DOUBLE FEATURE BILL AT LIBERTY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18546, 21 August 1928, Page 7

DOUBLE FEATURE BILL AT LIBERTY.

After several weeks during which oii. main picture has been shown at Liberty Theatre a return is made this week to a double feature bill. In the foremost position is a Metro-Gold wyn Mayer production bearing the title) ** Body and Soul.” while following it in' order of precedence, but actually screened before it is a novel story bearing the legend “ The Shield of Honour." The ingenaiiv used bv the producers l ]

of modern pictures to bring before their vast audiences something new is re markable. Tt has b*»en found by those huge organisations which make films for screening in all quarters of the globe that to carry weight the pic tures rmist depict, at times, the lives of people other than Americans. Some of the best films made have dealt with subjects that are not American, although American players have taken the leading parts in them. In “ Body and Soul,” instead of the spacious and luxuriant drawing-rooms of Fifth Avenue or Riverside Drive, New York the story is laid in the heart of the Alps, that mighty range which has taken toll of so many Jives and yet still lures others to try to reach their highest pinnacles. The story is fan intensely dramatic one. It tells of a man, once a leading surgeon, but now dazed into a poor semblance of his former self by drink. He had retired to live in an inn in the Alpine region, there to drink his life away without any possibility of interference from anyone. One day there is brought in a servant girl with an injured shoulder. The surgeon, Dr Leyden, attends to her and she takes up work at the tavern. There Leyden becomes attached to her and persuades her to liiarry him. For a time all goes well. Leyden leaves the drink to care for itself, but a shadow comes across his life. .There comes on the scene a young mountain eer, Ruffo, of whom Leyden becomes insanely jealous, so much so in fact that, in a moment of drunken fury, he endeavours to chain his wife up with shackles. Ruffo appears on the scene, rescues the woman and carries her off. The pair are snowbound, and* for six months they have only each other for company. Then Ruffo is injured, and the only medical help within miles i* that which can be offered by’ Leyden. He is sent for and, while agreeing tc perform the delicate operation necessary to save Ruffo’s life, mentally decides that he will make a mistake during the operation and kill the young man. Just how the plot goes astray and how this triangle is cleared up roake an exciting and thrilling climax to the story. In the role of Leyden, Lionel Barrymore plays a part that will rank with the most successful he has ever acted. The name of any of the Barrymore family associated with a picture is, in itself, enough to guarantee that the film is something out of the ordinary, and in this case it is something extraordinary. The fact that the production is not a one-star production is borne out by the inclusion of Affeen Pringle as Hilda, the wife, and Norman Kerry as Ruffo, in the cast. The film has been well produced, with due attention to scenery and detail. Already in the United States the police are using aeroplanes to aid in the detection of crime, the sheriff of San Francisco using one to convey men quickly to out-o£the-way places. Such a theme opens up great possibilities from a moving picture point of view, and full advantage has been taken of it by the Universal firm in the police story, “The Shield of Hon our.” Neil Hamilton, Ralph Lewis and Dorothy Gulliver take the leading parts.

The Liberty Concert Orchestra under the baton of Mr Ernest Jamieson gave one of their best programmes of classical and popular numbers. Special mention should be made of Mr Werry’s artistic rendering of “Litany” (Schubert) for ’cello and orchestra. During the big picture Messrs Bullock an< * Withers (clarinet), played the “Mad Scene” from "Lucia di Lamroennoor’* (Donizetti) in finished style.