LONDON VAUDEVILLE

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22306, 21 January 1938, Page 16

LONDON VAUDEVILLE

Leading Stars Appear in "Okay

for Sound"

Ono of the most successful London vaudeville shows of recent years is brought to the screen in "Okay for Sound," which begins to-day at the Civic. This brilliant comedy lias the largest cast of stage and screen revue personalities ever turned out from the British studios. It includes inimitable comic scenes, spectacular revue numbers, as well as songs by the famous Peter Dawson. The show was adapted to films from the stage production of the same title, which ran for no less than two years at the London Palladium Theatre with conspicuous success. The story, which is original and full of scope for the comedians, is a gentle satire of motion picture producing. Notable in its cast are the Crazy

Gang. Nervo and Knox. Flanagan and Allen. Naughton .and Gold—who are introduced as six street musicians, somewhat dawn and out, who manago to get an engagement with a bankrupt studio as "extras" to impersonate "city types." In their costumes, supplied by the studio, they are mistaken for big city financiers who are financing a film company, and consequently the Goldberger studios are ready to fall at their feet. Taking I every advantage of ttieir opportunity (lie gang eventually drives the producer out of his studio, and turn round to make the film themselves. The results are side-splitting. Tho comedians take part in the film they make, naturally, and their antics in the various disguises they adopt provide enough laughs for three average films. Highlights in these scenes are an "all-in" wrestling sequence, burlesquing the British Broadcasting Corporation, and a beleaguered fort episode done in the best "Beau Geste" style. HowovV. these brilliant comedians are not the only entertainment of the show. "Okay for Sound" has a long cast of well-known stars of musical, comic, and dancing fame, all of whom contribute largely to its entertainment value. Peter Dawson, the famous singer, sings two rousing numbers; Lucienne and Ashour put over their burlesque dancing act with great effect; Patricia Bowman dances delightfully; the Radio Three sing in their "peppy" way, and the J. Sherman Fisher Girls add beauty and glamour to some of the well-produced scenes. The "Three Little Words" give an exhibition of their clever and unusual dancing, and Louis Levy's orchestra supplies musical support to the stars and also gives some good numbers of its own. Also adding to the comic element are Enid Stamp Taylor, Fred Duprez, H. F. Maltby, and Graham Moffat.