AMUSEMENTS

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 157, 13 March 1939, Page 4

AMUSEMENTS

“VICTORIA THE GREAT” J Due to the co-operation of the British Government, which.- extended hitherto' unheard of facilities in the production of IiKG Radio’s feature, >*Victoria, the Great”, the lavishly producedl drama, of the revered British Queen, which screens ,to-night and Tuesday at the De Luxe, Theatre, rejoices in an atmosphere as colourful as it is real. The picture, already hailed in London, Paris and New’ York, was planned by Herbert Wilcox, its producer, as long a.s ten years ago, although he Was aware t-liat until four generations after Victoria’ death, no stage or screen entertainment offering an impersonation of the sovereign would, be permitted by British officialdom. This decree lias now been cancelled. Much of the story centres on the younger days of the Queen, showing her as a. fun-loving girl, her. courtship, her love for Prince Albert, with Victoria doing the proposing by virtue of Royal right, their marriage, and the long period' of twenty-seven years of wedded bliss which followed). Many important, and leading events of Victoria’s reign, form dramatic highlights in the film, such as the fateful occasion when she interfered to prevent. Prime. Minister Lord Palmerston from sending - what virtually amounted to an ultimatum to the Ameriean Government, when the two countries became embroiled in an argument as to the legality of a Yankee cruiser having stopped an English mail boat to remove two Southerners as prisoners, li cm under the protection of the British flag. The. Queen’s interference and her insistence on another note being substituted, couched in milder terms, undoubtedly headed off an armed conflict. between England and America, the Civil War then • being fought in the latter country. Other great national events are set. forth that thrill the spectators, but it is the romance between Victoria and Albert-that, must bo listed as the very cere and most powerful appeal of the picture. It is from a story delved out of old records, books, and her Majesty’s own diary that Herbert Wilcox constructed the framework of the film. All of the castles and palaces in, whull Victoria resided were duly filmed both, as to interiors and! exteriors, including Buckingham. Windsor. Balmoral, St. James, Kensington, and others. From the Liverpool Museum was taken the ancient locomotive and cars which constituted tlie first train that ever ran in England, which steamed under its own power from Liverpool to London, a distance of 200 miles, and then from London toWindsor. This is the train in which the royal couple are sec-u starting upon their honeymoon. The state coach in which lier Majesty rode in her Diamond Jubilee, was also loaned by the Government for the reproduction or that historic, event. From the foregoing it can be seen that “Victoria the Great” stands unsurpassed ns a. model of authentic detail for the Victorian era. So authentic is it. indeed, that the British authorities p’assed it without the elimination of a, single foot of film. Anna Neagle, leading favourite of the English screen, plays the star role of Queen Victoria. Anton Walbrook. celebrated dramatic actor, is bracketed with her as Prince Albert. H. B. Warner fills the important role of Lord Melbourne.