“VIVACIOUS LADY”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23730, 10 February 1939, Page 5

“VIVACIOUS LADY”

GINGER ROGERS STARRED Marking a distinct departure in modern film stories, the hero’s rival for the affections of the heroine in “ Vivacious Lady ” does not, in this instance, happen to be the villain of the story. Ginger Rogers and James Stewart are the romantic leads in this attraction at the State Theatre, while James Ellison heads the supporting cast, in a role that places him at one end of the romantic triangle. The fast-paced comedy concerns the problems that beset a young college professor and his night club bride, when they return to the groom’s home town, a small sedate community. James Ellison plays the pleasure-loving, irresponsible cousin to the groom, and although the latter has succeeded in winning the gay cafe beauty, the playboy cousin is likewise in love with her. Amusing complications arise as a result of the newlyweds’ efforts to keep their marriage secret by living apart, which leaves Ellison, as a self-ap-pointed Good Samaritan, in a position to entertain the bride and introduce her to the Puritanical villagers as his girl-friend. The real menace of the story is seen in the person of Charles Coburn, president of the college and virtuous father of the domineered Stewart, and it is his presence in the picture that keeps the frantic couple from admitting their relationship. George Stevens directed “Vivacious Lady,” and the supporting cast includes in addition to Ellison and Coburn, Beulah Bondi, Frances Mercer and Phyllis Kennedy,