THE PICTURE HOUSES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIX, Issue 220, 3 September 1929, Page 9

THE PICTURE HOUSES

MUNICIPAL. Victor Hugo’s immortal romance, “The Man Who Laughs,” has at last been made into a motion picture, and appears in Hastings this week. With infinite effort and at great expense, the Universal Pictures Corporation has translated the stirring story of early English court intrigue into a super-production that mirrors Hugo’s unusual and colourful characters and events in gripping scenes. The story of “The Man Who Laughs” takes place in England, partly in tho 1690's and later, in 1757. The leading characters, a tragic mountebank and a beautiful blind actress, arc members of a tiny travelling show. They arc pitched headlong into the pomp of Queen Anne's court at a period when the oppression of the poor is at its height. The mountebank, restored to his rightful placo as a Lord of the Realm, is embroiled in the fatal royal intrigues, and falls a victim to the dastardly plotting of the Court when the licentious Duchess Josiana, the Queen’s sister, singles him out for her voluptuous attention. What happened to the 'blind sweetheart of the erstwhile mountebank, and how he extricates himself from the silken and sinister toils that bind him, makes a highly dramatic climax to n story filled with thrills and suspense. Paul Lcni directed tho picture. Leni is a wizard of lights and settings. The. exotic nature of the backgrounds of the Hugo story gave him unlimited opportunity to create an atmospheric and artistic photodrama. COSY DE LUXE.

Millions are paid in “hush” money every year, according to statistics of American police departments, and more millions are paid that police departments never know of Blackmail is one of the most despicable practices of unscrupulous persons. It enters largely into the plot of the I'ox Film; “Romance of the Underworld,” directed by Irving Cummings, famed for his recent directorial triumph, “Dressed to Kill.” Mary Astor plays the feminine lead, the role of a girl forced by circumstances over which she has no control to be a gold-digger in a speakeasy. Later she earns an honest livelihood as a secretary, and eventually marries, only to have her past’ continually flaunted in front of her by a former associate, “Derby Dan,” played by Ben Bard. This new production is expected to eclipse his effort in “Dressed to Kill” for suspense, thrills and all tho assets of good modern melodrama. “Modern Love” is the title of the support. Charles Chase has the big role in this full length comedy.