AMUSEMENTS.

Grey River Argus, 22 June 1925, Page 2

AMUSEMENTS.

“THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME.” TO.NIGHT. “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” will be shown at the Opera House, at special matinee commencing at 2.30 o’clock to-day and to_night. In all its essentials the picture follows faithfully the story as set out by Hugo. Tn some respects there has been well-directed editing designed to make the incidents depicted more consonant with present-lay standards and conceptions. Hugo tore the veil from life as it was in the early days of which he wrote, and left without a vestige of cloaking all tlu* horrors and sordid iniquities of that time. He troubled not with the conventions, and sought, with the success that has made the book a classic of all time, to express only the plain truth. From some of the powerful passages in which he traced the progress of events the reader of to-day is apt to turn with u shudder, trying Io believe that such things could never have disgraced the history of civilised humanity. 11 is in dealing with such phases of th' 1 storv as this that the producers have shown such tactful and discerning di<_ criminal ion. Tn the picture the whole of Hie powerful storv of the Hunchback is there. All that the book conveyed tin l picture is able Io bring home and em_ phasise. It is a rhronTcle of oppression and human misery, of lust and hfttc and xcretched poverty, a. survey of the dark and tortuous passages through which humanity has had to struggle to a better day. Of all the magnificent things in the picture the presentation of the Hunchback him. self remains as a dominant impression when the last scene has been flashed on the screen. The Hunchback lives on the screen as ho did in the imagination of the author who created him. Ho is a monstrous repulsive thing. much animal as man: a malformed, twisted creature of enormous strength and brutish ways: a monstrosity of nature calculated to make the onlooker shudder. The make-up of this character must rani; as almost a miracle of the screen. The princi]i:il suggestion conveyed when one has once got over the shock of the appearance of the Hunchback is one of enormous strength, ape.like rather than human. The fidelity displaced in this respect is the keynote of the picture. The acting of all the major characters is of the highest quality. On the technical side the film is a triumph. The settings have never been surpassed. Notre Dame is wonderfully shown, and the other scenes of mediaeval Paris are presented in a manner that is quite in keeping. Special atmospheric musical accom_ pawiment |will be played throughout the screening by the Opera House Orchestra to.night. Ono of the greatest actors on either stage or screen. Lon Chaney of “The Aliracle Alan’’ fame, plays the difficult role ot’ Quasimodo, the hiinclibnck. and he is supported by such talented players :is Fat-y Ruth Miller, Ernest Torrem o. Norman K> r. ry, Nigel De Brulier. and (Ilady.Brobjk.wcll. .Altogether in the great cast there are 75 principals, and oxer 4,500 extras. 'This is one of the largest casts exer brought together in one picture. It- is easy to understand the appeal that “fhe Hunchback of Notre .Dame' has to xvomen, because, it lias probably the most thrilling of all romances interwoven throughout its stirring action. Each tiny detail of the book and of the period txvas studied for months, and faithfully reproduced on the screen. TOWN HALL. Patsy Ruth Miller, who i i’t ••rpret < the role of A lice Neal ’ ’ in “ A Helf.Made Failure,” Ihe latest Fi : National release, to be shown at tie Town Hall on Wednesday night., is practically a newcomer io Hie s<-i.‘cn. During the last four years, she lrworked up from the ranks of Ihe ‘‘extras” until she is regarded us one ol "lie best ingenues and leading women of tin* screen. She playi'd the feminine lead of ‘‘The Hunchback' "I Notre Dame,” and appeared opposite Owen Aloore in “'I he Breaking Tire support ing hide a further chapter of “The Fast Step_