MAJESTIC THEATRE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 158, 9 July 1935, Page 9

MAJESTIC THEATRE

“CLIVE or INDIA.” Against a canvas as broad as any film producer could wish, the life of the man who gave the Empire a vast new Dominion is portrayed with dramatic fervour by Ronald Colman in “ Clive of India,” the new picture at the Majestic Theatre. It was received with tremendous enthusiasm at yesterday’s screenings. Each of the capacity audiences left the theatre feeling that it had witnessed something worthwhile—something that would live long in the memory. Produced for Twentieth Century by Darryl F. Zanuck, who already has given the screen ‘‘The House of Rothschild” and “The Count of Monte Cristo,” it is one of the most significant products of the new trend towards the teeming drama of history. Although of necessity episodic in character, the film omits nothing that is important in tracing the rise of Clive, an ambitous and impulsive young clerk in the East India Company who, sweeping pompous merchants and timid and inconsequent officials to one side, gains for Britain its mo;t prized possession. And through it all is the story of the woman who saw her husband being taken from her by the inexorable call of India. Nothing has escaped the roving eye of the camera in this impressive record of an Empire in the making; the illimitable scope of the cinema has been exploited to the full. Such memorable scenes as the siege of Trichinopoly, the Black Hole of Calcutta, the crossing of the river in a monsoon before the momentous victory of Plassey, in which the armoured elephants of the treacherous native ruler are completely routed have been presented with consummate skill. Having won Southern India, for his country, Clive returns to England and indulges his wife’s desire for quiet life in the country. Once again comes the inescapable call of destiny, and then Clive returns to an empty England a man broken by the greed of others. His impeachment before the House of Commons and his simple speech to his accusers is a scene which for quiet power could scarcely be surpassed. It brings out the real actor in Mr. Colman. Naturally dive dominates the film, but the many other parts are in capable hands. Loretta Young endows with gracious charm the part of Clive’s wife, and splendid character studies are given by C. Aubrey Smith, Colin Clive and a host of other English artists. A new departure is made from the usual Mickey Mouse black aJid white cartoons. In “The Band Concert” Walt Disney presents Mickey and his bandsmen in technicolour and the ” concert” is weird and screamingly funny. Mickey is bandmaster, and his antics ere quite in order until Donald Duck appears on the scene with a plentiful supply of piccolos. Then a tornado springs up and the band is whirled into the air, where the musicians cut all sorts of capers, still playing their respective instruments continuously.