"COQUETTE."

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19813, 28 December 1929, Page 6

"COQUETTE."

! PROGRAMME AT THE CIVIC. MA FT PICKFOED IX A XETC ROLK. The ilary Pickford of "Coquette," the. all-talking picture which was screened at the Civic Theatre for the arst time yesterday can by no stretch of the imagination be identified wifh the Miry Pickiord acclaimc-J by thousands and thousands of devoted admirers as the worlds sweetheart. Those winsomt curia that played havoc with a million heart* are gone; and £ oae is the little eiri who is remembered as the heroine ot •Taddv Locg Legs" and countless others. To-day" there is an extremely modern young woman, with beautiful dresses, very fond of parties—indeed, a thorough coquette. That 1 she is pretty and attractive ia ton to be denied. But she is another woman: a. woman with a voice. "Coquette" is a picture on which opinion must be divided, e%en although it has been described as Broadwav's most electrifying dramatic success oi the past season. The ending is unorthodox, and indeed th-3 final scene has an erieot that is rather surprising. The cha-ra-cterisation is good and Johnny Mack Brown, who plays opposite ilary Pickford, is an unusual type. Miss Pickford, as Norma Besant, appears in the role of a laughing and ingenuous small town coquette. Her father is of the old school —a man with a high sense oi the family honour and tradition greater even than his love for his motherless son and daughter. Consequently the aspirations of a young waster for the hand oi Isorrna are treated by the father with icy disdain. A clash ia inevitable for Michael, Norma's lover, is a man of singular tenacity. This part of the story follows very much on the traditional lines —angry 1 scenes between the two men, with harsh voice 3 almost tearing the screen in two, and a tempestuous departure by Michael, with Aorma'3 father pointing expressively to the horizon. There is a powerful denouement in which a revolver playa its usual sinister part, and a court scene that nobody would venture to suggest was anything but American. A really fine feature of the new programme is the pictorial translation of Tschaikowsky* "1812" overture, a most cleverly wrought piece of work with a magnificent choral background. As the music is hoard the scenes it suggests a-re shown, and the photographs and producer have achieved a, memorable picture. Just a glimpse here and there—shadowy figures on horseback, the flash of cannon, the execution of citizens by Napoleon's firing squad, crowded churches, the Czar'a army marching to meet the invaders —all these tell the story as the music swells from the hidden choir. In addition to this there is an interesting Pathe audio nei\s and review, and a bright comedy.