Anthony Adverse

Lame, over ambitious attempt at a globetrotting swashbuckler, with Frederic March in the title role as the man on a mission to discover the truth about his life. As a unwanted child whose mother died while giving birth to him, he is bought up at a convent, becomes the apprentice of a local merchant, and is given his mocking name. Through a series of contrivances, he travels through Europe, the Americas and Africa in a search of adventure. The glorious Technicolor is mildly distracting, but March is no great action hero, as unconvincing as the plot.