DRAMATIC STORY

Waipa Post, Volume 42, Issue 3263, 21 February 1931, Page 6

DRAMATIC STORY

SCREEN CYCLE TURNS TO LOVE DRAMA. ;les. This is equally true of the stage and of the screen. It seems to be even more true since the screen took over so many elements of the speaking stage. There have been cycles of musicals This was fast and furious while it lasted, and it lasted longer than many cycles have, because of the tremendous amount of money and effort put into it. There was a cycle of screen comedies, and that cycle is not over, by any means. The big reason is that comedy will never go dead. The only ones that will go dead are bad comedies. Last year there was a cycle of sea stories whicfa spread over slightly into this present season. But the most pronounced cycle which the film has experienced during the present season is the cycle of sophisticated plays. This . cycle has been one of the most successful and the productions which have been inspired by it have been among the most profitable which the screen has seen.

Nevertheless, every picture company must look to the future, and Carl Laemmle, Jnr., strongly' believes that as antidote to the sophisticated screen drama of to-day, moving picture audiences will welcome with open arms a smashing dramatic story in which sophistication plays no part. Such a story is looming on the cinematic horizon with the release of " Resurrection " by Universal Pictures. To describe it as looming is just the proper word. A tremendous amount of preparation and intelligent planning have gone into Count Leo Tolstoy's most famous novel to insure a production which will be worthy to be classed with "All Quiet on the Western Front" in every possible particular. Money, research, and brains have done all that could be done to complement the vital and ageold story of love, sin and regeneration which Count Leo Tolstoy penned and which is admittedly one of the greatest love stories ever told.

There nothing sophisticated about " Resurrection" the way Count Tolstoy wrote it. That its writing was genuine and that it had a tremendous universal appeal is proven by the eleven languages in which it has been translated, the number of editions in which it has been brought out in the English language, and the twenty-five million persons to whom it is familiar in book form.

Edwin Carewe and Finis Fox have made no deviation whatsoever from the written story. They have given every character its full dramatic value and have provided each with a screen portrayer of ability and appearance to insure a marvellous performance. John Boles plays the role of Prince Dmitri Ivanovitch. Boles welcomed this opportunity to prove his dramatic ability as well as the possession of the screen's most dramatic voice. Lupe Velez was assigned the role of Katusha Maslova, a role which has tested the talents of the greatest actresses of the American and British stage. Carewe is delighted with her work. It is one of the high spots of " Resurrection." "Resurrection" has been Edwin Carewe's ideal of a dramatic production ever since he played the role of Dmitri, himself, on the stage twentytwo years ago. The two aunts are played by Nance O'Neill and Rose Tapley, and Major Schoenboch is played by William Keighley. Others in the cast are Noel Francis, Michael Mark, Sylvia Nadina, George Irving, Edward Cecil and Grace Cunard.