REGENT THEATRE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 53, 25 November 1937, Page 15

REGENT THEATRE

"THE ROAD BACK." "The Road Back," Erich Maria liemarque's sequel to the famous story, "All Quiet on the- Western Front, " will be shown at the Regent Theatre to-night, "All Quiet on the Western bToat ' ' was a story of the fight in the tre'nches, but "The Road Back" tells in an equally dramatic and vivid fashion the story of the fight that the three heroes had to make on their return to a civilian world. In preparing the novel fpr the screen, E. C. Sherifi, author of "Journey's End," collaborated with Remarque, and the resuit is a film which retains all the power oi the story, with its effectiveness heighiened, by brilliant photography and direction. So vividly did the author depict the gnmness of post-war Germany that he was exiled, but the purpose of his hook was not merely to expose the conditions of his own land but to show from his personal knowledge the eii'ect that wai has on humanity. Albert, the shy, likeable youth who had gone to the war, returns to find that a war profiteer has been paying attentions to his fiancee. He shoots the man, with less compunction. than he had shot his enemies in the war, and cannot understand why he is tried for murder when he had reason for his deed. Other episodes m the story are presented in an equally poignant fashion. The leading roles in the picture are taken by John King, Richard CromweU, Slim Summerville and Andy Devine, while Barbara Read has the chief feminine part.