Opera House

Grey River Argus, 18 December 1940, Page 2

Opera House

Now Showing: “ASK A POLICEMAN” & “SECRETS OF AN ACTRESS.” "1 he hilarious comedy, “Ask a Policeman,” starring Will Hay and assisted by Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott, now showing at the Oper a House. Will Hay is in good form as a floundering country police-sergeant while Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott appear as his even more dull-witted assistants. Supporting them are Peter Gawthorne, Glennis Lorimer and Charles Oliver. Sergeant Dudfoot, in charge of 'the village police constabulary, is proud of the fact that during his ten years of office the area has been free from crime. The Chief Constable, however, on reviewing the situation, sees no further use for retaining the local force. Dudfoot is downcast at the prospect of losing his quiet and congenial job and he, with his deputies, Albert and Harbottle, realise that’they must find a crime' wave in order to justify their retention. They set out to invent a gang of smugglers who are using the coves for concealment of contraband liquor, but their mythical schemes become real. The manner in which they endeavour to catch the smugglers provides most of the fun, but their blundering carries very little weignt with the Chief Constable and they finish up as ex-policemen. “SECRETS OF AN ACTRESS.” Giving, as the title implies, a really intimate glimpse of the private life as well as the public career of an actress, the exciting romantic drama, “Secrets of an Actress,” now showing at the Opera House, -as as its star Kay Francis, whilst the two men in the life of the heroine of this interesting slice of the lives of this'prominent theatrical folk are ffiayed by George Brent and fan Hunter, the former being a brilliant scene designer and the other the producer who gives Kay her first chance at Broadway stardom. Both men are in mve with Kay. She likes the producer and is grateful to him for what he has done for her, but it is the artist to whom she gives her love. He, however, is bound to a mercenary wife, played’ by Gloria Dickson, who does not love him but adopts the fabled dog-in-the-manger when she learns he loves another woman. How this tangled skein of human and professional relations is unravelled, is told in an exciting and amusing fashion.