QUEEN’S THEATRE

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12538, 30 August 1926, Page 9

QUEEN’S THEATRE

“SIBERIA.” Directed by Victor Schertzinger and boasting one of the most evenly-bal-anced casts ever assembled in an American studio, “Siberia,” Fox Films version of Bartley Campbell’s memorable play, now showing at the Queen’s Theatre, furnishes additional proof that the screen is the ideal medium for sounding the uttermost depths of human emotion. “Siberia,” with its terrific dramatic sweep, its great scope, and its marvellous settings, is a distinct departure in motion picture entertainment. Although poverty just stalks outside, a Russian overlord puts on one of the most elaborate banquets ever seen in a moving picture production in “Siberia.” Scores of handsomely dressed men and women revel in luxury while hungry peasants peer in at the windows. Alma Rubens, unable to stand this travesty, leaves her father’s home—and this circumstance equips “Siberia” with innumerable thrilling situations. The action ranges from Petrograd, with its dazzling beauty, to Siberia, with its squalor, and centres about Alma Rubens, Edmund Lowe, Lou Tellegen, Tom Santschi, and many others. A striking prologue, in the form of a Russian dance, is presented by Miss Rene Masootte Taylor, whose offerings at the theatre have proved a considerable attraction. There are excellent supports, and the Queen’s Orchestra is heard in a bright and varied programme of incidental music.