NEXT CHANGES

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21118, 20 March 1934, Page 3

NEXT CHANGES

TIVOLI THEATRE GEORGE ARLISS IN "VOLTAIRE*"Voltaire," the Warner Bros, production, starring George Arliss, is the film which has been selected as the opening attraction for the new Tivoli Theatre on Friday. This is the greatest contribution to the screen Mr Arliss has made since "Disraeli," which it most resembles, not excepting "The Millionaire" or "The Working Man," and is the most skilful performance this actor has yet contributed to either stage or screen. There is a fine cast and the picture, in short, is an enthralling drama, spectacularly produced, magnificently staged and dramatically sound. It is said that Mr Arliss has waited 20 years to find the suitable dramatisation of the life of Voltaire, called the father of the French Revolution. If so it has been time well spent, for the intervening years have ripened his artistry toward: the day when he put "Voltaire" on the screen. A single incident in the long career of the great French poet-philosopher is used as a dramatic background for the film. In this Mr Arliss has followed the method ho found so successful in "Disraeli." About this one incident has been drawn all the gorgeous panoply and extravagance of the court of Louis XV., all the intrigue which centred in the boudoir of Madame Pompadour. It is reckless, beautifully mannered melodrama, the like of which has probably seldom come out of Hollywood before. The incident used by the dramatists is an adaptation of the famous Calas case in which Voltaire interested himself for eight years, braving threats of imprisonment and death in his efforts to clear a man's name and to save his estates from intriguing advisers to the king. Voltaire's well-known friendship and influence with Madame Pompadour, a role played charmingly bv Dons Kenyon, plays a vital part in the story. The excellence of the supporting cast matches the production values. Margaret Lindsay, who was seen first in "Cavalcade," plays the role of Nanette Calas. Theodore Newton, another newcomer who won his spurs in "The Working Man," plays the part of Nanette's lover. David Torrcnce, Alan Mowbray, Doris Lloyd. Helena Phillips, and Murray Kinnel! are others in the cast. The story moves from Voltaire's Paris apartments to the palace of the French king, into the boudoir of Mme Pompadour, and then to the unrivalled extravagance of Versailles. All these settings have been reproduced with a lavish and spectacular hand. It is not just costume drama—it is the panorama of one of the most dramatic periods of the world's history unfolded realistically. The box plans will open to-morrow at the D.I.C.