CONTEMPORARY ARTS
THE CINEMA
s, Bachelor Knight." (Odeon.)—" Pursued." (Warner.) Ir will come as a great shock to those people who, like myself, were under the impression that Shirley Temple was eight, to find that she is now eighteen, married and a mother. Strangely enough the years, while heightening her stature and rounding her figure, have made no sort or kind of impression on her face, which has remained congealed in the same merry mould of dimpled immaturity that was the delight, or alternatively the despair, of the cinema-going public. In spite of this facial petrifaction Miss Temple gives a lively intel- ligent interpretation of a bobby-soxer in the throes of her first love affair with a man much older than herself. The part is thoroughly inane, and she copes with it in a masterly fashion. Mr. Cary Grant, her unwilling Sir Galahad, has a very pleasing manner, and his wry humour serves as a shield against our natural inclination to dismiss the whole thing as poppycock. He is delightful as a protesting entrant in Miss Temple's college sports, scenes which satisfy our blushing but unquenchable love for slapstick, and he is endearing as a bemused wanderer in the land of jitterbugging ice-cream eaters.
Miss Myrna Loy, whose qualities and virtues cannot be numbered, plays the part of a judge. I know this is beyond human understand- ing, but it must just be accepted with a blind unquestioning faith. She could, of course, be anything, and be it perfectly. Her enchant- ment lies not so much in her charm, which is patent, as in her nearness to everyday life. Love, thank heaven, is not her sole desideratum. We feel she really does know the price of eggs, gets a cold every now and then and can sew on a button ; and we feel that given half a chance we could be just like her, whereas no pos- sible chemicalisation could turn us into Miss Dietrich. Braving your displeasure I would like to say that unalloyed this film would be incredibly silly, whereas now it is gay, entertaining and well worth a visit. * * *
Pursued is set in New Mexico at the turn of the century, and can best be described as a psychological western. In this age the evil that men did lived for an unconscionably long time after them, and feuds were not considered to be settled until whole families were wiped off the map. Thus do we find Mr. Robert Mitchum, orphaned as a child and brought up in innocence by Miss Judith Anderson, being relentlessly dogged by what he thinks is a male- ficent fate, but which is in reality the clan McCallum armed with shotguns. For some reason they disliked hi.. lathe', probably because he would keep on killing them, and they are determined that Mr. Mitchum shall pay for these unpleasantnesses. Nobody notifies him of this, so he is constantly being what he considers unreasonably potted at, and in self-defence kills two people, one the brother and the other the suitor of the girl he loves. This girl, Miss Teresa Wright, also infected with the local virus, marries him with the sole intention of shooting him dead on their wedding night, but she misses him by miles and falls swooning with love into his arms. Only at the end does Mr. Mitchum dis- cover that he is not haunted by some supernatural evil but by flesh and blood. The bare bones of this story may not sound as though they were particularly juicy, but in fact Pursued can be ranked high among pictures of this kind. It is extremely well acted, the photography is splendid, and there is a thoughtfulness one does not usually find in gunning films. The dialogue is liberally peppered with those un- heralded remarks which suddenly make one grieve for the life one will never lead and the things one will never say. " I must go to bed, Maw. I have to be in the saddle at sun-up " rings like a mourning bell over London's dusty afternoon.
VIRGINIA GRAHAM.
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