STATE THEATRE

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 154, 26 March 1938, Page 16

STATE THEATRE

* “The Return Of The Scarlet Pimpernel” Right from the start Alexander Korda’s “The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel (now at' the State) faces a pretty stiff hurdle —the inevitable comparison with the extremely successful previous “Scarlet Pimpernel” talkie starring Leslie Howard. Yet it overcomes this obstacle without much difficulty—or, rather, it might be more correct to say that it goes round it. In the first place, Barry K. Barnes (the new Pimpernel) resists the temptation to ape Leslie Howard. He plays the role with a marked individuality, and in its own way his interpretation is scarcely less enjoyable. He brings to the part of Sir Percy Blakeney a sense of humour, distinct personal charm, and a flair for giving a feeling of suspense to a scene. In the second place, K'orda has treated his story from a rather different and (for Korda) rather refreshing angle—not so much a “period piece” as a fastnioving. adventurous melodrama with a semi-historical setting. The picture is seldom conscious of the fact that it is a “costume play”; first to last it is sound, popular entertainment. There is all the deftness of direction that so often favourably distinguishes an American film from a British one. with the result that the pace is fast and the suspense thrilling. The acting is in the same happy vein. In addition to Barry K. Barnes as Sir Percy, all members of the British cast —including Francis Lister as thewily Chauvelin, Sophie Stewart as Lady Blakeney, Henry Oscar as Robespierre, and Margaretta Scott as a spy who joins forces with Sir Percy—act their roles as if thev really meant them, giving a semblance of reality to a story that is unavoidably incredible but none the less exciting. In this story the foppish Sir Percy continues his daring game of snatching French aristocrajs from tiie guillotine and the Bastille. In many disguises and aided by his French allies, he pits his wits against his arch-enemy, 'the scoundrelly Chauvelin, the great test of his bravery and resource coming -when Lady Blakeney is captured by the, revolutionaries. The rescue of her ladyship, the humiliation of Chauvelin, and the downfall of Robespierre, bring this invigorating and excellently' produced picture to its eminently satisfactory conclusion.