“THE SOLITAIRE MAN.”

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 939, 8 December 1933, Page 3

“THE SOLITAIRE MAN.”

Herbert Marshall Featured in Drama for Regent.

Warner Baxter and Myrna I-.oy are the featured players in " Penthouse,” the splendid drama which will conclude its season at the Regent Theatre tonight.

“ The Solitaire Man,” a stirring drama of Continental super-crooks, featuring the English actor, Herbert Marshall, will open to-morrow at the Regent Theatre. In no other picture since the advent of sound on the screen has there been packed a similar penetrating study of human emotions as in this new offering. A large portion of the action takes place in the cabin of a passenger plane during a flight over the English Channel. Into this small space, har<?ly sis by twenty feet, has been condensed the drama of human lives faced with death and dishonour. The action is covered in intimate closeups that reveal the slightest mental change of players. As dramatic tensions are built up in the confined space, the emotion is transmitted with maximum power to the audience. A notable cast has been assembled for the leading roles with Marshall in a portrayal that is nleasingly reminiscent

of “Trouble in Paradise.” As a war lie o forced to become a thief through financial reverses he scores with a performance full of reserve power. Elizabeth .Allan, recently from the English stage, is given a dramatic opportunity that she plays to the limit. Also featured prominently are May Robson, as a dignified English “dowager” who assists in disposing of jewellery with aristocratic dignity and a high sense of comedy; Lionel Atwill, the insidious menace to the entire cant; Ralph Forbes in a difficult role as a neurotic war veteran, which he plays with convincing realism, and Mary Boland in a role that exactly suits her laughgetting talents. Lucille Gleason and Robert M’Wade also contribute excellent performances. Settings, the exact duplicate of many famous gambling resorts in Europe, are a feature, and every feminine player is brilliantly costumed in the latest fashions. Box plans at The Bristol.