AN EXCELLENT PICTURE

Evening Star, Issue 21073, 9 April 1932, Page 11

AN EXCELLENT PICTURE

• SQUAW MAN' AT ST. JAMES It is no surprise that ‘The Squaw Man,’ which opened its season at the St. James Theatre yesterday, should be a very entertaining and well-produced film, for in the days of the silent pictures Cecil B. De Mille filmed the story twice with success—a story that has proved its worth by becoming one of America’s most popular three plays. . As a talkie ‘ The Squaw Man ’ is just as thrilling and as interesting as it was in the old days of the screen—in fact, most people will find it more so. It is difficult indeed to pick on one place in which the film could have been improved. It is hardly likely that this famous play can ever have known a better cast of players, or one more suited to the widely-contrasted roles they have to enact. Warner Baxter has deservedly won a big name on the screen for his acting, but until ‘The Squaw Man-

has been perhaps a little disappointing in some of his pictures. That complaint may not, however, be levelled against his interpretation of the role of Jim Carston. the English gentleman who leaves his home under a cloud and becomes an Arizona rancher and the husband of an Indian squaw. It is probably his best performance to date, for it carries the stamp of sincerity and restraint. He makes a difficult role convincing, and no higher praise could be given to any actor than that. But Baxter is only one of a cast that includes some of the best-known names in Hollywood. Quite as good as he is Lupe Velez, as the squaw, Naturich, Her role calls upon her to speak only a very few words of broken English, for she is truly a primitive child of the great open spaces, not at all at home with “the white man’s” language, but she gives a truly remarkable interpretation of incoherent devotion, loving with all the strength of her childlike nature the Englishman who has married her in order to save her from the scandal of the community, and pitifully seeking to understand why he should send their little son away across the “ great waters ” to he educated so that he can assume his birthright as an English peer. “ How can you explain the British Empire to a savage?” asks her husband hopelessly; but he does not need to try, for in the final scene she finds her own heroic solution to all their problems. Unable to express herself in words, the actress has to rely on her expression to mirror her emotions, and that she succeeds so well marks Lupe Velez as a dramatic artist of the first class.

In her return to the screen to play the role of Lady Diana, Eleanor Boardman is something of a revelation, while others of note are Paul Cavanagh, as Henry, Earl of Kerhill, whose resemblance to Warner Baxter, .who is his cousin for the purposes of the story, is rather remarkable; Charles Bickford, as the bullying “ Cash ” Hawkins; Roland Young, in another quietly humorous characterisation; Raymond Hatton, J. Farrell MacDonald, De Witt Jennings, and, finally, Dicky Moore, the delightful little boy who takes the part of the half-breed heir to a proud English earldom.

There is a good deal to be said for De Mille’s claim that ‘ The Squaw Man ’ is a play containing the elements of immortality. Certainly its emotional scope is as wide as the scope of action, which shifts in a manner full ofdnterest between the stately homes of England’s aristocracy and the barren hills and cactus bushes of Arizona, ■

Within these two extremes of locality is told a story filled with elemental passions and problems—the love of one man for another man’s wife, jealousy, hatred, self-sacrifice and devotion, murder and heroism, the bar of colour and the heritage of birth, and the power of mother-love and father-love. Here, indeed, is scope for drama_ and romance, and the skill and experience of De Mille, aided by the picturesque appeal of the settings, take full advantage of the opportunities offered. The picture is longer than the average production, and for that reason the supporting programme is short, but included is ‘The Mighty Conqueror,’ depicting many incidents in the life of the late peerless horse, Phar. Lap. It is a particularly good film, and one that should be viewed by all sportsmen. The programme will be repeated to-night and during the week. SUPERB DRAMA COMING. When a paper of the calibre of the ‘ London Times ’ hails a picture as marking "a milestone in film progress,” we may take it that that is no mere idle praise, but a sincere tribute to a great film by a great newspaper. That is what ‘ The Times ’ said about • The Sin of Madelon Claudet,’ the superb drama coming to the St. James Theatre on Friday next. There is an amazing cast, headed by_ that polished artist, Lewis Stone, and including such stellar players as Neil Hamilton, Cliff Edwards, Jean Hersholt) and Marie Prevost.