DRAMATIC STORY SHOWS AT GRAND.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18340, 17 December 1927, Page 10

DRAMATIC STORY SHOWS AT GRAND.

Apart, from the fact that it is Miss Lilian Gish who plays the celebrated role of Hester Prynne in the picturised version of the Hawthorne classic, the title of the great classic itself is indication enough that the film is all that it should be. The Mctro-Goldwyn-Mayer producers can generally be relied upon not to mangle more than is usual in the studios of the untrammelled austerity of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s fine tale of old New England, and in pre-, senting “The Scarlet Letter” which will be the attraction at the Grand Theatre next week, they have given to tho screen a worthy edition in celluloid of this work. In the part of Hester Prynne, Lilian Gish has outvied her acting as the leading character in '‘The White Sister”; the woman who wore the scarlet badge of shame in this story was patient and gentle, but not without her spirit, and Miss Gish interprets Hester as an excellent combination of retiring modesty and. unflinching courage. The story is built up on tho New England Puritan attitude in its worst form, the insufferable righteousness of these people; and when an ironical Providence sends Hester Prynne to live out her life among them, she who was born with a love of life and laughter, the story takes what is at once an emotional and a psychological turn. “ The Scarlet Letter ” is two tales in one, the second being the love story of Hester and the pastor of the village flock, the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale;' the consummation of this love results in the woman being branded with the scarlet “A ” on the pillory. This is a great SC e ne, one of infinite pathos and power, but by far excelled by the closing scene, when Dimmesdale denounces himself from the same pillory as the girl’s lover. The story might be tragic, and it might be gloriously triumphant: it all depends on the viewpoint of the individual; certainly it is wonderfully beautiful, delicate and restrained, artistic throughout. New England is a very fair State, rnd the natural scenes are of exceptional attractiveness, a fit background for the lives of the woman and the clergyman. In this picture Miss Gish has, in Lars Hanson, a leading man who is her equal in every respect; in other pictures she alone has been the centre of hjstrionic interest, but the palm for acting honours goes to the Swedish Hanson as much as to her this time. Hanson is a new type on the screen, of a cold and viking mould, which is immensely refreshing after the surfeit of Latins at present on the screen. Henry B. Walthall and Karl Dane are also in the cast of players. The Grand Orchestra will play a programme of specially selected music for

“ The Scarlet Letter ” season. The box plans are at The Bristol Piano Company, where seats may be reserved.