BRILLIANT RONALD COLMAN

Evening Star, Issue 21621, 17 January 1934, Page 9

BRILLIANT RONALD COLMAN

‘ THE MASQUERADER 1 FOR REGENT Ono of the most 'intriguing stories ever translated to stage or screen is told in ‘ The Masquerader,’ the superb production which will begin a season at the Regent Theatre on Friday. Two of the most talented and popular stars of the day fill the leading roles in the famous tale of John Chilcote, M.P., and the man who stepped into his political shoes and the love of his wife. They are Ronald Colman and Elissa Landi, and Colman’s performance has been acclaimed by many critics as the finest he has ever given. Impersonation of one man by another as the basis of a story has never been more skilfully handled than in ‘ The Masquerader,’ and the new film promises to eclipse in popularity the stage version made famous by Guy Bates Post. Political turmoil, riot, and threat of revolution, and financial and Government crises taken from to-day’s headlines are the storm-clouds that drive one man from his position at the helm of. State and the love of his wife to drugs and debauchery. Pride of family, patriotism, and love of adventure and fight summon his unknown young cousin, his exact double, to the rescue; but while the latter is able to carry off successfully his position in Parliament there are extremely difficult complications in his relationship to the woman who is supposed to be his wife and to the woman who is supposed to be his mistress.

These two roles give Colman a chance to contrast drunkenness and sobriety, sanity and fitness with debauchery and depravity. Unlike “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde ” and other famous dual roles of the stage and screen, ‘ The Masquerader ’ offers Colman no important help in the way of make-up. His is a triumph of pure acting, not of technical ingenuity.