An expensive film with the money well spent on a number of set pieces including the Easter mass, the seduction, the attempt to see the prince at the railroad depot, the scenes at court. These particular episodes are well handled by director Rouben Mamoulian, but otherwise, however, he's often content with long, static takes. Fortunately, the movie is always beautifully photographed by Gregg Toland. It's also artistically set with a rousing, Russian-style music score by Alfred Newman. With the backing of a solid support cast, Fredric March delivers a luminous performance as the prince, although his dialogue is often somewhat lacking in polish, even stilted. In fact, March seems a bit strained and even unconvincingly eager in his early scenes, but comes into his own in the movie's central and later episodes. Available on an excellent Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer DVD.
Review of We Live Again
