Age Cannot Wither

Miss HARDING’S treatment of the life of Duse and her love affair with D’Annunzio is a “natural” for the screen. The two protagonists are portrayed in bold monotones, D’Annunzio emerging as an unmitigated ruffian. You get little hint of the outrageous charm that made the small, bald-headed poet irresistible to womankind, and few touches as revealing of La Duse’s magic as Gide’s “not a single inexpressive wrinkle.” Still, it’s an incomparable story; and Miss Harding’s version, though stereotyped, makes absorbing reading.