RONALD COLMAN STARS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 92, 20 April 1939, Page 5

RONALD COLMAN STARS

"IF I MERE KING." | One of the most picturesque and romantic fellows ever to strut across ihe pages if history, Francois Villon, forms the central figure in Frank Lloyd’s newest production, "If I Were King,” which is showing on Saturday of next week at the Majestic Theatre. Ronald Colman, master of romantic parts, is seen as the great poet, vagabond, lover, statesman, and soldier, the people’s hero who held all France in the palm of his hand for one unforgettable week and taught a royal princess how to love. Lloyd whos "Cavalcade,” "Mutiny on the Bounty,” and "Wells Fargo,” have been among the greatest triumphs of the screen, selected a brilliant cast to • support Colman. It includes Basil Rathbone, as the cynical and eccentric Louis XI of France, Frances Dee, as the lovely princess who made a national hero out of a vagabond poet, and Ellen Drew, as Villon's tavern sweetheart. I Irene Hervey Role. Irene Hervey, who recently completed her leading role in "Society Smugglers,” has been rewarded for her excellent work with a new longterm contract by Universal studios. Coincident with the new contract for [the young actress, Universal announc- | ed that she will join the cast of the ißing Crosby-Joan Blondell picture, "East Side of Heaven,” as her first assignment. From playing a strong characterisation as a secret agent in the headline story, "Society Smuggglers,” Miss Hervey turns to a decidedly different role with Bing and Miss [Blondell. She appears as the wife of ] a vounz man-about-towr<.