IN TALKIES AT LAST

Evening Star, Issue 20942, 5 November 1931, Page 9

IN TALKIES AT LAST

LILLIAN GISH AT OCTAGON TWHRROW ‘One Romantic Night,’ the immortal stage classic by Ference Molnar which Lillian Gish will translate into the first dialogue picture of her career at the Octagon Theatre to-morrow, is the story of a young commoner who dares to challenge an aristocrat for the love of a maiden of means. The romantic love triangle of which many connoisseurs of the theatre declare will live as long as ‘ Camille’s’ deathless love, is a fertile plot which only the imagination of a Molnar at his best could create. Unlike ‘ Camille,’ which is a distinct tragedy, Miss Gish’s starring vehicle is a comedy-drama, the love jnterest of which is emphasised by contrasting it with a sophisticated and humorous counterplot. The picture is Miss Gish’s first serious work for some time, and brings the charming screen heroine of ‘The Birth of a Nation,’ ‘ Way Down East,’ and ‘ Broken Blossoms ’ hack in a United Artists’ picture worthy of her talents. . As “Alexandra,” the maiden who is forced to choose between a poor tutor and an aristocrat upon whom she is foisted by her mother, the star is seen and heard ir the first worldlywise rok since she became associated with David Wark Griffith. She has been surrounded with the most important cast of big names announced in years. Rod La Rocque as “ Albert,” Conrad Nagel as “Dr Haller,” the tutor; Mane Dressier as “ Beatrice,” and 0. P. Heggie as “Father Benedict.” constitute tho principles in support.