ERIC VON STROHEIM IN SPY STORY

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 208, 18 September 1937, Page 8

ERIC VON STROHEIM IN SPY STORY

Eric von Strolieim, Austrian ex-c|ffi-cer disk dasher, flypaper seller, actor, writer, film direet-or, whose extravagf-' ance iu productive pursuit of his imagination became a Hollywood joke, altogether oue of the spcctacular figures in screen history, is now working in Englanr — as, an actor. . He is in "Mademoiselle Doctor" as a spy, writes A. T. Borthwick in. tbe News Chronicle. Tke story kristles witk spies. John Loder. the kero, Claire. Luce, Cliffovd Evans (tke youug Welsk actor wko pl ayed Lacrtes to Leslie i Howard's Hamlet in New York), and j Jokn Abbott, the tall, thii: . ycung man j witk tke drooping eye wko went at one jump from small stage parts to tkat of MalvoJio in "Twelfth. Night" — all tkese, as well as Dita Parlo, tke heroine, are spies. There has always keen • something compelling in Yon Strok'eim's screen appearances. You were not likely to love kim, but you felt.that here was a fellow of personality. He fell out with the Germans years ago because they reseuted what they regjarded as tke

pillorying of tke kaughty, aristocratic, bullying officer of tke Prussian typo. In "Tke Lost Legion" kis performance in tlie ckaracter of a rutkless film director, fine as it was, migkt have been regarded as a burlesque of the sort of film director ke kimself was popularly supposed to be. He was tremendously -impressive in tke fiamboyant and fantastic "Great Gabbo." Lattcrly, I believe, ke kas been acting on tke Gontinenfc. He skouJd ke wortk scciug in • an Englisk-speaking picture.