Evening star., 1946-11-08

entertainment media accomplish
sort of long deferred miracle.
Here is story. telling lifted to its
highest power, an achievement
which places the public almost as
deeply in the debt of Laurence
Olivier as in that of Shakespeare.
Olivier not only acts the title role of
Henry "" but produced. directed
and accomplished most of the adap-
tation himself In series of mas
terstrokes, Olivier has revived rois-
tering Prince Hal now grown to
kingship, as the ideal movie hero.
He has blazoned the story in Tech
nicolor of proper brilliance and, in
the screenplay's every detail fixed
Henry unforgettably in the mind
and heart Of the moviegoer.
II is thus that Shakespeare plus
Olivier has become what movie au-
oiences have been waiting for all
through the years And, no matter
how much longer the wait may be,
1t merits whatever patience is re-
ouired to see the picture at the
Little.
"Henry W. Is not the greatest of
Shakespeare's plays. but it never
theless has all the elements of great
drama. 1t is compound of exciting
narrative about man who was ma
1estic, set to poetry and music and
freed from the smallest element of
musty, fusty scholarship. 1t proves
beyond a doubt that Shakespeare
was a scenarist to send his mimics
scurrying to hiding and humility,
II not to oblivion.
The Two Cities Production brings
1t all off in its full scope, in battle
scenes that have sweep and grand |
eur yet never smother human detail; |
in court scenes of regal Splendor;
and in courtship passages as elfin,
and comic as have yet been con-
trived to speak of boy-meets-girl, !
or King meets Princess.
Olivier's inspiration is diffused
wonderfully over the bright. excit-
ing landscape of the production of
Henry w." But it is never difficult !
to PIN point its outstanding excel
lence. That is in his portrait of the
King. a monarch who had not only
his own heroic virtues. but now has
added the majesty of Shakespeare
and the genius of Olivier.
The man thus coined for the
delight of 1916 movie audiences is
never obscued in any detail of
his manliness. He is every inch
man first, then every inch King.
Above all things, he relishes a good
fight for a noble cause. He sees
the making of that in French SUBJ
lection of areas he thinks are right
ly England's. The lines thus laid
lead to Agincourt and a movie bat
tie worthy of that field of English
valor.
e Shakespeare, never writer tc
diminish his heroes. gives Olivier
dominance of the action in Henry
W Not such complete dominance,
however. that his occasional absences
from the spotlight are not felt in
the sag of the dramatic narrative.
Agineourt is opend up in the
screens Henry w into the titanic
hand-to- hand conflict it is in his
tory. If it lacks the violence of
latter-day battle sequences. it more
than makes up for this in its simple,
human, detail and becomes perhaps
the most dramatic contest the
movies ever photographed. Olivier
seizes upon it to give performance
as brilliant and varied as an actor
ever created. It has majesty in
every aspect, when the King wanders
among his weak and fretful troops,
when he muses. upon the circum-
stances that manacle Kings and /
leave their subjects free when he
pravs Gods blessing upon his troops,
and, most of ALL when he filings
the gantlet down in the most
passionate prebattle talk an army
ever heard. /
Rr,t