DEPTHS OF HUMAN EMOTIONS PROBED IN MIGHTY FILM.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17878, 21 June 1926, Page 7

DEPTHS OF HUMAN EMOTIONS PROBED IN MIGHTY FILM.

PERCY MARMONT STARS IN “STREET OF FORGOTTEN MEN ” AT CRYSTAL. Described as “The Miracle Man” of 1926, surely the noblest praise that could be meted out to any picture, “The Street of Forgotten Men” comes to the Crystal Palace Theatre to-day. Its title suggests drama, poignant, telling- drama, its plot suggests the emotions, the laughter, the subtle blending of tears and happiness that is life; its handling, in the talented hands of Percy Marmont, fortells that it is truly one of the greatest human dramas that has ever found expression on the screen. “The Street of Forgotten Men” lives its dual life in two worlds, in the Bowery, sinister and leering, and on Fifth Avenue, cultured, magnificent and that which so surely but irrevocably binds the twoplanes is the street of forgotten men, a pathway that as one walks it with the artists of this wonderful play becomes a gamut of emotions one moment and a playground of joy and laughter the next. This attribute it was that made “Humoresque” so famed, and “The Street of Forgotten Men” is in no way less subtle, less dramatic or less humorous. It is deep with the depth of life that the unhappy wrecks who frequent the Bowery of New York probe; it is tragic with the calm despair of their failures; but it is also vibrantly and pulsatingly alive with all the humour and joy that can be extracted from life, and this picture,

at no time morbid or lachrymose, is just one beautiful cameo of human desires and ambitions and accomplishments. The acting of Percy Marmont in this picture richly deserves to be termed magnificent. Sincere, skilful, whimsical and pathetic, this noted actor fills the role with a galaxy of whims and emotions that makes the story vividly alive to his lightest touch; it is a characterisation that impels one to see the film twice. Supporting him are Mary Brian, Neil Hamilton and other well-known Paramount players, and they all act in a manner calculated to throw into bolder relief the work of the star. The second picture is a light and airy comedy, “The Best People,” in which Warner Baxter, Esther Ralston and Margaret Livingstone combine to initiate the world into the intricacies of their exclusive circle, or labyrinth, as it might jusly be termed. L:ndcrneath the humorous and frivolous exterior of this picture there is a wealth of worldly wisdom and ripened sophistication that sounds a note of warning. and the picture is not all inconsequent comedy. The acting of the artists in every phase is well sustained. The Symphony Orchestra, under Mr A. J. Bun;;, will be heard in the following numbers: Overture, “Za mpa" • Herald); Symphony No. 1 (Beethoven); “Le Roi cie Lahore” (Massenet); “Peer Gynt Suite” (Grieg); "Intermezzo” (Brahms) ; “Katja” (Sullivan) ; “After the Dawn” (O'llagan). The box plans are at The Bristol, where seats may be reserved.