STRAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 759, 4 September 1929, Page 17

STRAND

“BLACK WATCH” ON FRIDAY “Speakeasy/* which will be shown at the Strand Theatre for only two more days, is a film of New York night life and the picture Avas made on and about Broadway. Thousands are caught in the mad subway rushes, thousands more flowing into the Grand Central Sation and the great traffic arteries. Madison Square Garden, jammed with 20,000 bloodthirsty fans is shown and heard, with the spectators screaming at fever heat; again it is the race-track crowd, breathless with suspense, at Belmont Park; and again the camera is focused on the revellers in popular Broadway supper clubs. The noisy hub-bub attendant to th© vortex of humanity, the clatter of rivetters in a city that is ever being rebuilt, the jargon of the BroadAvay racketeers —all these find prominent places in the recreation of Manhattan. Benjamin Stoloff directed the production, which has for its cast a number of celebrated stage stars. Heading the list are Paul Page, Lola Lane, Henry B. Walthall, Joseph Cawthorne and Sharon Lynn. Victor McLaglen, the popular star, has recently played every type of role in films, including baggage-man, sailor, pirate, but he is best remembered for the role of Captain Flagg In “What Price Glory.” Now he is a soldier again, but this time in the all-dialogue Fox Movietone production, “The Black Watch,” John Ford production, in which MeLaghlen is starred in the role of “Captain King,” of the famous Scottish regiment. “The Black Watch” is based on Talbot Mundy’s story, "King of the Khyber Rifles,” and is the forthcoming attraction at the Stuand Theatre. Myrna Loy plays the role of tlio exotic “Yasmani,” the she-devil of India who aspired to a throne. Due to the fact that “Captain King” is in India on a secret mission, the nature of which he, obviously, cannot reveal, he is under suspicion by his brother officers who incline to the belief that he asked to be transferred to service in India to sidestep the real fighting. The supporting cast includes David \ Rollins, Lumsden Hare, Mitchell Lewis and other highly capable players. The i film has dialogue sequences and j marks McLaglen’s debut as a talkie ! star.