MAJESTIC THEATRE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 115, 18 May 1933, Page 12

MAJESTIC THEATRE

“THE CONQUERORS.” “The Conquerors,” co-starring Ri<ch ard Dix and Ann Harding, shows finally to-day at the Majestic. The picture brings an inspiring and encouraging message to every man and woman and child in Wanganui. So tremendous and overwhelming is the theme of this timely motion picture, that one emerges from the theatre with a courage to face any task; an ambition to surmount any barrier and a faith to conquer any problem. The film-makers have taken a great expense of canvas and thereon painted a stirring story of believable human beings whose vision founded banks, built railroads, created phonographs. harnessed electricity, discovered the use of steam, invented flying machines and submarines and the many other miracles of science that have made our civilisation the most advanced in the world. One can not attempt to analyse this film product in the category of a motion picture. It is much bigger than just so many thousands of feet of film. It is truly an epic—an epic that, within an hour and a-half. portrays the great love of a boy and a girl who are privileged to live through many generations to see come true the dreams they held for their country. Too realistic and graphic for mere words to describe, the sorrows and joys of that boy and girl symbolise the romantic development of a nation. In this picture, where one actually beholds a nation being developed, Richard Dix and Ann Harding, in the roles of Roger and Caroline Standish, cease to be just actors playing parts. They are the flesh and blood of that not sodistant day when doubters laughed at Edison who said he would record a human voice on a little disc, and the Wright Brothers who claimed they would some day fly. Roger and Caroline Standfish, just plain, everyday people, with faith in the land of their birth, live through three financial crises in the history of their country. They see their nation come back, better and stronger than ever in each instance. “Smiling Through.” Norma Shearer returns to the screen after a noticeable interval as a changed personality, for in 4 4 Smiling Through, ’ ’ coming to the Majestic to-morrow, she wins more hearts with her charming and romantic acting than she has ever done in her more sophisticated performances. In a dual role, as Moonyen Clare, and, later, as Moonyen’s sister child, Kathleen, she lives through tue loves and sadnesses of two ages in a spirit of unaffected and romantic sincerity. There is a depth of beauty about the lives she portrays that cannot fail to draw the presence of all filmgoers in Wanganui to see 4 4 Smiling Through.” The old world settings and dresses are artistically in keeping with the earlier period of the play, and Norma Shearer is equally as beautifully gowned when the threads of the story hre continued during the years of the war. An able cast has been selected to represent the characters, and under the directorship of Sidney Franklin the excellent qualities of 4 4 Smiling Through” lose none of their virtues through being presented on the screen. Frederic March, one of the most prominent young stars of to-day, plays opposite Norma Shearer in both generations of the story, cast as Jeremy Wayne and then later as Kenneth, the former’s son. Leslie Howard plays Sir John Carteret, the lover of Moonyeen and the guardian of Kathleen, and O. P. Heggie is in the role of Dr. Owen, his lifelong friend.