Renown Theatre, Shannon

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 7284, 11 October 1933, Page 11

Renown Theatre, Shannon

“THE SIGN 01' THE CROSS.” “The Sign of the Cross,” -which is now showing at the Renown Theatre, Shannon, is ono of thG mose remarkable pictures that have over been shown. It tells a story of simple romance of the early Christians in the time of Nero. How these people suffered for tho Faith which most of us to-day embrace throughout the world, is shown. The faithful presentation of a Roman holiday brings all of its savage zest, its magnificence and wanton cruelty and then the climax of a wonderful romance. Howevor, this is merely tho shell in which Do Mille presents a love story so simple and beautiful that it is at once moving and uplifting. It is the story of Mercia, a Christian maiden, who is willing to die for her Faith ,and Marcus, a Roman noble whoso love for her undergoes a spiritual transformation as he, too, is willing to die—not for Faith, but for love. The peak of the picturo arrives when tho little band of Christians concealed in tho dungeon below, file up tho stono steps from their prison cells to tho arena above where the wild boasts are waiting to devour them before the multitude. Slowly they wind up the steps singing their hymns in clear, steady voices, their faces uplifted and their eyes alight with the spirit of the ideal for which they are about to die. Not only a magnificent spectacle for tho senses a dramatic and passionate love story, an arresting challenge to thinkers of to-day, but—an ideal 1 Fredric March, Elissa Landi, Claudette Colbert and Charles Laughton head a cast of 7500.