'I LOVED A WOMAN’

Evening Star, Issue 21742, 9 June 1934, Page 11

'I LOVED A WOMAN’

STRAND'S POWERFUL DRAMA When - the cinema devotes itself to straight , drama, camera tricks and. with a .direct and simple' sometimes achieves by a cumulative piling up of effect, a form of drama which is really powerful. Such a film is ‘ I. Loved a Woman,’ now being shown at the Strand Theatre, with Edward G. Robinson, Kay Francis, and Genevieve Tobin in the leading parts. The story is eminently human. John Hayden, son of a Chicago meat packer of immense wealth, has artistic and humanitarian leanings which, on the death of his father, he attempts to introduce into his business. He marries the daughter (Genevieve Tobin) of his greatest competitor in the belief that she is of a like mind. Then he meets a singer (Kay Francis), who develops into an operatic star of the first magnitude. Under her influence he sinks his artistic ideals in business and devotes all his uncommon force and energy to becoming, in his own words, “The greatest merchant in the world.” Eventually the singer deserts him, and he becomes a megalomaniac, intent on proving his power and.genius to the world at large, finally over-reaching himself and being forced, like Mr Samuel Insult, from whose life the author of the story probably borrowed considerably, to fly to Greece to avoid extradition and criminal proceedings. In the hands of the average actor the film would no doubt be slow-mov-ing because of the difficulties of the part of John Hayden, the Napoleon of the packing industry. Business sue-

cess requires such close concentration, so keen an avoidance of the more gracious aspects of life, that the cinema value of a business life is of small value. Yet Edward G. Robinson, while suggesting fully the atmosphere of “ big-busi-ness,” succeeds also in giving an interesting portrait. The film is the story of a man’s emotional life from youth to extreme old age, an emotional life dominated by a force of ambition little short of genius. The part of ttje central character is essentially a dull one since the mechanics of the rise to power of any great man are almost invariably dull to the detached spectator, but in Robinson’s hands it achieves a significance which prevents dullness. Robinson is little known in New Zealand, though lie is immensely popular in America, Though not a famous actor, ho is a capable one, and he succeeds in instilling into his parts the prime requisite of capable acting, emotional suggestion—though this film shows comparatively little of his personal life not closely linked with the story, he is a wholly credible figure with an easily comprehended background. An interesting topical gazette, a catchy revue (‘Barber Shop Blues’), and a comedy complete an entertaining programme.