“ISLE OF LOST SHIPS '* AT MAJESTIC THEATRE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19035, 2 April 1930, Page 7

“ISLE OF LOST SHIPS '* AT MAJESTIC THEATRE.

Amongst many original features of “The Isle of Lost Ships,” the all-talk-ing picture that heads the bill at the Majestic Theatre this week, is the fact that the story is set in the waste of seaweed and wreckage known as the Sargasso Sea. The Sargasso Sea exists in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean by reason of a gigantic eddy, and for the purpose of the story it is presumed that the centre of the sea consists of an “isle of lost ships” that have drifted thtere throughout the centuries. The story is as original as its setting, and is interpreted by a strong cast headed by Virginia Valli. Noah Beery, Jason Robards and Robert O’Connor. Three persons, a society girl and two men, are left on board a steamer which strikes a derelict and is abandoned when the vessel has drifted into the Sargasso to become part of the vast floating island of wrecks of every conceivable period and kind, the marooned three find a queer colony of fifty men and two women, dominated by Captain Forbes (Noah Beery), an ex-whaling master of the worst type. The experiences of the three are exciting. However, with the help of an Irish mechanic, and several others who desire to get away, and a stranded submarine, they make a spectacular escape. The scenery is remarkably, good. especially the wreck of the Queen. and the derelict vessels making up the isle. The supporting pictures include a laughable comedy about a “quack” doctor’s antics, and there is also an interesting sound news picture. Pictures of the December hurricane along the English coast are of special interest. There is also a song narrative, “The Hut, sung by Nova Tarasova.