PLAZA

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 714, 13 July 1929, Page 13

PLAZA

“THE TERROR” “Tho Terror,” Warner Bros.’ latest and greatest mystery talking film, which is claimed to be the creepie.st and at the same time the most absorbingly amusing picture of its kind ever filmed, is now in its second week at the Plaza Theatre. “The Terror” is based on Edgar Wallace’s celebrated stage thriller which has held London spellbound for more than three years. It is the composite of all spook plays rolled into one. With the uncanniness of Poe it has the sardonic humour of Swift. The talkie version has not only kept all the original eeriness but has added to it immeasurably. The director has left no dramatic opportunity unexplored. The ancient and dilapidated English manor house built under his direction and possessing the atmosphere of centuries of use and disuse furnishes the locale. Here is the ghostly and fiendish torture den of “The Terror” itself; the cobwebbed organ that weird fingers touch; the wind-swept galleries, blown funereal curtains, and rain-beaten roofs; the swelling wall-eyed toad; the ouija-board; the vast lirelit room where the panic-stricken “guests” of Dr. Redmayne hold spiritualistic seances; the sliding panels, the secret passages—ill short, everything that can augment the melodrama and enhance the acting of the stars.

The cast is headed by May McAvoy, Louise Fazenda and Edward Everett Horton, with Alec B. Francis, Holmes Herbert, Mathew Betz. John Miljan, Otto Hoffman, Joseph W. Girard and Frank Austin. Alec B. Francis plays the part of Dr. Redmayne, who with his daughter Olga, May McAvov, occupies the old mansion. Mr. Francis plays the part of a miserly and furtive octogenarian. The short talkie features which are also being shown are of a very high standard. There are two violin solos by Albert Spalding, several charming folk songs by Isa Kremer, the Russian prima donna; jazz by Roger Kahn’s New York Orchestra, songs and music by the Four Aristocrats, an all-talking comedy about the fire brigade, a U.F.A. gem with magnificent views of the Swiss Alps, and Empire News. SUBURBAN THEATRES At the Prince Edward Theatre this evening the films are “The Infamous Lady" (Arthur Wentner and Ruby Miller)'and “Love and the Devil” (Maria Corda and Milton Sills). The Grey Lynn Cinema is showing “Strong Boy” (Beatrice Joy and Victor McLaglen) also “The Rescue” (Lily of selections on the Wuritzer organ. Damita and Ronald Colman). At the Parish Hall, Devonport, the films will be “The Freedom of the Press” (Lewis Stone) and “God’s Clav” (Anny Ondra). At the Foresters’ Hall, Birkenhead, the pictures are "Square Crooks” (an all-star cast); also a “Collegians” picture. There will be dancing until midnight.

DIXIELAND CABARET Dancing will be enjoyed as usual in the luxurious surroundings of the Dixieland Cabaret this evening. The Dixieland Dance Band, well known fpr introducing all the latest and brightest numbers, will play, and dancing will continue until midnight.