“ACCUSED”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23107, 5 February 1937, Page 7

“ACCUSED”

MUSICAL DRAMA FOR REGENT Produced in England by United Artists, “Accused,” which will open at the Regent Theatre to-day, is a film containing melody, spectacle, comedy, romance, and mystery all welded into a plot which, according to overseas critics, is guaranteed to hold the interest. Great care has been shown in the selection of the cast. With his good looks, his easy grace of bearing, and his undoubted acting ability, Douglas Fairbanks, jun., was an ideal choice for the role of Tony Seymour, a young theatrical artist married to Gaby, his partner in a sensational dancing act. Dolores Del Rio was an equally good choice for this latter role, for the character is that of a lovely, fiery Spanish girl. The ambition of these young lovers is fulfilled when their act is booked for a leading Parisian theatre, but then “ the other woman ” enters the scene, in the form of Yvette, the leading lady of the show, who threatens their happiness and arouses Gaby’s jealousy by setting her cap at the handsome Tony. Thus, from a gay and sparkling setting of music, melody and theatrical spectacle, the film enters an atmosphere tense with drama, and to this is added mystery and excitement when, on the night before the show is due to open, Yvette is found stabbed in her dressing room—the weapon used being a knife which belongs to Gaby. The Spanish girl is at once accused, with jealousy cited as her motive, and is put on trial for her life. It is at this stage that the film strikes a really novel note, and moves fast to its sensational climax. For in the trial scene, French legal procedure (which, contrary to British custom, holds a prisoner guilty until proved innocent) is accurately and convincingly reproduced. There have been many trial scenes on the screen before, but never one quite like this, and with its tense drama, its apparently unorthodox procedure, its brilliant setting and acting, and its wealth of surprising incidents, it is, in the words of a leading English reviewer, “ guaranteed to impress even the most blase film fan.” A supporting programme of unusual merit includes a series of Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies.