DRAMA OF SAN FRANCISCO'S CHINATOWN.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 30 June 1933, Page 3

DRAMA OF SAN FRANCISCO'S CHINATOWN.

HELEN HAYES AND RAMON NOVARRO. HEAD OUTSTANDING CAST. \ The considerably anticipated screen version of the stage success, “The SonE'aughljer” is coming to the Regent Theatrs, with Helen Hayes essaying the role of the Chinese heroine, and Ramon Navarro playing the Chinese prince, whose affiliation with the royalist revolution has its aftermath in a series of political intrigues and tong wars in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Jl'he Oriental'roles in this picture present a high-water mark in character delineation for both the picture’s stars < —Miss Hayes ’ part of the 'Chinese girl being a far cry from her notable portrayal of “The Sin of Mjadelon Claudet,” for which she won the recent Academy of' Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ award; and Novarro’s role, likewise, presenting a forcible contrast from that of his work in “Huddle” and '“Mata Hari.” Make-up played an important part in the filming of “The Son-Daughter,” Mies .Hayes having to undergo changes in hair-dress and facial contour; while Novarro sacrificed his appearance for * * art’s sake, ”to the extent of having his head completely shaved. Others who went an adroit transformation from Occidental to Oriental include Lewis Stone, Warner Oland, Ralph Morgan, Louise Glosser Hale, and' H. B. Warner. The story is fraught with melodramatic incidents, its plot centering about the attempts of revolutionary Chinese factions to outwit the royalist group. Miss Hayes, as the daughter of a royalist sympathiser, is caught in the whirlpool of intrigue and plotting which surrounds her father’s activities, and ultimately is forced to make a choice between marriage to the man she loves and devotion to her native land. Clarence Brown, who has won an outstanding place in the list of screen directors for his work on most of Greta Garbo’s pictures, as well as for the recent Crawford-Gable success, “Lotty Lynton, ” directed “The SonDaughter.” As has come to be expected of Brown’s cinema offerings, the present picture is said to boast a number of brilliantly picturesque settings depicting the more colourful aspects of San Francisco’s Chinatown haunts.