REGENT THEATRE

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 72, 18 December 1937, Page 14

REGENT THEATRE

* “Mr. Dodd Takes The Air” There is rattier more body to the story ot “Mr. Dodd Takes the Air," the Warner Bros, attraction at the Regent, than one is accustomed to encounter in these romantic fictions about the local boy who makes good. There is also the screen debut of Kenny Baker, a young man who is described as “America’s greatest radio attraction” —and he makes such a favourable impression- that it would seem to be more than just a courtesy title. Perhaps part of that impression is due to the fact that Baker is not presented as an obnoxiously self-confident microphone celebrity but ratiier as a boyish and unassuming—almost helpless—fellow whose fame is thrust upon him. Very wisely, the producers have not put too heavy a burden on the star in his first picture. Carrying the story with him are Alice Brady, Frank McHugh, Gertrude Michael and a new heroine, Jane Wyman, whose face io as refreshing as her personality. Alice Brady has plenty to keep her occupied as a flamboyant opera star who tries to snare the hero as her fourth husband when she should, from the point of view of age, be more properly interested in adopting him as her so'n. Gertrude Michael is the gold-digger who plays on the hero's trusting nature to win from him a valuable radio gadget which he has invented. The most original feature ot the story is the situation in which the hero, a singing electrician in a small town, has his baritone voice chosen as the means of lulling listeners to slumber , on a Mattress Hour in New York. A minor throat operation changes the voice to a tenor —but it is worth more in the high ■ register than the lower. Thereafter the story is mainly concerned with his rapid rise to fame, the scheming by one woman to secure his invention, and the contest between three of them to secure his hand. The music is good, the comedy better, and the acting of Baker and Miss Wyman best of all.