STRAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 102, 21 July 1927, Page 16

STRAND

“VALENCIA” AND BUSTER KEATON Only to-night remains to see the big double bill, which has been such a success at the Strand this week. The prigramme is delightfully varied, combining Buster Keaton’s great comedy, “The General,” and Mae Murray’s scintillating drama, “Valencia.” Buster Keaton’s latest comedy, “The General,” is his first for United Artists. It is based on the famous Andrews railroad raid and locomotive chase, one of the most thrilling chapters of the Civil War, and it combines historical accuracy with hilarious situations. The big comedy, produced by Joseph M. Schenck and directed by Keaton himself, is the costliest screen opus of its kind ever made. Months were spent in filming “The General,” and the company of thousands travelled to distant parts of the United States in their search for locations. Civil War towns were reconstructed, miles of railroad leased and three locomotives and dozens of freight cars and passenger coaches purchased and converted into old rolling stock. The same wonderful appeal that the song, “Valencia,” held is manifested in the film of that name, “Valencia,” a starring vehicle for Mae Murray. The picture was suggested by the delightful vocal hit. Miss Murray has a typical role as an exotic, imperious and incurably romantic cabaret girl in Barcelona. Lloyd Hughes is featured as her sailor lover, and Roy D’Arcy as a villainous governor who found in Valencia the one girl who could resist his blandishments.