‘CARDINAL RICHELIEU’

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 287, 31 August 1935, Page 24

‘CARDINAL RICHELIEU’

Mr. Arliss in Impressive Entertainment

By

John Storm.

In “Cardinal Richelieu” there is an interesting glimpse of old France, and more than a suggestion of the manner in which factions and peoples in the past were set one against another to further the ambitions of one man. The situations depicted turnid my thoughts to world peace. History repeats itself to-day. though the cards are not laid on the table for us all to see as they are in this exciting tale. Possibly no European dictator later than mediaeval times—saving and excepting Napoleon himself —has been responsible for more warfare than the world-famous Cardinal.' It Is said that a hundred books on the subject of Cardinal Richelieu w re read by George Arliss before he entered on the part, and that he still felt uncertain of the real character of the man he was interpreting. Even then he said the Cardinal remained to him an enigma. In this performance he suggests a strong swimmer who has gone out as far as he ean go and now swe ps in on the returning tide. I think it is the popular actor's most impressive entertainment. It is not such a large canvas as “House of Rothschild.” and more concentrated than “The Iron Duke.” I use the word "entertainment? specifically, for whether you like the idea of the ' haracter he portrays or not you cannot help liking the actor himself, because he is a perfect entertainer. H“ sets his most engaging ways to a so very readily and always plays them with an air of "This is for you alone.” The Cardinal, as George Arliss plays him, is a fascinating creature, as full of surprises for everyone as a “to-be-continued-in-our-next” serial. n The story itself might have been written by Robert Louis Stevenson. It is thrilling in the way Catriona and “The Master of Ballantrae” were thrililug. In one part the runaway queens making quick time to the Spanish border are pursued by the Cardinal in a coacu and six which take the picturesque road at a gallop, while an outrider bolts ahead to advise the inn-keeper—who is in the pay of the Cardinal—to delay the Queen’s coach. Richelieu appears and, in abattle of wits, forces from them an incriminating document which can place his enemies in the palm of his hand This is all delightful; we are not certain how historical it is, and we do not care! We can read about Richelieu later as he may have been. At the moment this is just tlie way we want him to be. And when he reappears before the ineffectual Louis XIII, and confounds his plotting enemies, we want to raise a cheer r or the good fun of it all. He is surrounded by an interesting cast, but all they nave to do is to look handsome and wicked and very the silks and the velvets of the time, and to make e little good swordsmanship outside the castle tvalls. Maureen O’Sullivan and Cesar Romaro. a dark young man. six feet tall, aie the happy lovers, the Cardinal's ward and the youth of her own choice, against the King’s wish. Edwin Arnold, it. the nart, eats into the empty heart of the Bourbon. It is a romantic story of far-off wars and rumours of wars, but it is al! the same a kind of miniature, beautifully p-ruted, pf what seems pending in the world of the moment.