Cinema * THE CRIMSON PLAYGOER * Drama

Here at the Plymouth this week we have one of those problem plays that take place in the bosom of a family none too pleasant to start with, and which before the curtain has dropped has suffered one seduction involving two marriages and a suicide, not to mention a few minor unpleasantnesses.

Beginning when Henry Linden brings his bride Manella home from India to live amongst his old British family tree, awaiting the building of his own little nest, we travel space through her affair with his brother, and the resulting complications to where his brother's original country-gal wife, loving her husband and still liking his seductress, walks into the burning barn and thus out of the picture. The following nervous breakdowns, maddened raving, etc., turn what started out a very clever snappy job into a rather morbid dissection of human passion and pain.

Conard Nagel, one of the old faithful hams, completely outdoes himself in a very tender and emotionally sincere portrayal of the country squire, while Violet Heming, his leading lady, makes an effective if rather too studied fell for his own wistful flightiness. With the addition of some fine character acting by Kathryn Collier and John Halloran the piece becomes a finished job; one of the most sophisticated productions to reach the Hub city in this season.