Evening star., 1944-11-03

the Earle. There's a romantic ex-
travaganZa for you, wild in its
loves, murderouS in its hates, gor-
geous in Its technicolor, and blessed
with a pretty performance by Joan
Fontaine who revels in the 18th Gen.
tury melodrama Of 1t all as If she
had been waiting lifetime to do
Just such a piece. Miss Fontaine is
assisted in whipping up the passion
ate fury of "Frenchman's Creek" by
one of Paramounts most solicitously
selected casts, Arturo de Cordova,
Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce and
many others.
Director Mitchell Leisen has seen
to it that "Frenchman's Greek" Is
the lustiest If not the most sensible
looking item of its season. He has ac-
cepted Miss du Maurier's word for
it that the year 1868 was a great
one for spectacular pirates and for
lovely ladies who lived in palaces
with stuffy noblemen and who
wanted to get away from 1t all. He
has painted the period with every
tint in the technicolor spectrum and
literally hurled his players into the
unbridled spirit of 1t. Even the
camera swashbuckles in French
mans Creek"
X X X X
The Earle's picture primarily Is
concerned with the wild love affair
between Miss Fontaine and De Cor
dova. She is the wife of dull
witted, unattractive nobleman, q
gent whose guzzling and bad taste in
friends would drive any woman into
the hands of the nearest pirate, even
a one-eyed one, which the French
man decidedly is not.
The pirate is not merely enticingly
handsome, brave and gifted with
perfect manners. He's been very
busy with his profession, which he
practices in kind of Robin Hood
fashion you may be sure. but he has
had time to learn few things about
the opposite sex. One Of them is a
pretty deep sense that those who live
in castles with dull husbands would
appreciate nothing more than a nioe
sea trip aboard pirate craft.
Miss Fontaine, who looks no less
than magnificent in the low-cut,
billowy gowns of 1868, turns out to
be instantly ready to cast them aside
at the suggestion of the pirate. 1t is
little terrifying to think of her
out of that wardrobe, but the minute
she dons the garb of a cabin boy
aboard the ship misgivings vanish.
She's quite as beautiful and much
more adventurous looking, so lovely
indeed that one hardly blames Basil
Rathbone for pursuing her in his
most villainous and evil fashion. AS
matter of fact, when she kills him
by pushing suit of ancient armor
over on his skull as he crawls up
stairs after her. one is left with a
sneaking admiration for both.
As hero to so enchanting lady,
De Coroova is quite satisfactory in
every respect but one. He speaks his
lines, which are quite poetic at
times, with an. accent and in the
tempo of Sam Levine. Mr.. Levine,
you will recall, Is the comedian
whose dialect very few would miss
as being refined Brooklyn. For its
purpose none is better. but for the
romantic purposes of French
pirate it is highly dubious.
X X X X
1t is clearly Director Leisen's OBJ
jective to shun audiences with the
lavishness of the costuming and
settings of his picture. He has been
most signally successful in Miss Fon-
taine's wordrobe, one for which the
word gorgeous" might well have
been saved. He has done well, too,
with his castles, especially their
interiors, which are ideal for such
varied purposes as great hunting
feasts for the lords of all England
and for the torture of pirates whose
waywardness is particularly annoy
ing to the noblemen. The picture
also makes the point we'll that the
men of 1868 were majestically over