REGENT

Southland Times, Issue 24422, 30 April 1941, Page 7

REGENT

“FORTY THOUSAND HORSEMEN”

There have been some excellent films from Australia before this, one, but “Forty Thousand Horsemen has every right to be regarded as the first really great Australian picture. W>th fine dramatic power in the presentation of those epic battles in the desert whicn brought honour and fame to the Australian Light Horse in the Great War, the director, Charles Chauvel, has given to the public at the psychological moment, a film that will thrill everyone. The great battle for Beersheba in the desert of Palestine, in which the charge of the Australian Light Horse rivalled the thrilling exploits of the Light Brigade at Balaclava, has been magnificently done. This charge is as dynamic in its dramatic realism as any imaginative Hollywood producer could have made it, while the battle of Gaza is splendidly recreated. The photography is outstanding, bringing an uncanny realism. The military aspect ot the picture has been carefully handled, and the whole atmosphere is astonishingly effective, especially when it is remembered that the picture was filmed close to Sydney. The cast of Forty Thousand Horsemen” is a tremendous one, and none of the actors is known to New Zealand audiences. The names of Grant Taylor, “Chips” Rafferty, and Pat Twohill mean little to people in the Dominion, but these three in the leading roles all give outstanding performances. The first-named might be called the star of the film, if such a production could have a star, and it is between him and Miss Betty Bryant, as the daughter of a murdered Frenchman, that the romance of the picture is developed. Miss Bryant has a vivacious and piquant personality, and her

Juliet is given a roguish and sensitive duality that is wholly charming. Outstanding in the supporting cast are Albert Winn, as a wily old Sheik: Harvey Adams, as an arrogant German commander; Eric Reiman, Joe Valli, Harry Adby, John Fleeting, and many others.