The Vengeful Fury of a Husband’s Hate

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 81, 6 April 1938, Page 11

The Vengeful Fury of a Husband’s Hate

LLOYDS OF LONDON" STARS TYRONE POWER AND MADELEINE CARROLL

(Meteor: Screening Friday.)

“Lloyds of London,” the brilliant new Twentieth Century-Fox bit is ablaze with action, vivid with pageantry and vital with drama. It is the story of a love that changed the destiny of an empire and unites in swiftly-moving kaleidoscope the thrilling account of the founding of England’s sea power, and the establishment of the world’s most exciting and extraordinary institution.

Freddie Bartholomew and Madeleine Carroll are starred in the exceptional cast, which features Sir Guy Standing and the new romantic sensation Tyrons Power, C. Aubrey Smith and \ irginia Field.

A boyhood pact between Freddie Bartholomew, playing Jonathan Blake as a boy, and Douglas Scott, as the youthful Horatio Nelson, leads the boys to the discovery of a plot to scuttle a ship and claim the insurance from Lloyds of London. Freddie and Douglas determine to warn ‘‘Mr Lloyd" but at the last moment Douglas’s uncle takes him off to sea. Freddie, alone, sets out to walk to London. Arriving at Lloyds, Freddie’s story impresses Sir Guy Standing, head of the syndicate, who rewards the boy by teaching him the business.

During the years that follow, the Bell of Lloyds tolls out news of the French Revolution, the heroic struggle between England and France for sea supremacy, and the rise of Napoleon. Jonathan Blake, now played by Tyrone Power, has grown with Lloyds. On a secret mission in France, he meets Madeleine Carroll and aids her to escape back to England. During the stormy, sea-swept voyage, they fall in love. Jonathan, however, receives a crushing blow when he discovers Madeleine is already married to Lord Stacy—his avowed enemy. The tension and suspense steadily increase as Jonathan’s power surges upward to ever greater heights in Lloyds. Madeleine, by offering to give up her entire fortune to her husband, has persuaded him to agree to a divorce. Then comes the crushing news—the French fleet is sweeping the seas of British merchantmen. Lloyds refuses further insurance, all but Jonathan Blake, who, like a bulwark, stands against the other underwriters in an effort to prevent the destruction of England. With Madeleine at his side, and the destiny of the nation in his hand, he decides on a desperate ruse that brings the film to a thrilling, crescendo climax.

Darryl F. Zanuck selected Henry King to direct “Lloyds of London," with Kenneth Macgowan as associate producer. The screen play by Ernest Pascal and Walter Ferris was adapted from an original story by Curtis Iveijyon