Ronald Colman, Condemned

as MICHEL

Following directly after Arliss' tour-de-force of theatrical tics, Ronald Colman comes off as almost method in contrast. Condemned is a surprisingly entertaining film, made all the more watchable by Colman's brand of relaxed charm and well-mannered poise. His work however is nothing to write home about--it is essentially your standard leading male performance in any sort of adventure/escape type picture. He doesn't have any particular moments that are noteworthy and you could hardly call the role itself as challenging...what we see is Colman fall for Ann Harding and attempt to escape his current straining circumstances to be with her. However, there is still an inexplicable allure to the way Colman works, a kind of combination of good looks, sultriness, and magnetic charisma that held onto my interest and sort of transcends the simple material and any clumsiness that comes with early talkie flicks. It's a little basic, but at the same time it's the type of performance requiring a type of personality that only a true movie star could turn in (an actor like Arliss could never). In my book, the performance is nothing noteworthy, but that's not to say that you won't have a good time watching him.