KING’S THEATRE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20170, 13 February 1940, Page 5

KING’S THEATRE

“TIIE DAY THE BOOKIES WEFT” & “SUED FOR LIBEL” Hilariously depicting the experiences of a group of New York taxi-drivers who evolve a unique scheme to beat the racetrack bookmakers, “The Day the Bookies Wept,” which opens at the King’s Theatre to-day, presents comedian Joe Penner in the stellar role. Forming a pool, the cabmen purchase a racehorse, electing Penner to buy the steed at a Kentucky auction, Penner unwittingly buys a horse which is addicted to alcoholics. The heebc adventures the cabbies have with their eccentric pony, and the manner in which they eventually realise their ambition to make “the bookies weep," afford many funny moments. How the repercussions of a supposedly harmless joke precipitates a sensational libel suit, a murder and a chain of thrilling events, is dramatically unfolded in “Sued For Libel.” Die second feature on this programme. Featuring Kent Taylor and Linda I-layes, the story presents Taylor as an enterprising reporter who dramatises the news of the day on a local radio station owned by his paper. Richard Lane is seen as his slow-thinking “stooge.” When Miss Hayes, as a rival reporter, gives Lane the wrong information regarding Die verdict of a sensational murder trial — merely as a gag—the "stooge” passes it. on to Taylor. The news broadcaster immediately incorporates the false information in his programme, with the result that both the station and the newspaper are sued on a libel charge. In an effort to avert the suit, the reporter, the girl and the “stooge” turn amateur detectives.