Maurice Chevalier In “A Bedtime Story”

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 7326, 29 November 1933, Page 5

Maurice Chevalier In “A Bedtime Story”

FAMOUS TRENCH STAR AT HIS BEST IN NEW FILM He is certainly not exquisitely handsome, and. he is not given to scintillating speech, yet he still remains one of the most fascinating of screen players. This Maurice Chevalier is the man under review, and although it is an unadulterated pleasure to watch him in his antics it is a far more difficult matter to write about him. He has that joie de vivre that is irresistible in its infectiousness, and his films are rare enough to be most welcome. “A Bedtime Story,” coming to the Regent on Saturday, presents Maurice as he should be and likes to be —an immaculate philanderer, although an ingenuous one. It is an embarrassing experience when Fate unpacks a vigorous left hook by presenting a man with a deserted baby l)oy about which he knows nothing, and it is even more embarrassing when, as in Maurice's case, the child has the well-known protruding nether lip of the Chevalier. But there it is, and the obvious thing is to call in.’the police—just another deserted baby. But such a nice deserted baby: blue eyes, funny face with ways to match, and a captivating habit of calling Maurice “dada.” A little fellow who would be condemned to a life in an institution. And so he stays. Victor the valet (Edward Everett' Horton) would just love to stand at the side of the bath and be splashed and give his watch to the little treasure to be smashed on the floor! Maurice quite sees eye to eye with the infant, and promptly looks out for a suitable nurse, but the bureau’s choice is pipped on the post by pretty and poverty-stricken Sally (Helen Twclvetrees), and she also stays, finding as much favour with Maurice as docs the child But a bachelor father has a lot to explain to a girl who is his fiancee and affairs become just a little jumbled before Maurice finds happiness with the baby and Sally. All Maurice’s debonair gaiety is here ■again without the glitter of the highlights, but with several snappy songs. He is more homely, more human and more likeable. However pleasing is Maurice’s performance, one cannot overlook that of Edward Everett Horton, the expressively pseudo-obsequious servant with the comical eyebrows; his faithful-hound look of resignation as he bows to the whims and fancies of Monsieur Baby. Then there is Helen, the fascinating blonde who wriggles her way into' the hearts of both her male companions. Baby Leroy gugs and laughs the part of the unknown morsel, and he must surely be tho world’s perfect baby. He cries when he’s supposed to, laughs when he wants to, and even has a little chorus—as will be heard—set to music. Taking it on the whole, “A Bedtime Story” is well worth seeing.