It would be kinder of films if they were either
wholly bad or wholly good. It is difficult to recommend Prelude to Fame because so much of this story of a selfish and ambitious Englishwoman's desire to be recognised through her protégé, an Italian boy- conductor, is, in this form at any rate, extremely tedious. On the other hand, the boy, Jeremy Spenser, given dialogue that would turn the stomach even of an infant prodigy, battles so manfully with his part and conducts his orchestras so magnificently—with a passionate intensity and sensitiveness hard to credit in one so young—that he should be seen.
Miss Kathleen Byron is the villainess, Mr. Guy Rolfe and Miss Kathleen Ryan are the virtuous, and there are a number of Italian impresarios, peasants, parents and musicians, who one and all speak perfect English. Better than pidgin English perhaps, but why not Italian ? A very patchy affair, only saved from total disintegration by Master Spenser and his music. He is the Brumas at the
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