A SUPERLATIVE use of color and decoration again gives distinction to a less than distinguished screen drama from the Daiei studio of Japan. "Yang Kwei Fei," a romantic tragedy which came to the Normandie yesterday, is a beautiful thing to look at but a bewildering and tedious thing to sit through.

In telling a semi-historic story of a beautiful and favorite concubine of a famous emperor of China back in the eighth century, this eye-pleasing picture ranges from a modified Cinderella tale to an unmitigated tear-jerker in which Cinderella sacrifices herself for the man she loves. Furthermore, it is vexingly muddled with intrigues of a complicated sort, and it is slowly and deviously unfolded in stilted colloquies.

If you don't understand the Japanese dialogue, as few patrons hereabouts are likely to do, you will find yourself looking at the English subtitles almost as much as at the picture on the screen. This will detract a lot from its felicities, which are Machiko Kyo and the decor. So let us outline the story briefly and make it possible for you to skip the subtitles.

Here it is: The Emperor Hsuan Tsung (Ming Huang) is pining for love of his dead wife. An ambitious army officer discovers a scullery maid who looks a lot like the dead empress. He has her cleaned up and schooled, then presents her to the emperor, who eventually finds her to his taste. When she takes him out to behold a street festival, he falls in love with her.

However, the various court intriguers, including the army officer, try to advance their positions through this new favorite. Then she realizes that she is causing disasterous strife and allows herself to be garroted to save the emperor.

This is a popular Chinese legend which follows the facts of the case with no more reliability than the people who made this film have shown. But the beautiful and graceful Miss Kyo, who is best remembered from "Rashomon" and "Gate of Hell," is so lovely to watch as the lady that you can overlook history and dramatic art.

The gorgeously decorated actress, even though she has little more to do than wear her costumes trimly and strike elaborate attitudes, is constantly exquisite. She is a creature of many, many subtle shades and moods which emerge from her decorative devices. You must settle for this in the heroine.

As for the decor of the picture, it may not be faithfully Chinese or representative of the T'ang dynasty, but it is full of magnificence—soft and with infinite color combinations. This, too, is satisfying.

In the role of the emperor, Masayuki Mori is delicate and remote, and So Yamamura plays the army officer with characteristic Japanese splash. Several other actors are handsomely garbed for other roles, but the script and Kenji Mizoguchis direction make it hard to tell them apart.

YANG KWEI FEI, screen play by To Chin, Matsutaro Kawaguchi, Yoshikata Yoda and Masashige Narisawa; directed by Kenji Mizoguchi; produced by Masaichi Agata and Run Run Shaw for Daiei Studio, Tokyo, and released by Buena Vista Films.
Kwei Fei . . . . . Machiko Kyo
Emperor Huan Tsung . . . . . Masayuki Mori
An Lu-shan . . . . . So Yamamura
Kao Li-Hsi . . . . . Eitaro Shindo
Yang Chao (Later the Premier) . . . . . Sakae Ozawa
Abbess . . . . . Haruko Sugimura
Hung Tao . . . . . Yoko Minamida
Commander of the Guards Bontaro Miake
Premier Li . . . . . Tatsuya Ishiguro