Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-09-30

ments in his latest extravaganza. 1t :
is perhaps the most straightforward
of his ostentations endeavors, and by
the nature of its material fits more
honestly into a DeMille pattern than
his previous attempts to explain what
q tough life it was to be a Christian
when the Roman emperors owned so
many hungry lions.
In other words, Mr. DeMille struck
his happy hunting ground when he
decided to depict that strange, half
religious, half-barbaric crusade to re-
capture Jerusalem from the Saracens.
There was virile, romantic and
semi-mystical war, one IN which
thousands fought because they merely
wanted to get into a scrap, and others
laid down their lives in the fond be-
lief that they were martyrs to
divine principle. It is in this mixture
of worldliness and inspiration that
Mr. DeMille finds the most satisfactory
medium for the expression Of his
genius. A Richard Couer de Lion
--brawny, courageous, brusque. alter
nately tender and cruel, is the. model
hero for the DeMille epics. When his
murderous conquests are crowned with
the humbleness of faith, he becomes
. the typical Titan not only of the
classic movies but of all civilization.
X y
gwTHE CRUSADES" encompasses bat
tie scenes simultaneously of such
: endless detail and infinite massiveness
that it is impossible to hint at their
: magnificence. There is an old saying
that no war is so bloodthirsty as a
holy war. and the producer OF THE
Crusades" never forgets it. Neither
does he neglect one element of the
drama inherent in man-to-man COM
bat las opposed to the long-range
methods of slaughter, which COM
pletely obliterate millions and send
millions of others home to write novels
about foes they never saw. The
pageantry of violence is the most
beautiful in the world, and in warfare
1t becomes so intensified that even the
gentle Robert E. Lee was once moved
to remark, after spectacular battle
and victory, ''it is good that war is so
cruel, that we may therefore not learn
to love it too well"
Although that is its most pleasing
aspect, the whole of THE Crusades"
is not devoted to battle. The picture
at the National Theater this week also
tells pretty little love story of King
Richard and Berengaria, Princess of
Navarro, whom he married because he
wanted her fathers cattle for his army
and her father wanted the girl to be-
come Queen of England. So bored
with the idea of wife that he sends
his sword to the wedding ceremony as
his proxy, Richard later became en-
amoured of the handsome French lass
and decided that he must be fighting
for love of her. When she was cap
tured by the enemy's great Saladin
(who incidentally is by far the more
attractive of the two warriors), Rich
ard plunged heedlessly into that lead
er's camp, was himself taken, but
emerged again with his queen-on ac-
count Saladin thought they were both
nice people.
Mere individuals are somewhat
minor concerns in 1.-THE Crusades,"
but Henry Wilcoxon handles the role Of
Richard with some conviction and
generous splash of the heroic school of
histrionics; Loretta Young is still one
OF the three most beautiful women on
the modern screen and likewise still
not much of an actress, and the others
are quite equal to the tasks set for
them.
TOMORROW will offer your last
- opportunity to see Fred Astaire
and Ginger Rogers dance to Irving
Berlin's music at Keith's. Diamond
jim" the film based on the life of
the Broadway figure of the late
nineties. opens Wednesday, and
Hardie Meakin is expecting another
long run. He has been getting phone
calls for days asking when "Dia-
mond Jim" opens. The new Keith
film stars Edward Arnold, who once
was with the National Players.
The month-and-a-day run of "Top
Hat does not equal the records set
by Roberta" and ut Happened One
Night" for length of engagement,
but 10000 more people have paid
to see it while it was here.
Keith's also will have the Dionne
quintuplets short subject while 'Dia-
mond Jim" is being shown.
y y X
THE Metropolitan also deserts Fri
- day as opening day this week,
bringing In Claudette Cohorts latest
comedy success, "She Married Her
Boss" to replace Little Big Shot,"
which seems to have Syhil Jason and
not much else. The Colbert film
opens tomorrow.
X X y X
MAX REINHARDT'S production Of
"A Midsummer Nights Dream"
has been awarded the Parents Maya