PLAZA AND TIVOLI

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 608, 9 March 1929, Page 14

PLAZA AND TIVOLI

“THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK” The unusual lighting effects that characterise the work of Josef von Sternberk are very much in evidence in “The Docks of New York,” the latest starring picture of George Bancroft, which is now at the Plaza and Tivoli Theatres. Almost 90 per cent, of the story’s action takes place at night along the New Y r ork waterfront. Heavy fog tills the streets outside and creeps through doors and windows of the shabby houses. .Spluttering arc lights of a decade ago cast weird shadows along the docks. ror those reasons, special lighting ito keen brought into play to symbolise the locale ol the story, with the result that the scenes shown on the screen reveal a strange and startling beauty. Bancroft plays the role of a ship’s stoker in his latest picture. The story is an original screen one written by John Monk Saunders, famed author of “Wings” and “The Legion ot the Condemned.” The star has an opportunity to display his histrionic ability to good advantage by virtue of the plot, and critics have He is ably supported by a wonderful cast. Betty Compson heads the featured list of players who assist in the success of the picture. Baclanova, who lias caused nothing short of a sensation for her recent screen work, is also included in the cast. Others arc Mitchell Lewis, Gustav von Seyfferitz, Guy Oliver, Clyde Cook and others. At the Plaza Theatre a stage prologue is presented in which Mr. Ernest Thomas, the well-known basso, sings “Hats Off to the Stoker.” At both theatres a second picture is shown in “The Phantom City,” starring Ken Maynard. “The Phantom City” is the story of one of the old mining camps in the northern part of California, that was once a thriving community, but now it is nothing but one of the many ghost towns that dot the landscape. The thing that makes it interesting is its air of mystery. In spite of its deserted atmosphere there are still a I few old timers left who stayed there : for some unknown reason. It is on | this that the real mystery angle of 1 the picture revolves, and it is not | solved until the very end of the last ! reel.