“The Girl in the Taxi”

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 81, 6 April 1938, Page 11

“The Girl in the Taxi”

SET AGAINST SPECTACULAR PARISIAN BACKGROUND

(Mayfair: Screening Saturday.) The free adaptation of the prewar musical comedy, “The Girl in the Taxi” carries its age remarkably well, thanks to modern dialogue and sumptuous settings combined with acting which is bang up to the minute. The plot still retains its pristine freshness, and its originality should commend it to the majority of cinema patrons. The stoiy opens with the sanctimonious president of a purity brigade (Lawrence Grossmith) arranging the award of a prize for the most virtuous woman in Paris, and meticulously reading a report on the conduct of his prospective son-in-law; then slipping out at night to assume his other role in life, that of sugar daddy to the cuties at the Moulin Rouge. Unforeseen complications ensue when his son, also making whoopee, discovers his father in an adjoining box. Both dissolute and hardup son and his sister’s suitor, who has been refused consent to the match, get Grossmith where they want him, and there are many diverting situations before all is smoothed out. i Frances Day takes the part of a flirtatious wife of a pugnacious soldier, and her performance is delightfully interspersed with gay and tuneful songs. Henri Garat is a first-rate romantic lead as suitor for Jean Gillie’s hand, whilst Mackenzie Ward raises plenty of laughs as a rather squiffy young man experiencing his first taste of night life. Albert Whelan, as a poker-faced head waiter who sees all, knows all and tells nothing of the Moulin Rouge’s habitues, scores a minor personal triumph. I This production is calculated to please nearly every cinema-goer. Spectacular backgrounds and witty dialogue retain interest right from the beginning to the final fade-out, whilst light and entertainment, song numbers provide a tuneful theme. ! The picture was directed by Andre Berthomieu and released by A.B.F.D.