'WONDERFUL LONDON'

Evening Star, Issue 19062, 3 October 1925, Page 6

'WONDERFUL LONDON'

REMARKABLE BRITISH FILM. There was a private screening at the Octagon Theatre this morning of a glamorous film, 1 Wonderful London,’ a remarkable British production which represents an entirely new departure in motion picture offerings, something much bigger and better than anything of the type that has been offered before. It gives a better idea of the world’s greatest capital than probably has been afforded by any other medium. Its range is tremendous, _ its photography is a masterpiece, its surprises are ever recurring and always refreshing, its novelties are unediug and delightful, and its interest is absorbing. Just on two hours are required for the screening of ‘ Wonderful London.’ Imagine a picture dealing with a city and its people, places, landmarks, and historical reminders taking two hours in the screening. And every moment_ of those two hours is so crammed with interest that one is astonished at the end to find how the time has fled. When a private screening of the big picture was given at Octagon Theatre this morning there was a largo assemblage of prominent citizens, educational leaders, business men, and other highly critical persons. The audience went there expecting much; they left astonished at the aptitude of the offering. They confirmed unhesitatingly and enthusiastically the reports that had been made earlier that ‘Wonderful London ’ was a greatfpicture. And tins splendid picture, it is good to know, is British; it is a convincing answer to any contention that British ability to compete in the moving picture world with the best that can be done in other places. ‘ Wonderful London ’ is a superlative proof to the contrary. It takes without any question a position of pre-eminence from which it will be many years before it is dislodged. The method adopted in the presenter tion of this great film is novel. It is not just a picture of London. It is the story of London, a story rich in historical detail and wonderfully appealing in the manner in which it incorporates so much that is of the vital history of the British race. Characters whose names are written large on the pages of British history appear for a moment in the picture to tread again the paths they trod in the far-off days when London was younger, and to visit the spots that were familiar to them in their day, ami which still stand to-day as links with the great past of the great city. Imagine the characters of Dickens on a motor bus, with the venerable Pickwick at the wheel. Another novelty in the matter of treatment has been to place the audience in the hands of a London bus driver of the old school, a man who knows his London as few others do, and who pilots his bus and the audience into all sorts of out-of-the-way places that hold a tremendous interest. And this driver is versed in the history of the places he shows, and in the quaintly-worded headings, rich in the slang of the London native, he tells of the many queer things that the passage of time has seen. Thus one is given a place not merely as it is today, but as it was, and is told in the most entertaining manner of the way and sequence of the changes. The same idea has been followed out with a coster and his donkey cart. He is an admirable guide, this coster, and u able to take the audience to many places which, without his expert local knowledge, they would never penetrate to. ‘ Wonderful _ London’ delves into every interesting corner of the capital that could bo thought of. _ It is impossible to attempt anything in the nature of a catalogue of the hundreds of sights that are given. Such a catalogue would bo wearisome, and that would give a false impression of the picture. It is hard to imagine, before one has seen the picture, now such a subject could command such a dominating interest. If one is a colonial it affords the greatest chance yet offered of really seeing London in a manner that really matters. If one comes from the Old Country and knows London, it will appeal in two ways. It is a wonderful medium of bringing back wellknown scenes and places that recall many half-forgotten memories; but_ it is something, more—it is u rovaJation of how little even the well-versed exLondoner knows of his own city. This fact was apparent at the screening today, for tliere wore present many people who had quite a good average knowledge of London, but the picture showed them a multitude of things that were new to them. All the glamor, all tho charm, all the wonderful atmosphere of London has been caught by the camera and held; all that makes London all that it is and all that it means to British people all over tho world is there and Is palpable. There is conveyed in some cunning manner all that multitude of little and great things that go to make London, to tho Briton everywhere, the most wonderful city in the world. It is one of tho outstanding triumphs of a great picture that it has been able to do this. Tho spirit of the great city, the magic of its great majesty, and all the thrall of its multi-Longuod history are somehow here in the theatre._ That has never been .achieved before in any picture that pretended to do what this picture does, and it is one of the many reasons why ‘Wonderful London' is a wonderful picture. Dunedin the-atre-goers are to have the opportunity of seeing it soon. Its screening will be an epoch in tho history of motion pictures in Dunedin.