AMUSEMENTS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17909, 13 October 1932, Page 5

AMUSEMENTS

REGENT THEATRE Ever since the days of Barnum, the originator of the phrase “the greatest show on earth,” the entertainment business has dwelt in a haze of superlatives. But this has now become an embarrassment, because it has meant a big drop in the market value of superlatives, which in turn makes it awkward when it comes to finding the right objective for a film like “The Man Who Played God,” which commenced a foilrjiight. season at the Regent Theatre on Tuesday. George Arliss' work in this film makes it one of the finest American pictures that has so far delighted a Now Zealand audience. The picture tells the story of six months in the life of Montgomery Rovale, a piano virtuoso, played with incomparable artistry by George Arliss. Rovle is shown first at the height of his success in Paris. He has the world at his feet, is an international toast, and still remains a human being, untouched by the adulation and admiration of thousands who pm sue him for his autograph and storm his dressing-room after his concerts. But tragedy stalks in "with appalling su< douness when, at a tremendous moment in the film, he becomes stone deaf. He returns to his NCw York home a broken man. or, as he put it, “a mere shell of a man,” with bitterness in his heart. In anger and despair he refuses to be comforted. He reviles everything that is beautiful, and e\on renounces . religion. Then' altci an amizing series of happenings he relents and becomes a silent and unknown benefactor to those who are in trouble and finally finds complete happiness. There is an unusual treatment ot the love interest. Two women love the maestro, one a young girl outspoken m her love for him, the other a widow :whd remains silent because she believes him to be in love with tho young girl. The musician eventually learns that- the young girl has fallen in love with a youth her own age. The love he felt- for tho widow before she married another returns with this realisation. To many “The Man Who Played God” will be one of the outstanding nvbmories of the 1992 picture season. The supports are of a‘high standard and include a mystery “thriller” entitled “The Cole Murder Case,” “Javanese Journeyings,” a do-lio-htful Travelogue, Paramount Pictorial, and a further of tho athletic series entitled “Sports Slants.”