Most Fantastic Story That Has Ever Filmed

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 7242, 23 August 1933, Page 5

Most Fantastic Story That Has Ever Filmed

“WHITE ZOMBIE” IS AN AMAZING TALKIE FOR THE KOSY THEATRE ‘‘White Zomhie,” one of the eeriest and most fantastic stories ever put on the screen, -will have its premiere at the Kosy theatre -with ‘‘Self Made Lady” on August 30, and movie fans will thus ieam, thousands of them for the first time, of the occult practices in Haiti. Rumours have been reaching the outside world for years of these sinister practices, and now, for the first time, light is thrown upon them by a screen presentation. The story of ‘‘White Zombie ’ ’ is based upon personal observation in Haiti by writers and research workers, and, fantastic as it sounds, its entire substanco is based upon fact. Bela Lugosi, who came into prominence with his screen creation of Count Dracula in ‘‘Dracula, ” has the principal role in “White Zombie,” and his portrayal even surpasses that former work of artistry. He plays the role of a sinister fiend who traffics in the exhumation of dead bodies in order to man his sugar cane mills and his fields. Madge Bellamy, who retired from the screen two years ago, makes her screen come-back in the principal feminine role; Joseph Cawthorn also plays one of the principal roles, as do Johnny Hamm, Robert Frazer, Clarence Muze, and Brandon Hurst. The settings and photography of “White Zombie” are among the best ever don© for the screen. The story tells of a young American couple who become entangled with the leader of the Zombies in Haiti, the result of which the young bride is placed under the influence of a powerful drug which relegates her to the mental plane of a sleep-walker. She remains in this state for several weeks, and it is only after all but superhuman efforts on the part of her,, husband and a missionary that happiness is wrested from tragedy.