THE PICTURE HOUSES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIX, Issue 30, 22 January 1929, Page 9

THE PICTURE HOUSES

MUNICIPAL. The new Beery-Hatton melodramatic comedy, “The Big Killing,” at the Municipal Theatre is most amusing. It deals with a family feud war among the moonshine-making mountaineers in the backwoods. This type of individual still exists in the United States in large numbers but, being remote, his activities being largely confined to his own virgin territory, little is heard or known of him. Occasionally, when a revenue officer is hurt in an attempt to wipe out an illicit still in these mountain regions, the backwoods mountaineer breaks into the newspaper for a brief period but, usually, lie goes his individual way, unworried about the conventions of civilisation.

When the two moving picture comedy men enter this environment, there is a complete barrier of laughter thrown up around the Serious aspects of this little known life, but all the unusual customs and the peculiar activities of the characters are utilised, without distortion, to provide exquisite moments of fun. The last chapter of the serial and hosts of minor supports are also shown.

COSY DE LUXE. “The Michigan Kid” which opened on Saturday at the Cosy Theatre is a perfectly balanced and thoroughly entertaining photoplay. It lias story, setting and cast, all charmingly combined by the director’s deft flair for colourful romance. Rex Beach’s novel of the same name furnished the story, which has been adhered to close ly. It deals with the adventures of a straight gambler in Alaska during the gold rush of 1989 snd s generally considered Beach’s most vigorous work. None of that vigour has bene lost in the transfer of the thrilling story to the screen. Conrad Nagel appears as the gambler, a man who despite his calling is honest and lovable. Renee Adorce is the girl who finds him gentle, while Lloyd Whitlock discovers him to bo husky antagonist. One of the highlights of the film version is the escape of this trio down a river flowing through a blazing forest. This sequence is done in natural colours, giving a spectacular dramatic effect. Buck Jones also appears in “The Branded Sombrero.”