Picture Play Magazine (1937)

58 \U 'J "Rembrandt." "Rembrandt." — United Artists. Charles Laughton again proves himself one of the great actors of the day. He is as mild and spiritual as the Dutch painter who gives his name to the picture as he was vicious as Captain Bligh, in "Mutiny on the Bounty," and implacab-le as Javert, in "Les Miserables." The true measure of his greatness is found in the humanity and pathos underlying every role he plays. Sometimes one must look deep to find human qualities but they are very evident in his Rembrandt. He offers a quietly compelling portrait in this biographical film of the master. The picture lacks excitement and spurious drama, but it is conscientious and steadily interesting. If the characters remain a bit aloof from the spectator they are none the less alive and fascinating. We must approach them from the British viewpoint which always leaves more to the imagination than Hollywood. We have Rembrandt at the height of his power in 1642, when he painted "The Night Watch" and was flouted by those who could not understand his masterpiece. From then on his fortunes decline as his character develops with adversity. Superbly costumed and lighted, the picture is equally well acted though I think that Elsa Lanchester outshines every one with the exception, of course, of her husband, Mr. Laughton. "Lloyds of London." — 20th Century-Fox. This is an attempt to recapture the great success of "The House of Rothschild." It is a chronicle play dealing with the founding and development of the British underwriting syndicate that plays so large a part in world affairs to-day. But it is no such engrossing material as that which inspired the "Rothschild" picture. Somehow insurance isn't so humanly dramatic as banking. However, the film is richly costumed, "Winterset." K^ n "The Garden of Allah." the cast is large and the production costly, all of which is neither a novelty in itself nor ever has compensated for a story that is uninteresting. And so it is here. I found the picture slow, shallow and tedious in spite of first-class direction and acting, and high praise from many. As for the love story that excuses the chronicle of business, it is conventional and unconvincing — obviously fabricated to romanticize the dull routine of insuring ships in the first place and, later, everything. However, from the standpoint of the typical fan Tyrone Power will make the picture important. An interesting newcomer, son of a famous stage actor, he promises to become a favorite. Already he is a good actor, sympathetic, handsome and young. Unfortunately, Madeleine Carroll's great beauty is diminished by Hollywood's major evil, that of making natural blondes blonder to the point of doll-like artificiality. "The Garden of Allah." — United Artists. The age-old spell of the African desert is woven with enchanting beauty in the finest Technicolor that has yet been seen. No medley of garish color this, but a muted symphony of rust and brown and dull reds, mellow plaster walls and limitless sky and sand, brooding shadows and burning sun. The novel which dramatized the desert for the first time comes to the screen skillfully adapted and, naturally, with more beauty and realism than the stage ever gave it. The conflict remains the same, however. We still find Domini Enfilden seeking refuge from the weariness and sadness of life in the desert and meeting reviving, burning love there. We still find the monk, Boris Androvsky, trying to forget his vows in his love for the lonely woman, marrying her and then undergoing the torment of having be "Love on the Run."