How could you miss Donald Crisp? If ever an actor had an unmistakable presence that actor was most certainly Donald Crisp. In this movie – which he also directed – Crisp plays the king's equerry and can be seen in many scenes with Rudolph Schildkraut – and that's even in Grapevine's beautifully tinted cutdown Kodascope version. (A fourth or fifth generation Kodascope print is also the basis of Alpha's washed-out gray-and-white DVD). Admittedly, most present-day viewers will justly regard the story as impossibly old-hat, but it was interesting to see Joseph Schildkraut attempting the role of hero rather than villain. I wouldn't say he was super-successful, but for me, the real disappointment of the movie was Bessie Love's awkward heroine. Admittedly photographer Peverell Marley made no attempts whatever to picture her attractively. Her close-ups are a disaster. She looks old, haggard and impossibly tiny. And her ghastly costumes designed by Adrian of all people, didn't help either! But as we might expect from producer Cecil B. DeMille, the movie was certainly lensed on a lavish budget. The art director was none other than Anton Grot – and he at least earned his pay! Crisp was no slouch either!
Review of Young April
