M-G-M. Director Jack Conway; Producer [uncredited]; Writer Carey Wilson, Bayard Veiller, Lenore Coffee; Camera Oliver T. Marsh Editor Hugh Wynn; Music [uncredited] Art Cedric Gibbons
John Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore
Karen Morley
John Miljan
Tully Marshall
Henry Armetta
First screen appearance of John and Lionel Barrymore together and their fine acting lifts the production to a high artistic level.
But the action often is allowed to lapse for dangerously long intervals while the two Barrymores elaborate their interpretation of the super-thief (John) and the dogged detective (Lionel).
A neat angle of this film version [of the French play by Maurice Le Blanc and Francis de Croisset] is the fact that the audience never sees Lupin in the act of larceny itself. This literary scheme is maintained until the last episode, when the elaborate plot to steal the Mona Lisa from the Louvre is worked out in detail and in sight, a fitting climax and a well-paced and balanced sequence.
Story has a touch of discreet but sophisticated spice in the love affair between Lupin and Sonia, the girl released from prison on parole and forced to aid the police in the pursuit. Femme lead is played by Karen Morley with a beautiful balance of reticence and occasional emphasis.
(B&W) Extract of a review from 1932. Running time: 64 MIN.
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