Wings of the Morning

So few British colour films survive from the '30s that one is inclined to be indulgent toward this misconceived cross between a screwball comedy and a gypsy melodrama. Fonda overacts even more than the stage Oirish and wooden gypsies, but really the characters and plot are of secondary importance. This was Britain's first Technicolor movie, and the green, blue and grey of the Killarney landscapes, and the bright rainbow colours of Epsom on Derby Day, must have had an overwhelming effect on contemporary audiences. What impresses most now, though, are the scenes shot within the baronial interior of Denham studios. They have that shimmering, iridescent quality only possible with (now fast-decaying) nitrate film.