FIRST-CLASS DRAMATIC ACTING

Evening Star, Issue 21715, 9 May 1934, Page 13

FIRST-CLASS DRAMATIC ACTING

MAY ROBSOM IH ‘ LADY FDR A DAY ’ The difficult feat of telling a fairy story in which the principal characters are New York gangsters and beggars, is accomplished with delightful artistry' and humour in ‘ Lady for a Day,’ which will come to the Octagon Theatre on Friday. The film, in effect, sets out to show that even in the heart of New York romance and chivalry are not dead, and that the miraculous is as likely to happen as in the past. The story concerns an old apple seller, “ Apple Annie,” who has seen better days, but whose fondness for gin keeps her among the city’s outcasts. She has a daughter who she sent as a child to a convent in Spain. Greatly' to her alarm, the daughter writes to say she is coming to New York, bringing with her her fiance and his father, a Spanish count, who refuses to consent to a marriage until he has seen the girl’s parents. A gangster, who has always experienced good luck through buying one of Annie’s apples before engaging in his nefarious projects, comes to the aid of the old woman. Through his good offices she is provided with beautiful clothes and transformed into the handsome and gracious lady her daughter imagines her to be. Drama, pathos, and humour are blended with excellent Judgment. Afay Robson, the Australian aertress, plays the part of Annie with great sympathy and understanding, and her acting both as the old apple woman and as the lady of society is of a high standard Warren Williams is well cast as the gangster who becomes tjie equivalent ot a fairy god-mother, while a strong supporting cast includes Guy Kibbee as “ Judge Blake,” the professional billiards player, who is called on to play the role of Annie’s husband, Joan Parker, who gives a charming performance as the daughter, and Sparks ns the gangster’s laconic assistant, and Glenda Farrell.