RETURN OF “INTOLERANCE.”

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1440, 29 November 1917, Page 32

RETURN OF “INTOLERANCE.”

It will be good news to know that “Intolerance” will play a short return season in Auckland before being sent back to Australia. D. W. Griffith’s latest masterpiece, “Intolerance,” now at the height of its popularity all over the world, will open at His Majesty’s Theatre next Wednesday, December 5, again under the management of J. C. Williamson, Ltd. To say that “Intolerance” far surpasses Mr. Griffith’s former spectacle, “The Birth of a Nation,” is but to repeat the unanimous opinion of the press wherever it has been presented. It is without exception the most marvellous production ever flashed on the screen. In it Mr. Griffith has traced a universal theme through four periods of the world’s history, ancient, sacred, medieval, and modern times being utilised. The scenes of the four distinct stories follow one another in rapid succession. There is no attempt at historical sequence, but the events are shown as they might flash across the mind in an effort to parallel the life of the different ages. “Intolerance” shows that, through all the ages, the same passions, the same joys and the same sorrows have obtained, and Mr. Griffith symbolises them by the cradle, endlessly rocking. Through it all, the events shown are caused by the intolerance of man. The scene of the modern story is laid in an American city and shows the effects of so-called reformers to stifle personal liberty. The story of the sacred time is laid in Judea, showing episodes from the life of Christ, ending with the Crucifixion. In the medieval story is shown the massacre of the Hugenots. The ancient time is in the heyday of Babylon and its destruction by Cyrus and the Persians. Ages before the existence of New York, the Assyrians had realised the practical advantage of laying out their streets at right angles to each other. Their houses, less lofty than our own, were constructed of brick and stone and metal. The Royal Palace, of which one sees so much in the Griffith play, was on one side of the Euphrates River, which flowed through the city. Facing it stood the enormous temple of Bel, 600 feet in length. It was surmounted by a huge and imposing tower. In the temple, so history states, was an idol, an altar and a throne, which were made of pure gold. There is no extra charge for booking. There will only be one matinee on this occasion—on Saturday, December B—when8 —when children will be admitted at half-price. The box plan for the seasons opens at Wildman and Arey’s on Monday morning next.