30 JANUARY 1948, Page 13

THE CINEMA

" Anna Karenina." (Leicester Square.)--- " Daughter of Darkness." (Carlton.)

I DID not see Greta Garbo as Anna Karenina, although, much to my astonishment, I have found myself during these latter weeks telling my friends that it would be impossible to surpass her performance in this role. Now, forcibly faced with both my conscience and Miss Vivien Leigh, I retract everything I have said. I do not see how Miss Leigh could be bettered. No, I am lying. At the last moment, when tragedy supersedes romance, she fails me, neither conveying the necessity nor the likelihood of her suicide ; but up to then I have nothing but praise for her. She has been criticised for holding on too tight a rein the passionate side of Anna's nature, but surely the whole upbringing and environment of this unhappy woman would have subconsciously restrained a too lavish display of feeling ? First and foremost Anna was a product of Russian society, and even her love for Vronsky was unable to wean her from its influence. Because she could not forget it and sought to return to the class that had rejected and insulted her she suffered and died. Miss Leigh's Anna has exquisite beauty, enchantment and dignity, and it is in her struggle to preserve these qualities, while as a woman she is suffering the tortures of the damned, that she is especially touching. For Mr. Kieron Moore I have less praise. He seems a little un- certain of himself and a little unsure of his surroundings, and I do not believe he would have swept Miss Leigh more than an inch off her feet. Sir Ralph Richardson, on the other hand, fits to perfection into the stiff black glove of Karenin's character, that upright, honour- able, inhuman man with whose loneliness and austerity of soul it is hard not to sympathise. This is a performance that will live long in the memory. The film carries a large supporting cast of valuable names, and is directed by M. Julien Duvivier with all the intelli- gence and artistry he has at his disposal. The saddest of all truths, that even the greatest love dies beneath the weight of public opinion, is brought to us in rich unfamiliar surroundings, is finely photo- .graphed and accompanied by music composed by Mr. Constant Lambert. Anna Karenina may be what is known as a prestige film, but it is also a contribution to life's pleasure.

* *

On reading, prior to the Press show, the synopsis of Daughter of Darkness, I perceived that the heroine was an Irish servant girl, sweet and gentle on most days of the week, but on her off days entered into by a demon power. Irresistibly attractive to all men, she nevertheless had such an aversion from any physical contact she murdered them the moment they took her in their arms. Three men she killed, and after each killing celebrated her triumph by playing on the church organ, meeting her end by being eaten by a dog !

Mercifully the call of duty held me to my seat, for in the face of all probability Daughter of Darkness is a film worthy of attention. It brings to the screen a new actress, Miss Siobhan McKenna, who while not particularly photogenic knows exactly what she is doing and why. She is as sensitive as she is intelligent and has all the . makings of a great tragedienne. That she would be physically in- capable of strangling Mr. Maxwell Reed, Mr. David Green and Mr. Grant Tyler becomes a matter of no importance, for she can hold, persuade and possess an audience as easily as she herself is possessed by the devil. Miss Anne Crawford and Messrs. Barry Morse, George Thorpe and Denis Gordon do well as a family of gentlemen farmers, but their clean English faces and decent English ways, while pro- ducing a measure of sanity, contrast too sharply with the demon- ridden Miss McKenna, not to mention the crazy dog. And, of course, the organ. Incidentally, somebody would have had Irish Emmy, whether infernally inspired or not, out of the kitchen and on the mighty Wurlitzer in a jiffy ! VIRGINIA GRAHAM.