The Washington times., 1922-10-23
MARION DAVIES IN
dREATESI.RoIL
OF CAREER
Historic LoyS Story Told ON the
Screen atccIdmbia Theater
in Elaborate Fastion Set
ting New Standard
BY HAROLD PHILLIPS.
yxI HAT q picture ~ g, ,, Z
w Would that this reviewer
BY HAROLD PHILLIPS.

" Would that this reviewer
were Sprivilsged TO sub
side with those three words and
let muted praise speak its own
volumes aboS4t Wben knight
LoJd Was In Flower, ~ s. q,
Certainly SVolpnaes team be
sal about II and there'd still
be much unsaid.
Knighthood has lowered anew
across the screen and. with It
make no nistake-has flower
cd an epoch, IN motion picture
making. There's q coruscant
splendor in the Workmanship. Of
the whole tking--in Its acting,
It's story, Its settings that
leaves one With q maze ypf inn
pressions. How TO begin to tell.
Such a film es this has a
defiant makeup for. the play re-
viewer. Were 1t the solitaire"
type Of picture, boasting one
big star, or an Unusual tale, or.
unusual setting auy ONE OF
these things the, chronicling Of
its merits would - be simple.
We'd train the gun-barrels of
criticism on that one feature
and blare away. ,, d.. g..
But how now in a super-film
:. which has ALL these features of
star, story and setting, on one
canvas? Only one with the vocabu.
larry Of n Journalism student, and
the courage of a cub reporter,
would dare do 1t verbal justice.
We're neither of these SO we must
retrace our steps and repeat, :.
What a picture!'
But some words must be said
about the things that make It
great.
I There's Marion Davies as the
Princess Mary Tudor. A princess,
yes, but her middle name Is Caprice.
She has the regal air of q queen,
and -royalty's raiment and,> when
trod upon, the imperiousness of a
czarina; but the elfin mood crops
out, and she Is one moment hauteur
with frosted trimming; the next,
vixen, a vamp, a pooh .pooher OF
kingly dignity and altogether a de-
lightful Miss Mischief. Brandon
(curse his good looks) was well and
amply goaded in his conquests.
Miss Davies is a revelation to
her warmest admirers. Such pre-
vious vehicles as we remember her
IN, never presumed to tax her abili-
ties to such q scope. Herein she Is
called to be q variable April shower
of moods. Emotion? Two scenes
stand out by which her repute as
a consummate "emoter" will stand
for a long. long time. These are,
ffrst, when Bluff King Hal swears
,ssites will marry the senile Louis,
King Of France. and that Brandon's
head win be her wedding present,
land second, after she has fled with
sBrandon, disguised as a boy, Is
found in a tavern by Hal and his
%aides, and collapses in a sobbing,
ffighting outburst as Brandon Is
lied to the tower. >.
q Then there is that other mood.
The really dominant one which
makes Princess Mary Tudor SO
s,human and appealing. The mood
that wiggles bare toes at popping
ewes; the mood that uncovers a
SgIistening shoulder before prudish
Hcourtiers and the sudden impulse
(which slams his royal highness
fright in the face with a pillow.
@That tailoring scene, eliminating
I'm a barrage of silk and satin bolts,
Nxith Princess Mary at the lanyard,
AZ a gem and brought forth q re-
sverberating roar.
IS And what shall we say Of Lyn
EHarding as King Henry VIII. A
sdeiineation historians will ac-
.claim. The Bluff King Hal. to be
Nsure, but with lighter facets also;
+ commanding, a disciplinarian, but
Susceptible, as least, to the cajol-
cry and petting Of the vixenish
princess. Harding Is immense and
Ethis takes no note of his stomach.
AS for Forrest Stanley who
fplays Charles Brandon; william
Morris as King Louis, withered
and dying almost on his wedding
/. day, we can only say they, and all
Aothers in this notable cast, bring
talents to the making Of the pic
Fture that are In keeping with the
9standard 1t has set, o. ...,...
There are innumerable big scenes
I'm when Knighthood Was In
Flower" There is the jousting
stourney where Brandon upsets his
drcal opponent, Buckingham, as
though a sack of cabbage. Then
1.-THE duel in the castle yard: Mary's
Spectacular flight with Brandon,
tthe' duel in the tavern; the great
storm on the night old King Louis
Sexpires and Mary, now his queen,
2ffghting In her chamber against
the advances of the evil Francis I;
eher rescue by Brandon and finally
the mad flight through the storm,
hack to Paris, with pursuit at their
heels.
Il ,As to this pursuit scene, a word
must be said about the beautifully
Hdone coloring which makes the
torches blare out in red realism,
unlike any cinema colortng we
khave ever seen before. Knight
Shpod" could last for many months
ION the strength OF this realistic
piece OF staging. And. after all, II
rs but one OF a great number of
q sscenes that stand out and prod
your sensibilities into realizing that
here, IL the picture of pictures.
n Urban's settings reek of Merrie
SOld England. The scenic appoint.
Sments fairly make one gasp. Yet
i there is no patading OF this
grandeur, no emphasizing of
1T. Rather Il Is subordinated to
yits place as atmosphere for the
STORY For instance, Princess
f.s-...I. i~xl.zo.Sz n... - ,.I-...