DOLORES DEL RIO RETURNS

Evening Star, Issue 21286, 15 December 1932, Page 10

DOLORES DEL RIO RETURNS

ROLE IN REGENT'S NEXT

‘ Bird of Paradise, 1 the screen version of Richard Walton Tally’s glamorous stage play, will begin a season at the Regent Theatre to-morrow. It is notable for the return of Dolores del Rio to the talking screen. She is allotted the most congenial role of her career as a South Seas native princess with a tragic and impossible love for a white man, ably portrayed by Joel M'Crea. ’King Vidor, who was responsible for the direction, adds yet another to his long list of successes. R.K.O. Radio Pictures spent a month in Hawaii filming the native scenes. The authentic atmosphere has been cleverly captured and vital realism has been achieved in the massed tribal ceremonies. Ah appropriate musical score adds charm to the natural beauty of the settings. ‘Bird of Paradise, 1 should enjoy a successful season. : Concerning the film, an overseas critic writes: “It’s the age-old plot— East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet. Luana, beautiful daughter of a South Seas chief, is tabu; must not associate with a white man. But when she meets Johnny Baker, who is visiting the islands with a yachting party, she rescues him from an attack by a shark and promptly falls in love with him. He carries the girl off to a secluded island, incurring the -wrath of her father and of the great volcano, Mount Pele, Spectacular and thrilling ceremonies are included in the ensuing reels, and even though it .is possible for Luana to return to civilisation with her lover, she decides to meet her fate —a sacrifice to the anger of Mount Pglg^’ Another critic says: “ Weighing the current vogue for exoticism. King Vidor dramatises the simple tale of a white man’s love for a native woman, and invests it with the colourful plumage of the South Seas. There are native sports,-native ritual, native superstition, and native scenery, and the production shows how the white mans love impetuously and characteristically overcomes all "the 'obstacles that lie in the path of the romance.”