ST. JAMES THEATRE

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 157, 29 March 1941, Page 15

ST. JAMES THEATRE

Lord Peter Wimsey needs no introduction to the hundreds of readers who have enjoyed the Dorothy Sayers’ detective novels. “Busman’s Honeymoon,” now screening at the St. James Theatre, has that well-known actor, Robert Montgomery, as the famous noble detective, while Constance Cummings plays Harriet Vane, his bride, who is a writer of criminal fiction. Added to the names of these two actors are Sir Seymour Hicks, as Bunter, the faithful manservant of Lord Wimsey, and Leslie Banks, as Inspector Kirk. With such a cast as this and with the production filmed in the famous Denham studios, its popularity is assured. •- When Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey look forward to their wedding day, they promise each other they will not, in the future, have anything to do with the describing or investigation of crime. They intend to lead a harmonious v and undisturbed domestic life, and to remind them of this Harriet has two small trinkets made in the shape of handcuffs.

After the wedding, with Bunter, who is in the back of the car, almost submerged by a case of port, the couple set off on their honeymoon. They are going to spend it in the little Devon town of Biddlecombe, where Harriet romped in girlhood, and in the house where she was born, given her by tier husband as a wedding present. The previous tenant, Mr. Noakes, was a man not at .all popular in the village, for he was cruel and parsimonious. Only his niece, Aggie Twitterton, could expect anything from him, and that only when he was dead. When the newly-marrieds arrive at the house they find it empty, and Bunter has terrible trouble with the fireplace. In the morning Noakes’s battered body is found in the cellar, and the pair prepare to leave in keeping with their promise to one another. Just before they do, however, the inspector who has been assigned the case comes on the scene, and, in time, their natural curiosity plus the machinations of the inspector, who wants their help, prevail, and they stay. This film is notable for its glimpses of placid English countryside, old thatched cottages and lovely country gardens. Robert Montgomery is at home in his part, and projects his pleasant personality on the screen in his usual manner. Constance Cummings fills Harriet’s shoes very effectively, while Sir Seymour Hicks, as Bunter, has only one fault —there is not enough of him. Robert Newton is worth special mention, for in his comaparatively small role.of Frank Crutchley, the truculent and selfish gardener-cum-garage-owner, ho gives a vivid performance.

STATE THEATRE, PETONE That unforgettable drama, “My Son, My Son,” was loudly applauded when released on a short season at the State Theatre, Petone, yesterday. Based _on the best-selling novel by Howard Spring, the brilliant cast is headed by such experienced players as Madeleine Carroll, Brian Aherne and Louis Hayward,