MARLENE DIETRICH

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 244, 14 October 1937, Page 3

MARLENE DIETRICH

FILM FOR REGENT “KNIGHT WITHOUT ARMOUR" Marlene Dietrich and Robert Donat, two of the most popular players on the screen, appear in Alexander Korda’s presentation “Knight Without Armour,” which is to commence a season at the Regent Theatre to-morrow. This film, which proves an ideal vehicle for the first appearance of these two players together is the screen version of “Without Armour,” a novel from the pen of James Hilton, who is also known as the author of the books “Good-bye,Mr. Chips" and “Lost Horizon.” Marlene Dietrich takes the part of a beautiful young aristrocrat, living in ignorance of the over-whelming disaster that is about to strike at the roots of her life. The revolution breaks out and her home is destroyed, while she, captured by the revolutionaries, is to be sent to Petrograd for trial. A young insurgent, played by Robert Donat, is to escort her to the capital, through country infested by bandits and in which the Imperialists are making a last desperate resistance. Donat is in reality an English secret service agent who, because of his hatred of the old regime, has thrown in his lot with the Reds. The changes that are wrought in Ihe heart of the proud aristrocrat during this thrilling journey, and the way in which her guard's kindliness and chivalrous nature react upon her, form the theme of an unusual and enthralling film. Eventually the hero decides to take her safely across Ihe border to her friends, and further dangers now confront the pair of wanderers, for, not only have they to travel long distances through barren land, but the forces of the revolutionaries are also on their trail. The film has been directed in brilliant fashion by the distinguished European director Jacques Feydcr, who won several awards last year for his work in “La Kermesse Heroique” ("Carnival in Flanders"). The settings, which arc of an unusually lavish nature, were designed by Lazare Meerson, who was also responsible for the impressive backgrounds in “Fire Over England.”