"BLOCKADE."

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 223, 20 September 1938, Page 5

"BLOCKADE."

DRAMA FOR CIVIC. Described by the film critic of "Reynolds Xews," London, ae being "worthy of ranking among the greatest dramas that the. screen hae produced," "Blockade," opening at the Civic Theatre on Friday, is one of the timeliest of the season's motion pictures. The stare in this gripping film are Henry Fonda and the beautiful English actress Madeleine Carroll, both of whom are excellent. Set against the background of the seething maelstrom of the Spanish Civil War. the central theme of j the etory. nevertheless, ie the romance of i Xorma (Madeleine Carroll) and Marco (Henry Fonda). The events of the plot lose none of their exciting quality by the fact that the production preserves a strictly neutral attitude, and does not identify any character ae a member of, one faction or the other. The strong eup : porting cast is headed by Leo Carrillo. and also includes John Halliday, Reginald Denny, Vladimir Sokoloff. Robert Warwick and Katherine De Mille. The director of the film, William Dieterle. was responsible also for "The Life of Emile Z01a.," acclaimed as the greatest produc- 1 tion of 1937. The story tells of the adventures of Norma after she arrives in Spain to find that her father and an associate have been fomenting a civil war in that country. Marco, a young farmer with whom the girl has fallen in love, becomes a soldier on the outbreak of war, and kills her father as a spy, arresting her as a suspect. The thread of the plot passes on, through many exciting incidents, to a most impressive climax.