"THE VAGABOND KING."

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20596, 21 June 1930, Page 16

"THE VAGABOND KING."

REGENT THEATRE SUCCESS.

Praise can be bestowed liberally on tho screen version of "The Vagabond King," which opened a season at tho Regent Theatre last evening. In it are combined all tho resources of, the new cinema, and in it the screen develops a distinctive treatment of musical romance. In "Tho Vagabond King" Ludwig Berger, always one of the most enterprising of Hollywood's imported directors, strikes definitely a new note. The play, of course, is an established success. It played to largo houses when produced in Auckland last year by tho Williamson management. But, as is the caso with most musical plays with a leaning toward opera, it is essentially romantic. Just as essentially, tho screen is a vehicle for realism, and in his welding of romance with realism Berger has shown more than passing glimpses of real genius. "The Vagabond King" proves that a musical film can retain all the best features of a musical play and yet not be a slavish imitation of it. A man with Berger's masterly grasp on camera craft, and with his ability to weavo a complicated pattern of changing scene and sound, can lift it to levels where it almost assumes tho dignity of a new art form. Tho millionaires of Hollywood have evidently decided that it. is unwise to meddlo too much with established successes. In the essentials of plot and action of "Tho Vagabond King" there are few differences between screon and stage. Katherine's social status is improved by making her tho nieco of Louis XI., that vacillating monarch whose cruelty was matched only by his cowardice, but this is tho only alteration in construction.' What does matter is tho additional scope g.iven to the play by tho magic of tho motion picture camera. On no stage could ono hopo to see tho clash of a mad, drunken rabble wfth a mass of soldiery portrayed with such sweep of action that ono forgets that tho whole thing is but a play of shadows. On no stage could there bo built hugo buildings, their arches framed in twining ivy, exhaling in every nook and cranny tho romance and adventure of tho Middle Ages. Hero is the advantage of screen over stage, and "Tho Vagabond King," marking, as it docs, a further advance in tho use of colour photography,' presses homo this advantage with vigour and strength. Then there is music of varying moods, martial or romantic, kejU in truo perspective with spectaclo and action. Tho players have no small share in this new screen triumph. Tho film is acted in tho grand manner, as befits a romantic piece, and Mr. Dennis King as Francois Villon, poet-chief of the vagabonds of Paris and king for a day in French history, sings and acts with virility. Miss Jeanetto Miiedonakl adds lust.ro to a reputation established in "Tho Lovo Parade," with a charming performance as tho graciou» Katherine. The famous duet "Only a Roso," which she sings with Mr. King, is as fine as anything yet heard from tho screen. Then there is tho rousing "Song of tho Vagabonds." Tho music of tlia film is the music of the play and it has not suffered in its treatment for a now medium. Among tho supporting players notable performances aro given by Mr. 0. P. Heggie, tho Australian actor, as King Louis, and Miss Lilian Roth as tho pathetic Iluguotte. But there arc other namoless players, seen only for an instant as faces in ono of the underground dens of the vagabonds of Paris or among th« rabble as it marches on tho Burgundians They aro faces which, in a flash, givo both mood and tempo of the film in unforgettable fashion. " The Vagabond King "is a mammoth film, in length almost as much as in other particulars, aryl tho supporting programme is of necessity short. There is an interesting newsreel and a song cartoon, which is a gem of absurd comedy. Tho programmo should certainly run for an extended season.