“THE LAST COMMAND” AT ROYAL

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 676, 30 May 1929, Page 14

“THE LAST COMMAND” AT ROYAL

“The Last Command,” now «it the Royal Theatre, Kingsland, is really two pictures in one. It opens and closes in a Hollywood movie studio, depicting the life of a poor “extra,” who is given a small part in a big picture of Russian life. The actor is given the uniform of a general to wear, and as he dons it, he imagines he is back again in pre-war Russia, a Tsarist general, haughty and all powerful. He meets and loves a beautiful girl, but the revolution forces him to fly from his native land, stripped of rank and wealth, and broken in health. He seeks work in Hollywood, an re-enacts the role he once held in real life. Emil Jannings is the general, and Evelyn Brent the girl. Thomas Meighan is the star of the second picture, entitled “Blind Alleys.” Cyril Richards, the young Australian, who recently made a great hit in “So This is Love” at the Winter Garden Theatre, London, welcomed the chance to play the villain part, although still dancing, as a relief to musical comedy. He was engaged by Mr. E. A. Dupont, producer of “Variety” and “Moulin Rouge,” for his new British International picture, “Piccadilly,” which is now the rage not only of England but United States as well.