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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 1, No. 10 June 8, 1938

Marco Polo

Marco Polo

Sam Goldwyn has excelled himself. His name has long been a by-word for everything that is showy, pretentious, illiterate and vulgar, but with "The Adventures of Marco Polo," he has surely beaten all his previous efforts. The Wellington Press will, of course, say nothing that might be taken as criticism of the picture. "The Evening Post," for instance, calls it a "Rollicking story of the adventures of a bold Venetian traveller" and goes to say that it "needs little false colour added to It." Nevertheless, the opinions of the first night audience must soon become known throughout the town and It will be really remarkable If the picture has an extended season. It was only to be expected that the picture would be hopelessly inaccurate as to the facts of Marco Polo's life and adventures, but Sam has filled the smaller roles with well recognised character actors whom we have seen as the Babbits, bankers and garage-proprietors of so many Mid-Western films that we know them as old friends. The language and ideas were also straight from Zenith City. If the characters did not use "I'll say." "You're telling me." and "Sez you." these are the only' forms of rubber-stamp American repartee that were not used in this opus. "Psychologically speaking" raised a good laugh. If Sam had only put Eddie Cantor and Martha Kaye In the film instead of Gary Cooper and Sigrid Gurie, it would have been funnier than "Roman Scandals." As it was the lions stole the picture.

A "March of Time," dealing with fascist Germany and the danger of the export of Its doctrines to America, was good, but the second half of the programme was a heavy penance to pay for one's education in the first half.

—R.H.