Francis Lederer in “My American Wife”

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 291, 9 December 1936, Page 11

Francis Lederer in “My American Wife”

A COUNT WITH A TITLE FOR AUCTION

(Mayfair: Screening Saturday.) The role of a European Count ■who wants to swap a title as long as his arm for the nickname of “Spike,” and who discards his braid and spangles in favour of chaps and a ten-gallon hat, is given Francis Lederer in the romantic paramount picture, “My American Wife.’ ’ Ann Sothem is his leading

lady. '‘My American Wife” is taken from an original by Elmer Davis and directed by Harold Young. Young lias chosen a cast of seasoned character players to back up the stars, headed by Fred Stone and Billio Burke and including among the toppers Ernest Cossart and Grant Mitchell.

Lederer’s role is cut out for the star; he .marries an American girl of wealth, Miss Sothern, and returns with her to her family r home in Arizona. Miss Burke, mother of the girl, is determined to capitaliso on her daughter’s new title of Countess and on the decorative effect of the Count’s medals and braid. She begins a systematic social campaign, with him as ammunition, and gradually draws her daughter to seeing things her way.

Count Ferdinand von und zu Reidenach, however, is irritated. He likes the West, and has determined that he’ll settle down on a ranch, learn cowboy ways, and follow Miss Sothern’s old grandfather, Stone, in wresting his living from the soil. Gradually the couple drift apart, and Stone, who at first hated the sight of his new grandson-in-law, grows to be his best friend. In the end, Stone prevents the breaking up of the Lederer-Sothern romance.

His part in "My American- Wife” is a new type of role for the romantic Francis Lederer; the fact that he appears in some sequences in cowboy outfit indicates how new. While allowing him to do his fine job of portrayng a polshed, titled foreigner, it at the same time gives him a chance to prove that he is more than merely an actor who looks good in uniform. Fred Stone’s performance, of course, is superb. As tho positive Western oldtimer, he is as convincing as he was in a similar role in "Tho Trail of tho Lonesome Pine.”