A MASTERPIECE

Taranaki Daily News, 12 May 1934, Page 20 (Supplement)

A MASTERPIECE

“THE WANDERING JEW.” CONRAD VEIDT’S TITLE ROLE. Among the many pictures to which the phrase “a screen epic” is applied there occasionally comes one with real claims to the distinction, and to such a class undoubtedly belongs “The Wandering Jew,” a product of British studios which commences its season at Everybody’s Theatre next Saturday. Mighty in its conception and thought-provoking in many of its aspects, the picture is fortunate in possessing in the title role an exceptionally fine actor (Conrad Veidt) whose portrayal of the Jew must rank as one of the greatest characterstudies that the screen has known. There is also a well-balanced supporting cast, and the photography is of a standard which proves that British cameramen have little to learn either from the Continent or from America. The picture is also triumph for the producer, . who has welded the essential parts of the story together with consummate artistry, and secured highly impressive effects without the slightest tendency to injure anyone’s susceptibilities. The story concerns a Jew who, when Christ was being persecuted, mocked Him, and, as a result, was condemned to a wandering existence for fifteen centuries in accordance with Christ’s words: “I will not wait for you, but you shall wait for Me until I come to you again.” Glimpses are given .of the Jew as an invincible knight during the Crusades, as a merchant in Sicily, and as a doctor in Spain during the Inquisition. In each, his struggle against Christ’s will is revealed in a different aspect until at last his penance comes to an end. The women who come into the Jew’s life are played by Anne Grey, Marie Ney, Joan Maude, and Peggy Ashcroft. The film is 11,000 feet long.