“DRAKE AND ENGLAND”

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 256, 26 July 1935, Page 6

“DRAKE AND ENGLAND”

Outstanding British Film “7 In a year made notable in rhe film world by the excellence of British productions there has come from Elstree a picture of challenging merit. "Drake and Eng land,” which was privately screened >n Wellington last night and i« booked for early release, is a true epic of the screen. Redolent with the "spirit, the bravura, of Elizabethan times; capturing the romantic sweep of the period in which Drake and Hawkins—the i£yn of Devon —raised England from a secondary naval power to become mistress of the seas, this picture is calculated to bring British audiences to their feet, cheering. It is the story of Drake and the Armada, the story of indomitable Queen Elizabeth, told in the grand legendary manner. And what a tale for telling on the screen! Episodes that Englishmen absorb at their mothers’ knees live again. Drake winning his way to the court of Elizabeth, gaining her favour and support in spite of the.cautious counsel of her ministers; Drake putting out across the Atlantic to capture Spanish treasure —a pirate under royal patronage; Drake the idol of Devon and an Admiral of England; Drake on the bowling green ; Drake singeing the King of Spain’s beard at Cadiz —a magnificent episode this; then, finally. Drake in tne vanguard of the wasp fleet that rode the wings of a great storm and harried the broken Armada as it swept northward. Then Elizabeth —for it is as much Elizabeth’s film as it is Drake’s; the Queen at Hampton Court and in her castles, merci lessly bitter of tongue, a shrew and a domestic tyrant, but a woman in whom lives the very soul of leadership. Her scenes with Drake and her ministers, splendidly acted, are among the best of the film. The idiom of the times, rich and strong, is given full flavour in dialogue that Ist worth hearing again and again. As Drake. Matheson Lang gives easily the best screen portrayal of his career, and the cast supporting him and the excellent actress who plays Elizabeth might have stepped ready-made from the century to which the story belongs. “Drake and England” deserves to be one of the outstanding successes of the present screen season. All to whom patrlot- | ism means anything at all must find in it a thrilling and inspiring experience.