ART OF THE SCREEN

Hokitika Guardian, 16 January 1933, Page 8

ART OF THE SCREEN

NOTABLE films coming

PRODUCTIONS FOR 1933

A YEAR OF EXPANSION

After a year which was characterised by financial reconstruction and a de-erea.-Q.d output from Hollywood, the him industry, both in England and America, has a much fuller programme for the coming year, and audiences may expect many notable films. A feature will undoubtedly he the greater variety 6f tiie subject matter. During 11)32 the majority of films have been dramas of modern life, requiring comparatively small expenditure on settings, costuming or “crowd” scenes, but next year’s productions will include many historical pieces which will be produced on a lavish scale. The world will l,e scoured for unusual settings. Universal studios alone have camera crews “on location” in Africa, the Malay Peninsula, India, the South Seas, Spain, France, the Riviera, China, Greenland and the capital cities of Europe.

'J ~e most, important film of the year will probably he “Grand Hotel” which has been held hack, n.'s a. kind of “nest-egg,” from the New Zealand market for over a year by its producers, the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios. Based on Vicki' Baum’s powerful novel, it includes in its cast Greta. Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lionel Barrymore, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone and a strong supporting cast.

EPIC OF ENGLISH HISTORY. The film lias, been generally acknowledged as one of the greatest contributions of the screen to dramatic art, and apart from its own intrinsic merits, it holds great interest from the fact that it may be the fast picture to he released in which the great ‘Swedish tragedienne appears. One of the mast ambitious films will be “Cavalcade,” the picturisation of Noel Coward’s epic of English history in the past 30 years. The Fox studios are apparently sparing no pains or expense to ensure perfect accuracy in detail and national atmosphere. Although produced in Hollywood, the film will have an all-English cast and huge sums are being spent in constructing exact landmarks as they appeared during the various dates covered by the film. Russia during .the last days of the tottering “old regime” will be the setting for “Rasputin,” in which Lionel and John Barrymore will he joined by their sister, Ethel, the famous stage actress, who lias never appealed on the talking screen. This picture, apart from the brilliant actink, will be notable for the la-vislmess with which the spectacle of the past- is presented. A semi-historical film of great interest will be “Sign of the Orosis,” a Biblical drama, in which Elissa Landi and Fredric March will qe the principals. In this also, settings will be on a much more elaborate scale than any seen in the past year. THE REALM OF DRAMA. In the realm of “straight” drama, depending for its importance more on the brilliance of its acting than on other more artificial factors, pride of place, after “Grand Hotel,” will probably go to “Strange Interlude,” the powerful Eugene O’Neill play in which a new technique has been evolved to register the “asides” which play so important a part in the tragedy. Norma Shearer and Clark Gable, the principals, have been well received for what is undoubtedly their most ambitious film. Another strong drama will fie “Rain,” W. Somerset Maughan’s tragedy of the South Seas, in which Joan Crawford has the part of Sadie Thompson and Walter Huston that of the missionary. Charles Laughton, a recent “discovery,” whose great ability has already been shown in “Payment Deferred” and “The Old Dark House,” will appear with Tallulah Bankhead in “Devil and the Deep.” Two inter- j e* tin o' musical films will be “At the _ Foot of the Rainbow,” in which Richard Tauber has the principal role, and “Madame Butterfly,” an ambitious screen version of the famous opeia. One of the most outstanding films of the year should be “Don Quixote,” which is at- present being filmed in three languages in the Maritime Alps, France. The famous basso and operatic actor Feodor Chaliapin has the part of the romantic tilter at windmills, while the supporting cast varies according to the language employed in the film edition. In. the English version, flic American actress, ’Sidney box, as Dm lei me a, and the well-known London comedian, George Robey, as Saucho Paim, appear. Pabst, the great Get’- , man director, is in control, while the musical score has been contributed to by Ravel and other noted modern composers. OFFERINGS FROM ENGLAND. The English studios, while not attempting any productions of the greatest magnitude, will have a large number of first-class comedies and dramas to offer the public. “The. Good Companions” should he one of the most successful, while, iui another class, “Maid of the Mountains” has been very well received. The popular comedians, Jack Hulbert, Stanley Lupmo, Ralph Lynn, Toni Walls, and Gene Gerral’d all have an interesting programme of productions in hand. The success of Australian films wais one of the features of the pa-t year, and it is worthy of note that plans are well advanced for several more, principally of national atmosphere, for the coming year.