John Gielgud makes a great performance as the formidable statesman Benjamin Disraeli, emerging from nothing to a successful novelist, and then embarking on politics for good and for worse, in constant clinch with the equally great statesman William Gladstone, whose part in this is rather secondary; while Diana Wynyard as Mrs. Disraeli always is a treat and has a superior qualitty and knack of dominating every film she is in by simply outshining everyone else, apparently by her beauty, but there is a very special magic about her. The film was one-sidedly patriotic, it was made in the worst time of the war, when anything was needed to bolster the British resistance fighting spirit, and so the film is hopelessly tendentious, keeping dead quiet about the fact that Disraeli was a Jew, importing a complex which is a driving force for so many of that ancestry, often leading them to extremely high and responsible positions, which they usually carry with honour, of which Disraeli is a perfect example. The film is a feast for the eyes from beginning to end, the costumes are consistently sumptuous, there are overwhelming ball scenes and the fascinating love story between Diana Wynyard and John Gielgud; and then there is Fay Compton as Queen Victoria, almost vying with Wynyard for charm and adorability - she makes a fascinating portrait of the Queen, which must be true. In brief, for all lovers of historical costume films, this is a major treat, and if you also are capable of appreciating great acting, that adds to the treat.
Review of The Prime Minister
