Paul Robeson in "Emperor Jones."

An Appreciation.

One is moved to admiration and despair on seeing this production. The technical combination of photography and settings is so admirably balanced by the perfect casting and the great acting that this picture would be great even if the story were poor; but when the producers have managed to use the greater technical advantages of the camera without losing the force of Eugene O'Neil's play, the effect is shattering.

To remember, however, that this masterpiece should be screened only for three nights, and then at a theatre with a reputation for second-rate pictures, is a saddening reflection. Whether public taste is so low that the dramatic perfection of this production would not be appreciated, or whether racial prejudice would prevent enjoyment, it is hard to judge; but the position illustrates perfectly how little financial encouragement producers are likely to receive when their dominant motive is artistic perfection.

People expecting to be entertained with a repetition of "One Night of Love" or "My Song for You" will be disappointed. They will not hear the principal bursting into melody at every inconceivable excuse.

To the negro, singing is an emotional outlet in adversity; so he sings in the chapel, when leaving home, when in the chain gang, and when lost and hunted in the forest. As the arrogant Emperor, he has no need to sing.

It is as the arrogant Emperor that Paul Robeson is able to display his talent as an actor. So powerfully does he do it that one is likely to remember him first as an actor and only incidentally as a singer. The scene when the Emperor holds his dummy court should be a ludicrous farce, but with such force does Paul Robeson play his part that the audience is as impressed as the subjects with the Emperor's imperious solemnity.

Comes the revolution, and he flees to the forest. Haunted by visions, cursed by witch [unclear: dectors], and hynotised by the tom-tom, he descends into a grovelling, gibbering creature. His fall from overweening defiance to the most abject terror is devastating. Before, he was magnificent and impressive; now he is prostrate and repellent. The complete unhinging of a human mind is seen. It is a portrayal of emotional stress so convincing that it is exhausting; and with relief comes his fated death.

O.A.E.H