PARAMOUNT THEATRE

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 202, 23 May 1936, Page 13

PARAMOUNT THEATRE

“Peg of Old Drury” Recalling to memory an actress of the eighteenth century who was not only a I brilliant player but whose wit and beauty I were "the toast of the town”—none other , than pretty Peg Woffington—“Peg of Old Drury” yesterday entered the second week of its season at the Paramount Theatre. The screen story is not that of the play, for it commences when Peg was a jig-dancer in Dublin. It shows how she was lured to London by a handsome youi>_; devil who promises her marriage. Needless to say he deserts her, and Peg by her own wit. and winsomeness gains an entrance to Drury Lane Theatre, and soon eatehes the attention ami affection of David Garrick, who raises her to stardom, much to the chagrin of Mistress Kitty Clive. But in the hey-dey of her powers Peg develops heart trouble, and finally collapses after speaking the epilogue in “As You Like It.” Sir Cedric Hardwicke is seen in the role of Garrick, and flashes of his powers are given, of that actor as Shylock, Richard 111, and Abel Drugger. Peg is delightfully played by Anna Neagle, whose rich Dublin accent is a. treat to hear. The film gives a generous slice of the stage and literary life of the mid-eighteenth century • —Hint most glamorous period of British social history, when Garrick and gay, affable Peg, were making the Drury Lane stage the .focus of fashionable attention, when Dr. Johnson was delighting the gossiping company of the Cheshire Cheese wjth his bluff witticisms; and when allnight parties were the rage al Vauxhall Gardens. Robert Atkins plays the'part of Dr. Johnson, and has achieved an amazing likeness to the contemporary portraits of the ponderous doctor. The role of Boswell is played by Charles Childerstone. Tom Heslewood has the part of the statesman, William Pitt, and the role of Pope, the most brilliant and epigrammatic poet of the time, is taken by Leslie French, who has the same slight figure and appearance. Other well-known historical roles are filled by Tarva Penna i (Sir Joshua Reynolds) and Christopher Steele (Oliver Goldsmith), while Hay Petrie, the brilliant character actor, has a part after bis own heart as Mr. Rich, ' the eccentric manager of Drury Lane, ' who had a mania for collecting cats.