DISTINCTLY NOVEL ROMANCE

Evening Star, Issue 22204, 5 December 1935, Page 6

DISTINCTLY NOVEL ROMANCE

REGENT'S NEW DRAWCARD Motion picture production has reached a stage where novelty or lifelike drama is the only thing that still has the power to draw the public. Anything in between receives a short shrift. ‘ Pans in Spring,’ which is to open a season to-morrow at the Regent, is distinctly novel, and possesses an added charm in that it combines comedy, drama, and music. This film also brings to Dunedin a new star, charming Mary Ellis, who made her name in metropolitan opera. Like Grace Moore and Jeanette MacDonald, Miss Ellis possesses a pleasing personality, but, more important still, she reveals that she is a born actress. Opposite her is Tullio Carminati, and they combine very effectively in their musical numbers, in. striking contrast to the way in which they carry on in conversation! Cast as lovers for whom the path of love is far from a smooth one, a quarrel sets the ball rolling and the audience laughing. And it is here that the directors have done some of their best work. From high comedy the action shifts to the tenseness of drama in an unexpected and refreshing manner. Paris, with its world-wide reputation for providing the visitor with pleasure and the peculiar mannerisms of its people, forms a striking background. To divulge the story would hardly be fair, but those in search of the best entertainment that the pictures can supply should not fail to see ‘ Paris in Spring.’ The acting, singing, and settings are all of the best, the whole representing the ideal entertainment.