CURRENT FILMS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 68, Issue 134, 18 March 1948, Page 7

CURRENT FILMS

ST. JAMES THEATRE Laid against such diversified settings as Beverley Mils, the Mexican desert, and New Orleans’ colourful March Oras, with Lucille Ball and John ILodiak paired in a, romantic tale of two swindlers who almost outsmart the law, “Two Smart People” is the attraction at the St. James Theatre to-morrow. Miss Ball is seen as Ricki, a suave dealer in faked art masterpieces, who first encounters Ace Connors (Kodiak) when he “botches up” one of her fraudulent sales. Despite his interference in her career, Iticki succumbs to the charms of the personable Ace and is doubly impressed when she discovers him to he one of the country’s most sought-after .crooks. In other words, they have a lot in common. Their idyll, however, is interrupted when the law, .in the person of Detective Bob Simms (Lloyd Nolan.) catches up with Ace and is about to lake him into custody for the theft of a half-million dollars in gilt-edged securities. Through .a series of circumstances. Ace is able to make a curious deal with, the detective. lie promises 1o give himself up. provided he and llicki are permitted a last four-day fling. The occurrences, both dramatic and romantic, of this strange holiday which has its climax in the widst of a spectacular March Gras celebration in New Orleans, make for a narrative continuous in excitement and mounting tension, with the suspense of whether the principals will make a getaway after all held until the very end.