NATIONAL THEATBJtJ.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18224, 18 October 1922, Page 11

NATIONAL THEATBJtJ.

The final screenings at the National Theatre of "The Unknown," and "Keeping Up With Lizzie," will bo given today and to-morrow. On Friday a unique attraction is to commence a week's run. This is " The Storm," one of the most distinctive pictures of the ye"ar. A private screening of the film yesterday gave a pronouncedly good impression of its many merits. It is an adaptation of Langdon McCormick's stage melodrama of the same name, which played an extended season in New York and then made a wide tour of the United States. , The film version adheres closely to the i original play. The result is a melodrama. ! with especially well-manipulated effect 3 ■ for thrills, notably in the scene of the great forest fire. Commencing with a snow storm, most realistically reproduced, the film ends with the fire. What transpires between these two events is elemental. The story tells of the love ov ! two men for the same girl. They are i trapped in a north woods cabin throughout the entire winter by the great snows. But the success of the production does not lie solely in the subject matter. On the contrary, what stamps " The Storm" as an exceptional picture is the inspiring manner in which it has been produced in all departments. It is a Universal film. directed by Eeginald Barker, who has intensified the drama with a smooth nar ration of the tale, aided by an expert scenarist. The selection of exterior scenery and the arrangement of the interiors has mounted the picture with a fine atmosphere. The acting is creeptionally good. Although House Peters is starred, Matt Moore and Virginia Valli share the honours with him. These three I play what are practically the only roles ! of importance, with the possible exception of Josef Swickard in a part that ' appears for a time* in the first reels. The method of the principal trio is restrained and very effective. The photography is artistic in composition and clear in result. The "shots" of the forest fire, which is especially well staged, will tend to make the spectator almost feel the I heat, and will certainly thrill him.

PRINCESS THEATRE.

"Second Hand Rose," featuring Gladys Walton, will be screened again at the Princess Theatre to-day and to-morrow. On Friday the weekly change of programme will bo headed by a SelznickHodkinson special film, " The Spenders." described as a high-speed comedy drama, sparkling with humour, and tense dramatic situations. Leading a strong" cast will be Claire Adams, Robert McKim, Joseph Dowling. and Niles Welch. Taken from a novel by Harry Leon Wilson, the story contains a quaint argument on the relative merits of East and West. Uncle Peter Bines, the old Western pioneer or the tale, and his grandson, P. Percival Bines, who is intent on spending the family millions, wage a dispute that is said to make one of the finest comedies ever brought to the screen. Percival supports New York and its refinement. Uncle Peter is valiant in lain support of the West, and only leaves it to save the boy from a financial tangle in Wall Street. Then he returns triumphant with the scalps of a number of Easterners, figuratively speaking, hanging from his belt.' The picture taken the spectator from the glory and majesty of the Rocky Mountains to the wealth and fashion of a New York drawing room. He sees the innermost workings of a deep-laid plan to discredit a clean-living young man, the hectic frenzy of Wall Street during a "bear" raid on the market, and other absorbing events

ONEHTJNGA SCOUT CONCERT. A concert arranged by the Onehunga boy scout authorities will be held at the Foresters' Theatre. Onehunga, to-morrow evening. An attractive programme has been arranged. The colours will be presented to the Onehunga troop anci a number of scouts will be initiated. The Mayer of Onehunga, Mr. J. Park, and members of the Borough Council will be present.