Arizona republican., 1922-02-13
THEODORA' GIVES
EVERY SPLENDOR OF
ANCIENT BYzANT|UM

1.-THE greatest screen spectacle
that the world has ever known"
which is the producers own estimate
OF the italian super film. Theodore"
may be suspected OF being a COM
nient somewhat biased in its favor,
coming from the prejudiced source
! that II does. Yet 1t is nearly If not
quite all of that At Mauk's Colum-
bia hteater where 1t opened a four
days engagement yesterday, it gave
| it's spectators a series of thrills that
none of the will soon forget. STU
pendous" is not too extravagant
adjective for this spectacle OF the
splendors and horrors of Byzantium
in the sixth century. To describe it
adequately would tax even the vo-
! cabulary Of a p. T. Barnum.
Nearly four decades ago, when
! Sarah Bernhardt's histrionic passions
were at white heat. Victorien Sardou
seized upon the story of the infatua-
| ton of the Empress of the East for
the traitorous Greek Andreas, who
would have slain the Emperor JUS
tinian, and turned 1t into a play for
! her. In this country the hysterical
frenzies of the French melodrama
were spread before thrilled audiences
by the vociferous Fannie Davenport.
| But not even the passionate Sarah
nor the strident Fanny could crowd
into Sardou's old play half the excite
ment that the Italian producer. Ar
thuro Ambrosio, with his swirling
rushing hordes, has given to 1t.
Architecturally alone, forgetting for
the moment every element of drama
in 1t, Theodore" is a marvel of mar
vels. 1t Is as II all the glories OF
ancient Byzantium had been trans
ferred untarnished to the twentieth
century. The visions which the
screen presents Of palaces, pavilions,
gardens, broad stairways mounting
to dizzy heights, frowning battle-
ments, grim prisons, noble arches
these are remarkable. But most re-
markable of all is the replica Of the
ancient hippodrome.
i 1t is here, If you remember your
Sardou, that the thousands assem-
bled for the royal games heap their
wrath upon the tyrant Justinian. II
Is here. also. that Theodore insanely
orders that the lions be let loose
among the populace.
Poor Sardou! The best he could
do was to describe the frenzies OF that
fear naddened multitude as the wild
beasts dealt death among them. At
the Columbia the movies actually
picture it, and II Is here that the
spectacular marvels Of the film touch
their highest points. The manage
ment OF the terror stricken masses is
the finest feat in the motion picture
art we have yet seen.
Dramatically the spectacle reaches
it's pinnacle when Theodore gives
poison to her imprisoned Greek lover,
thinking it is a love philter. Previ-
ously she has stabbed his cocoon
4 spirator, Marcellus, lest in the ago
nies OF the torture which awaits him
he betray her levers name. Until
now Andreas is rot aware that II is
the Empress with whom he is in>
fatuated. In this scene we longed to
hear again Ber1nhardt's passionate
voice, or even Fanny Davenport's
frenzied TRADE. There are limits
beyond which even the screen cannot
go. Rita Jolivet acted these episodes
effectively.
"Theodora," in short, ought 20 be
breeder of movie fans. When they
see ii they will have seen about the
best that the screen can present
The engagement OF Theodore" in
Phoenix is scheduled for three more
days, terminating with the perfor-
mances next Wednesday night. 1t Is
being presented in a special stage
setting and accompanied by q ten
piece ocrhestra in the rendition of the
musical score that was used during
its four months run at the Astor the
ater, New York city.