"You may inform Her Majesty that she has become the senior partner of the firm of Victoria and De Lesseps." These words, spoken by Disracli (Miles Mander) as he becomes Prime Minister, are the climax of "Suez," which opened yesterday at the Metropolitan. Yet if the doughty express, veiled, escorted, guarded, had personally visited her "ditch," she could scarcely have received a less realistic picture of how it was built than Darry I. F. Zanuck gives the American public. The workmen, the soldiers, the treachery of the Arabs and have of the simoon are all shown, but the audience is too far away to see any of the sweat and suffering and sorrow that went into the canal. Instead, Tyrone Power mopes about Europe as Loretta Young becomes the Empress Eugenie and ends every line by sticking out her hand to be kissed.

What saves "Suez" from being a glorified Punch and Judy show is the acting of Annabelle. Although her role is not easy, the talented French actress brings to it a sincerity and simplicity that stand out in bold relief against the sentimental strutting of an all puppet cast. Glenda Farrell, in the latest of her "Torchy Blain" series, is perhaps an even greater relief.