FINE HISTORICAL FILM

Northern Advocate, 27 July 1935, Page 3

FINE HISTORICAL FILM

“CLIVE OF INDIA.” DASHING RONALD. COLMAN. Against a canvas as broad' as any film producer could wish, the life of the man who gave the Empire a vast new Dominion, is portrayed with dramatic fervour by Ronald Colman in “Clive of India,” the premiere screening of which took place at the Plaza midnight matinee last night. The audience left the theatre feeling that it had witnessed something worth while —something that'would live long in the memory. Produced for Twentieth Century Pictures by Darryl F. Zanuck, who has already given the screen “The House of Rothschild” and “The Count of Monte Cristo,” it is one of the most significant products of the new trend towards the teeming drama of history.

Although of necessity episodic in character, the film omits nothing that is important in tracing the rise of Clive, an ambitious and impulsive young clerk in the East India Company who, sweeping pompous merchants and timid and inconsequent officials to one side, gains for Britain its most prized possession. And through it all is the story of the woman who saw her husband taken from her by the inexorable call of India. Nothing has escaped the roving eye of the camera in this impressive record of an Empire in the making; the illimitable scope of the cinema has been exploited to the full. Such memorable scenes as the siege of Trichinopoly, the Black Hole of Calcutta, the crossing of’ the river in a monsoon before the momentous victory of Plassey, in which the armoured elephants of the treacherous native ruler are completely routed, have been presented with consummate skill. Having won Southern India for his country, Clive returns to England and indulges his wife’s desire for quiet life in the country. Once again comes the inescapable call of destiny, and then Clive returns to an empty England a man broken by the greed of others. His impeachment before the House of Commons and his simple speech to his accusers is a scene which for quiet power could scarcely be surpassed. It brings out the real actor in Mr Colman. Naturally Clive dominates the film, but the many other parts are in capable hands. Loretta Young endows with gracious charm the part of Clive’s wife, and splendid character studies are given by C. Aubrey Smith, Colin Clive and a host of other English artists.