“DRUMS OF LOVE.”

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18615, 17 November 1928, Page 17 (Supplement)

“DRUMS OF LOVE.”

GREAT LOVE STORY FROM ITALIAN CLASSIC. Considering the brief span which it has enjoyed, the motion picture screen has produced a quite imposing number of films which really merit that muchabused epithet, “great.” For a picture to be great, it must not be confused with the grandly spectacular, and there are a hundred different aspects which have to be handled with an equal degree of mastery. D. W. Griffith, who, away back in the days of the screen’s infancy, attracted attention by “The Birth of a Nation” and “Orphans of the Storm,” is the one man in the profession who always makes a picture different from the others, and not only different, but brilliant. His latest effort, an essay at that great love tragedy, Paolo and Francesca, is entitled “The Drums of Love,” and will be presented at the Grand Theatre next week. The world’s classics have not been much troubled by the irreverent American. “Faust” and “Monna Vanna” are the only two notable examples to come to mind, but there possibly have been others. At all events, this picturisation of that great Italian story is now on the screen, and lie who prefers his classic “well done by” may have no fear for this picture. It is true that the names are changed, the locale shifted from Italy to Spain, and the ending, which, in the original, was magnificently medieval and Machiavellian and savage, is translated to mean that the infuriated husband meets his death in lieu of his unfaithful wife and treacherous brother. Infidelity and treachery are really the elements which go to make up this tale, together with that incongruous thing, a marriage between an elderly and ugly man and a young and lovely woman. And even in* “The Drums of Love,” the younger brother betrays the trust reposed in him, and the young wife seeks romance at the fountain of congenial youth, but the picturised version, being made by Griffith, never permits one to assume the role of harsh judge upon the lady and her lover. Mary Philbin is the lady, doubly beautiful and pathetic in a blonde coiffure, and no matter what she does, it must still be the result of that ancient axiom, “Youth must be served.” And Don Alvarado is her husband’s brother, young and handsome and understanding. What could possibly happen, with the crippled husband away soldiering, having charged his brother with the care of his wife? The old Italian manuscripts give it with a brevity and a colour that is its chief charm. But husbands, in those swift and full days, were not as they are now. There was no such thing as justice, no such thing as a heart in the medieval Italian. Paolo and his Francesca, caught in infidelity, were promptly put to death. But even D. W. Griffith could not permit that in his picture. He introdtices the court jester, always a sinister and evil figure, with an oath of hate against the elder man. And when the jester’s time comes, he brings the trusting lord back from his wars to see for himself his wife and his brother. How this most unusual quartet work out their several destinies is not to be revealed here. But ugJce it to say that all the beauty and Irama, all the romance and the latent ■ rama that are in the story are ex fidited by Gr t >. the full t 1 ;IIGUC- 'C. L play. “The Drums of Love” does not Jisappoint even the scholar, who would •ike to see. the lovers treated as in the original. Lionel Barrymore ■ ompletes

the trio of leaders with Miss Philbin and the young Alvarado. All three are perfectly suited to their roles, and, as all the roles are so different, it is impossible to award the palm. The auxiliary roles are discharged by experienced and gifted players, so that from, the most insignificent super to the final guiding hand of Griffith, “The Drums of Love” remains a splendid example of what the screen can accomplish with classic material. Patrons are advised to book their seats at The Bristol Piano Company, where the box plans are now open.