ABSORBING WAR PICTURE SHOWING AT GRAND THEATRE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18640, 18 December 1928, Page 7

ABSORBING WAR PICTURE SHOWING AT GRAND THEATRE.

Sir Philip Gibb.s has made his name principally as. a writer of stories concerning the period after the Great War, but there were many of his stories which were written during the war, and which show as much "sympathy with that troubled time as his more famous stories of its aftermath. At the Grand Theatre this week, there is a screen version of one of this writer’s most famous short stories dealing with the war. It is “ Out of the Ruins,” a tale of the French Air Force, and one of the best which have come from that versatile writer’s pen. It is a story which has all the elements of a good picture, and the making of it has proved its suitability for screen purposes. The chief actor is Richard Barthelmess, who appears again in the warstained khaki, and in a role which is admirably suited to the particular Bar thelmess type of genius. It was this character, a soldier, that made him famous, and his work in “ Out of the Ruins ” leaves no doubt that he is as great as he was in his first success. He gives, as Lieutenant Pierre Dupon, a telling personification of a gallant and appealing character. Pierre is the pride of the French Air Force, and in the carnage that was the war in the air shines out above his fellotyjs. “ Out of the Ruins ” captures the very spirit of the gallant men who fought and gave their lives in the greatest war in history. There is a touching realism in the spirit of devil-may-careness which pervades the film, and makes it what it is, a great war picture. There is, of course, a girl, and she is Yvonne Gilbert, pretty and French, who is to be forced to marry a fat and scheming officer. She is the sister of one Sergeant Gilbert, to whom Pierre is almost as a god. Although there is a romantic side to this tale, there is more of the war than the average war film offers, and it is put to the spectator in such a manner that there is a feeling after it is all over that there was not enough of this side of the thing. There is a gripping reality in the scenes that deal with those gallants, taking to the air in the defence of their country. The romance is typical of Sir Philip Gibbs. It is as strong as are the scenes of red frightfulness, and just as plausible. In this department of the film, Richard Barthelmess is almost as good as he is in the more stern character of the war-scarred hero, but the romance in the story is left in the capable hands of pretty Marian Nixon. Barthelmess, as the lieutenant, sighing for his love in the midst of war, is splendid, and when, to see his charmer, he turns his back on the Germans and goes to Paris to see her, he is peerless. Fie is taken as a deserter, tried and sentenced to death, and it is in this powerful scene that Barthelmess handes his part as only he can. The story is not one of those in wfiich everything goes smoothly in spite of apparent hitches; it is one of the few into which Sir Philip Gibbs has introduced a note of tragedy. It is in the ending of this story that its greatness lies, and much of its appeal. To tell the ending would be to spoil the happy surprise which awaits those who will be lucky enough to see “ Out of the Ruins.” In addition to the principals, there is a strong cast, in which Robert Fraser, as the brother of Yvonne, stand* out.