THE PICTURE HOUSES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVIII, Issue 47, 7 February 1928, Page 8

THE PICTURE HOUSES

A PICTURE WORTH SEEING. “BEN-HUR ” AT THE MUNI- ' CIPAL. Doubtless there were some who attended the first evening screening of “Ben-Hur” last night who expected to see yet another of the stupendous ’ ’ productions that Hollywood periodically, turns out, but, if so, they were doomed to disappointment of a pleas urable kind. The picture throughout gripped everyone by the immensity of its theme, the excellence of the acting, and the forceful manner in which the various sequences were presented Even the übiquious ribald small bov was (practically) hushed. The story relates the tribulations that befall Jerusalem, as typified by the House of Hur, during the period from the birth of Christ to the crucifixion—law, overwhelmed by the might of Rome, the young Judah Ben-Hur recovers his former estate and rescues from the Roman dungeons his mother and sister. Dominating all is the person ality of Christ, who alone renders pos sible, the freedom of the Jews though this 'freedom acmes not by the swod as Ben-Hur had envisaged. The pomp of the days of Rome naturally offers great scope for the erection of elaborate sets, but these —magnificent as they are— are not mere show pieces, they add immeasurably to the atmosphere of Roman power, and to the immensity of its downfall Notable among the scenes are the sea battle between the Roman triremes and barbarian mararuders and the chariot race between Mirsala and BeuHur. Magnificent as tho latter was the epliogue to it was even greater—one little scene in which Ben-Hur receives the plaudits of multitude while, unnoticed ’by the populace, the body of his rival is borne from the arena, —the pride of the conqueror is humbled and the despised Jew begins to come into his own. Ramom Navarro, as the young Prince, gives a fine rendering in n part that requires both acting and athletic ability As a piece of character drawing Francis X. Bushman’s portrayal of the Roman, Messala, is in some ways superior to Navarro’s The older generation of picturn goers, who will remember him, with Beverley Bayne, in “society” dramas will be astonished at his work. Few criticisms can be made of a pi<> turn so carefully supervised but one could object to the “crawl” strokes used by the Romans when their ships are rammed by the pirates, this stroke not being developed until some 800 years Fashions repeat themselves, so possibly Navarro’s Bowery neck shave is really quite in order. Prior to tho screening Mr Bewley rendered “Star.of Bethlehem” in an impressive manner while a prologue in motion picture form was thrown on the screen presaging the nature of the following film. Special musid by an augmented orchestra was played. The remaining four nights and three matinees should again see full houses for this splendid performance. COSY DE LUXE. The pick of the country’s best au tomobile racing talent, comprising a galaxy of motor speedway stars tha; would pack them in at any exhibition of these knights of the roaring road, were directed by Melville Brown during tho filming of “Fast and Fur ious,” tho latest Universal-Jewel production starring Reginald Denny . The list of daredevil speed-anihila tors included Eddio Hearne, J. L. Wilharber, Russell Garmont, Steve Elmore, Ted Simpson, Eddie Miller, Dowey 'Skipworth and’a dozen others Barbara Worth, one of Universal’s younger players, who had been featured in Western film roles makes her debut as a leading lady for Reginald Denny in this picture. “Fast and Furious” was written by Denny himself and adapted to the screen by Raymond Cannot. “The Whispering Sage” a great Western tale with Buck Tunes starred is shown also.