"PRIVATE LIFE OF DON JUAN."

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 86, 11 April 1935, Page 4

"PRIVATE LIFE OF DON JUAN."

At Regent Theatre Tomorrow,

Some idea of the lavish scale on which London Filni6 produced "The Private Life of Don Juan," based on the legend of the great heart-wrecker, showing at the Regent -Theatre tomorrow, is contained in the fact that a huge Spanish theatre, complete in every detail, was erected for a single scene in this latest- offering of the producers of "The Private Life of Henry VIII" and "Catherine the Great." This was the largest set ever constructed in .England. Four tiers of boxes were built on each side of "the stage, which was itself complete with curtains, scenery, and the candle footlights peculiar to the period. There are no seats in the body of the theatre, for the simple reason that Spanish theatres do- not have seats except in the boxes. The crowd stands or strolls about during the performance and in the intervals sits in groups on the floor. Nearly four hundred gaily-costumed, players were required to fill this enormous set, Ladies of fashion and their escorts are seen in the boxes, while peasants, soldiers, and others crowd the floor. On the stage, a scene from the play "Don Juan is in progress. The real Don Juan, whom all Spain believes dead, mingles with the audience until, incensed by the inaccuracy of this portrayal of himself, he leaps to the stage and announces his identity, only^to be met by a roar of derisive laughter. Another of the striking sets designed for the production represented the Spanish inn where Don. Juan goes' into hiding. Ihis was faithfully reconstructed from sketches brought'from Valencia. Neither time nor expense was spared to make .this production 'an epic of realism and beauty, -the costumes—there are approximately 2000.0 i them—were designed by Oliver Messel, and are conceded to be the most elaborate as well as the most accurate historically ever screened. Many of the rare and costly jewels worn by Merle Oberon ,/Bemta Hume, Binnie Barnes, and other beauties in the film, as well as the priceless art treasures used to ornament the sets, .were obtained through the • co-operation of the Spanish Art Gallery in London. ■ Ihe rare tapestry which is seen hanging behind Don Juan's bed, is conservatively valued .at £5000, and is perhaps the piece of greatest interest. . . :