"La Robe Rouge." At the Academy
Tins French talkie is based on a play by Brieux which is said to have led to a repeal of the French law permitting the examina- tion of prisoners in the absence of their counsel. Hence the film has a certain historic interest but lacks topical force. Criticism, certainly, is implied also of various other aspects of the French judicial system-particularly the competition for promotion-which still exist, but for English audiences it is hard to appreciate the niceties of a system so unfamiliar iii numerous details.
The story is about a Basque peasant, a smuggler, who is falsely accused of murder. An ambitious juge d' instruction. pushes the case ruthlessly against him, and by the time he is acquitted his home life is ruined. There is dramatic force in the interrogation scenes, and the whole film is well acted, but it is awkwardly put together, and time needed for clarifying essential moments of the trial is spent on minor details. The hero's notions of family honour, too, are so fanatically cruel that it is difficult, in the end, to feel much sympathy for him. As a study of French types and habits, however, the film has vivid and entertaining moments, and the photography of Basque landscapes is mildly agreeable.
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