A GREAT ACHIEVEMENT

Evening Star, Issue 21890, 29 November 1934, Page 14

A GREAT ACHIEVEMENT

NEW GEORGE ARLISS FILM The sudden revival of interest in historic characters, whose colourful personalities have left a lasting impress on the world’s events, is directly traceable to the international success that attended the recent release of two British pictures— ‘ Henry VIII ’ and ‘ Catherine the Great.’ Those who have but a hearsay knowledge of the way Hollywood does things might have guessed what would happen. Having made up their minds to concentrate on historic pictures, nothing less than a production of gigantic panoramic scope—a fdm of truly epic quality—would satisfy the American producers. It remained for the youngest producing company in the business —20th Century Pictures, organised but one year ago—to capture the honors in complete, clear-cut fashion noth a production that is now being hailed as “ the finest film yet to come out of Hollywood.” ‘ The House of Rothschild ’ is its name, and in it that distinguished actor, George Arliss, registers his greatest triumph. A fortune went into its production. From the viewpoint of sheer entertainment and dramatic interest, it stands out as a great achievement. More, it marks a tremendous step forward in the art of the talking picture. Certainly, if the enthusiastic reception it has received everywhere is a criterion, and if the critical acclaim of the experts is a safe guide, there is little doubt that ‘ The House of Rothschild ’ will head every list of the ten best pictures of 1934. But it is as an historical document, recreating one of the most significcnt epochs in European history—from the late 1790’s to Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo —that the picture has aroused unprecedented interest. Centering around the House of Rothschild, and tracing the sensational rise of this famous European banking family from the obscurity of the ghetto in Frankfort, Germany, to international fame and power, the film contains many sequences that have a definite modern parallel. Because of this timeliness, ‘ The House of Rothschild ’ has become the most discussed picture of 1934. Due to the wide scope covered by ‘ The House of Rothschild,’ whicli commences to-morrow at the Regent Theatre, the film has one of the largest and most impressive casts ever assembled for a single picture. Many previous films have perhaps included larger numbers of “ extras ” —great masses of people for mob scenes—but none comes readily to mind that has included seventy-five principals, each qf whom has a distinct character to create. George Arliss, himself, plays a dual role. He is seen first as Mayer Rothschild, the founder of 'the banking dynasty; and later, as Nathan Rothschild, most illustrious of the five brothers, and the British representative of the family, who became England’s most powerful, banker and enabled its forces to conquer Napoleon. Among those in the excellent supporting cast are players of the highest possible feputation—Boris Karloff as Baron Ledrantz, Loretta Young, Robert Young; C. Aubrey Smith as the Duke of Wellington; Alan Mowbray as Metternich; George Renavent as Talleyrand ; Helen Westley; Gilbert Emery as the Prime Minister; Arthur Byron as Raring, the banker: Ivan Simpson; Holmes Herbert, Reginald Owen, Lumsden Hare, Charles Evans, and Florence Arliss. Mrs Arliss appears as Mrs Nathan Rothschild in accordance with an old Arliss custom that calls for her to play the wife of her husband in all his plays and pictures in which he is shown as happily married. It is pretty generally agreed that the most famous episode in all the glamorous history of the Rothschilds is that part played by the family in the world-shak-ing events of Napoleon’s last hundred days in Europe, leading up to his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo. One historian has gone so far as to call the years 1801-1868 “ The Rothschild era in the history of _ Europe.” And it is around this period that the film story largely centres. The Rothschilds were always loyal to their adopted countries. When they branched out all over Europe —in London, Paris, Vienna, Naples, and Frankfort—Nathan, the shrewdest of the five brothers, became head of the English branch, and devoted himself to the cause of his now homeland. With his power and wealth, he was able to be of considerable assistance to England in many ways. When Napoleon applied to the Rothschilds for a loan and promised double the rate of interest the Allies would offer, Nathan refused, and threw the entire financial resources of the family to the assistance of the Allies. Ho explained his action on tho ground that Napoleon was a war-maker, and emphasised that the Rothschilds would always lend money to stop war, but never to wage it. Just before the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon’s victories caused a panic on the London Stock Exchange. Only Nathan Rothschild had faith, and steadfastly continued to buy up shares—and support England’s credit —when everyone else was soiling. Ho reaped a tremendous profit when news of Wellington’s victory reached London, and all his shares skyrocketed in value. It isn’t often that such stirring episodes in history are brought to the screen in such an elaborate and painstaking manner. Many months of careful historical research went into ‘The House of Rothschild,’ and tho final magnificent scene, which shows Nathan Rothschild created a baron, as a reward for his patriotic services is photographed in gorgeous technieolour, thus literally climaxing a colourful production with a colourful ending.