"BIRD OF PARADISE"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21346, 22 November 1932, Page 11

"BIRD OF PARADISE"

FINE FILM FOR ST. JAMES'

Entrancing tropical settings form an effective background for Dolores del Rio in "Paradise Islnnd," which will have its initial screening at St. James' Theatre on Friday. "Tabu," a former success, was acclaimed everywhere for its natural beauty, but King Vidor, director for R.K.O. Radio Films, has achieved a greater success in "Paradise Island." It is magnificently done. Dolores del Rio, as a South Seas princess with a tragic and impossible love for a white man, ably portrayed by Joel McCrea, has the most congenial role of her successful career. The cast includes such noted players as John Halliday, Richard "Skeets" Gallagher and Bert Roach.

Clever photography is a keynote of the production. In the native dances and tribal ceremonies the authentic native atmosphere is captured, while an accompaniment of beautiful music lends the film added appeal. A discerning New York critic, Mr. Al. Sherman, comments: — " 'Bird of Paradise' piarks another step forward in the advance of motion-picture technique, and it "takes that forward step by paradoxically reverting to silent-film technique in reaching its most dramatic heights. . . 'Bird of Paradise' adds emphasis to my oft-reiterated statements that the cinema will reach artistic appreciation only when directors achieve that distinction through a proper blending of the visual, the musical and the dramatic. King Vidor has taken pictorial beauty, rhythmic appreciation and a sense of the dramatic, combining these elements into a motion-picture of rare and exciting guality."