thousand philips, and subsequently saves her from his white-whiskered but I still amorous old chief. Ws, there are I incidents galore, and some particularly line acting by Milton Sills (as the Sea Hawke), Enid Bennett fas Rosamund), Wallace Beery (as the humorous rogue of a sea dog, Jasper Leo), and Lloyd Hughes (as the weak and cowardly halfbrother). All wc can add L that; ihe Sea Hawk ’ is a first-class production, and should be, eagerly received as a welcome change from a long line of society i dramas and modern city adventures

generally. An appropriate musical programme was presented at each of the theatres. At the Empire hy the tine orchestra under the direction of Mr Charles Parnell, and at the Octagon hy an equally fine orchestra under Mr Arthur Noate. Air Parnell's programme, a splendidlyvaried one. is as mulei’: —Overture, ‘ Light Cavalry’ (Suppe), suite from ‘Henry VIII.’ (Ed. Germain)—(a) ■ Morris Dance,’ (b) ‘ .Shepherd's Dance,’ (c) ‘Torch Dance,’; _ ‘Merchant of ■Venice,’ incidental music (Posse); ' A Doer's Melody ’ (Ashworth); ‘ Arabian love Lyrics ’ ’ (ChaimerstHunt) ; ’ Henry VIII.’; Ballet Divertissement (SaintSaens) ; ' Overture to Semiramide ' (Rossini). ‘ The Sea Hawk ’ will he shown nightly at each theatre, and at the Empire every gilcruoon also,