“LOVES OF CARMEN”

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 412, 21 July 1928, Page 23

“LOVES OF CARMEN”

DOLORES DEL RIO AGAIN

SCREEN VERSION OF OPERA

Auckland is waiting to see Dolores Del Rio in the role of Carmen at the Strand , the home of big pictures. Her excellent characterisation of the peasant girl in “Resurrection” is well remembered. li Loves of Carmenbased on the operatic success, is due at the Strand shortly.

Careful selection is apparent in the list of screen luminaries portraying the principal roles in Fox Films’s screen adaptation of the opera “Carmen,” produced under the direction of Raoul Walsh, maker of “What Price Glory.” Heading the cast is Victor McLaglen, whose characterisation of Captain Flagg firmly established him as a talented player. In this picture the actor portrays the role of Escamillo. In the pivotal feminine role is Dolores Del Rio, who likewise won admirers because of her portrayal of Charmaine in “What Price Glory.” Del Rio is seen as Carmen, a role which fits her fiery temperament as naturally as old lace fits lavender. Like “Carmen,” she found herself precipitated from her own circle of

friends in the Mexican capital to the heights of adoration as a result of her unique beauty and unrevealed emotional power. First we saw this raven-haired, olive-skinned, sinuous-limbed bit of feminine loveliness as the adorable Charmaine, and in a flash the world acclaimed her as a new star in the film firmanent.

She possesses the vivacity, the warmth of feeling, the attraction, the beauty of face, the attractiveness of figure, the racial characteristics, and, above all, the exotic temperament necessary to fit her for the part. Don Jose is interpreted by Don Alvarado, a young screen player who has risen to the front ranks with amazing rapidity. Alvarado’s Spanish ancestry admirably coincides with the screen role.

Nancy Nash, who plays Michaela, has been featured in Fox features. Ben Bard, Mathilde Comont, Jack Bastian and Ralph Cipperly are other established players in the production