CRYSTAL PALACE, MT. EDEN

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 750, 24 August 1929, Page 18

CRYSTAL PALACE, MT. EDEN

“GIVE AND TAKE” The entirely new programme at tha Crystal Palace, Mount Eden, this evening will be headed by the first fulllength all-talking comedy to be presented in New Zealand. This is entitled “Give and Take.” an uproarious comedy of profit-sharing run wild in a fruit-canning business. The film was adapted from the play of the same name which was seen in Auckland a few years ago. George Sidney, probably the bestknown comedy actor on the screen today, has never grown stultified in his work, and his remarkable spontaneity is ably displayed in his characterisation of Albert Kruger, the factory foreman, in this Universal Special talking production, “Give and Take.” Sidney has had a long and successful career, first as an actor on the legitimate stage, and, in recent years, on the screen, in a number of hilarious comedies. Certainly George Sidney’s ability to portray eccentric characters is a great art. And no matter how absurd they may be, his roles are never over-acted. As Kruger in “Give and Take,” he is ridiculous as the leader of the band and as the man who believes that “welcome” should be spelled with a “v.” and farcical in the extreme as “Secretary of State” for the new system installed in the canning factory. But he relies on logical racial characteristics I for his fun. The lack of vulgarity and slapstick is a relief to theatre-goers worn out -with over-gagged comedies. The Cystal Palace programme will also include a number of entertaining short talkie features.