MAJESTIC THEATRE

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 124, 19 February 1938, Page 13

MAJESTIC THEATRE

* “Parnell” M.-G.-.M. have turned to (he biographical drama in "Parnell.” the new attraction at the Majestic Then! re. The result is only partially successful, the fault lying in the choice of Clark. Gable to plnv the celebrated Irish (Militicinn. and. to a lesser extent, of .Myrna Loy as Mrs. Katie O'Shea, the woman for whose sake Parnell is said by some to have betrayed his country ami b's ••nuse.

There will. I readily admit, be many |>i<turegoers whose admiration for the personalities of Gable and Miss Loy will outweigh all other i-oiisidenitioiis. Yet. in biographical drama p;i rtivulurly, versimilitude is the first requisite. You should be able to feel the character aud

not the player behind it. This does not happen here. One is always conscious of Clark Gable and Myrna Loy as Clark Gable aud Myrna Loy, not as Parnell and Mrs. O’Shea.

However, “i’arnell,” within limits, is a good film, though it could not be u great one. The stormy career of Charles Stewart Parnell, “uncrowned king of Ireland.” offered material for rich drama ami glowing romance. The scenarists have taken some liberties with fact, but few that cannot be excused on the grounds of dramatic licence, and they have made the academic subject of Home Rule for Ireland as adventurous a cause as any screen hero ever fought for. And they have brought out the real tragedy of' Parnell’s life —which was that his followers made him ft god, whereas in reality, for all his powers of leadership, he was still a human being with human frailties. The feet of clay of the god Parnell were his illicit, bnt glamorous relations with Katie O’Shea; .and since the public likes to be shown 'that its great men are only human after all, “Parnell” is, in this respect at least, good and popular, if somewbat_slow-niov-ing, entertainment. It is even better entertainment when depicting the dogged struggle waged by the Irish party, led by Parnell, on the floor of the House of Commons, to wring Home Rule from the equally dogged Mr. Gladstone. It is still better entertainment when Parnell is implicated, bv forgery, in the notorious Phoenix Park murders, and he is cleared hy the devotion of the woman he loves. The casting of the supporting roles in “Parnell” is so uniformly excellent that it helps considerably to make one overlook the mistake made with the stars. As Captain O’Shea, Katie’s husband, Alan Marshal, is the main villain of the piece, and he 'plays the part with a sustained unpleasantness that is altogether admirable. Montagu Love is a fierce and memorable Mr. Gladstone who, one infers, seized with gratitude upon Parnell's part in the O’Shea divorce scandal as an excuse to throw Home Rule overboard. Once again Edna May Oliver shows her ability to dominate any scene in which she appears, with her portrayal of the eccentric but kindly aunt of Katie; and Billie Burke supplies light relief as Katie’s feather-brained sister. If the versimilitude that is shown in the lower ranks of players and in the settings could have been extended to the upper ranks. “Parnell” would have stood out even in the present season of outstanding films.