ST. JAMES THEATRE

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 106, 29 January 1938, Page 16

ST. JAMES THEATRE

“My Dear Miss Aldrich'’ A eri.-p and characteristic comedy pel'; forinaiiee by Edim *May Oliver is the most imlable feature of ".My Dear Miss Aldrich,” which began last night at the

St. James Theatre. This performance is so obviously of premier importance that it is rather a matter for wonder that the producers did not make even more of it. as they might easily have done, and so have provided even better entertainment. To appreciate this point, it is neces'sary to understand something of tiie story, which concerns the adventures of a country school teacher (Maureen O'Sullivan), who falls heir ’to New York's greatest newspaper. Accompanied by her crusty old au n t (M is s . Oliver), who sees a confidence man or gangster in everyone she meets, the girl goes to the big city and takes her new responsibility very seriously. An ardent supporter of woman’s rights, she immediately comes into conflict wi t h her managing-editor (Walter PidgeoiO. who is an equally ardent supporter ol the theory that woman's place is in the home, and that newspapers should be' run by nyeu and for men. itli the object of proving him wrong, the "heroine takes a position as a reporter and succeeds in tracking down ‘’stories’’ which the editor's .best men have failed to secure. Fur a farcical finah> she becomes involved in a labour dispute and then, having satisfactorily vindicated her beliefs, apparently puts them aside in order to marry her editor. Although somewhat similar in plot to ‘•A Girl With Ideas,” the picture in general is. a welcome change from the ordinary run of newspaper comedy. Yet I gaine dthe impression that they altered the story after they began filming it in order to place the emphasis on young romance and Mirs O'Sullivan. By rights. I think. -Edna May Oliver should have been “My Dear Miss Aldrich.” and not Miss O'Sullivan. What fun there might have been if the unsophisticated but shrewd old aunt and not her niece had received the legacy and bad put into operation her own ideas of how a paper should be run—including full attention to those puzzle pages which were her pas- . sion! However, we must take the picf tore as it is, and noj as it might have been, and as such it is farce of fain average quality. Miss O'Sullivan's acting is much more lively and enjoyable than in some of her recent films.