FILM FOR REGENT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22949, 29 January 1938, Page 16

FILM FOR REGENT

comedy With a farcical comedy plot and plenty of bright musical numbers "Merry-go-Round," the New Universal production which will open next Friday at .the Regent Theatre, provides outstanding entertainment. The story concerns four poverty-stricken vaudeville comedians, who are faced with the task of straightening out the love affairs of their adopted daughter. Sho is in love with a young man, heir to the large fortune of an eccentric aunt, who, however, objects to the young man's marriage to a girl with a theatrical background. The parts of the four vaudeville artists are taken by a team of players new to the screen. Billy House, Jimmy Savo and Bert Lahr, while the popular Mischa Auer is an additional member of the hilarious quartet. Dressed as, and pretending to be, a titled Englishwoman, Billy House obtains admission to the house of the aunt, while Auer is introduced as an Eastern fortuneteller, or swami, with Savo as his assistant. The swami's powers summon Bert Lahr, who pretends to be the long-lost sweetheart of the aunt, and from this moment the plot moves at a fast and-intensely amusing pace. The cast includes, in addition to the quartet of comedians, Alice Brady in the role of the flighty aunt, Louise Fazenda as the romantic theatrical hoarding-house keeper, Joy Hodges as the niece, and John King as Iter sweetheart.

Songs and specialty numbers are worked into the picture, which is capably directed by Irving Cummings.