PLAZA THEATRE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 152, 29 June 1934, Page 10

PLAZA THEATRE

• THE LOST PATROL •• TO-DAY Magnificently realistic In back ground, powerful in theme, and swift and dramatic in action, “ i'lie Lost Patrol” commences its Wanganui season at the Plaza Theatre to-day ami to-night, while three sessions will be held to-morrow, there being a morning matinee at 10.30 a.m. These Saturday morning screenings have proved very popular with Plaza patrons and tomorrow’s matinee should be well patronised. Strikingly different from Ihe usual screen drama is this epie of gallantry on the desert. Played with tremendous virility by a cast including Victor McLaglen, Boris Karloff. Wallace Ford, Reginald Denny, and a notable array of supporting artists, the production was directed with a masterful hand by John Ford. The story is that of a patrul of British cavalrymen who are lost on the Mesopotamian desert when their officer is killed by Arabs. Under the command of their iron nerved sergeant, they take refuge in an oasis, where they become the virtual prisoners of their invisible but ever-vigilant enemies. Lightened frequently by comedy tinged with romance and often touched by pathos, the recurd of the doomed patrol is mostly one of sheer drama, which reaches stirring heights in a surprising climax. Standing out among the superbly-port rayed characters are the heroic figure of the sergeant, played by McLaglen. and the pathetic and somehow noble religious zealot made to live and breathe by Karloff. A talkie actor’s life is not all honey. At times they are exposed to great danger, intense heat or wintry blasts of the Far North, but in “the Lost Patrol” Victor McLaglen and his fellow-actors in the, cast lived the story in the sweltering heat, amidst many privations, in order to get true local colour into the production. RKu Radio spared no expense to produce a masterpiece worthy of the name. Adapted from Phillip MacDonald’s great novel, “Patrol,” this production will live long in the memory of all those who view it. It is a picture that makes men glad they are men and compels women to love brave men. The men who up the cast in “The Lost Patrol” actually each live their role in the sweltering heat of the desert. Its greatness is in the simplicity in which the story Is unfc-lded, and the realistic manner in which each member of the cast portrays nis part. Produced by John Ford, veteran with many successes to Tils credit, it ranks foremost among the year's masterpieces. _______