INTERESTING CHARACTERISATION

Evening Star, Issue 21634, 1 February 1934, Page 11

INTERESTING CHARACTERISATION

LIONEL BARRYMORE'S LATEST FILM As tho eighty-five-year-old patriarch of a farm rounded and pioneered by his family, Lionel Barrymore is said to have one of tho most interesting characterisations of his brilliant career in ‘ Stranger’s Return,’ which will start at the Regent to-morrow. His histrionic power is declared by review critics to have attained new heights.. Miriam Hopkins, among the most popular feminine stars on the screen to-day, is afforded the best opportunity she has had in her role of the city girl who goes to her grandfather’s farm and finds there tho peace and contentment she could not get in the city. Here is a role of exacting demands, and she is said to have exceeded in power the strength written into the original part. King Vidor, who directed Big Parade,’ ‘ The Champ.,’ * Street Scene,’ ‘ Bird of Paradise,’ and ‘ Cynara,’ also directed this new Barrymore triumph. Franchot Tone heads the supporting cast in the role of the college-bred farmer with whom the city girl falls in love. The fact that he already has a devoted wife and baby son serves to dramatise a hopeless romantic situation that turns into a small-town scandal. Tone, a comparative newcomer to the screen, was a sensation on the stage and scored equal success in his first pictures. Stuart Erwin fills a featured spot as Simon, the cheerfully bibulous farm hand who knows more than he appears to. This., is by far Erwin’s most important role in many months. Irene Hervey is Hettie, the farm wife; Beu 7 lab Bondi is cast as Beatrice, the scold: and Grant Mitchell plays the part of Allen. Tad Alexander is Hie boy, and Aileen Carlyle plays the role of Thelma. The pictorial beauty of the picture cannot be too greatly stressed. The camera work is some of, the most effective the screen has offered out-of-door lovers.