REGENT THEATRE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21822, 27 November 1940, Page 6

REGENT THEATRE

"LISTEN DARLING” When a couple of imaginative adolescents set out to find a husband for a girl’s mother, anything can happen and does in “Listen, Darling,” which is a story embracing just that situation. The picture heads the new programme opening at the Regent Theatre to-day. Featuring Freddie Bartholomew and Judy Garland, with Mary Astor as the mother whose romance they attempt to guide, it is a gem of adolescent nonsense with laughs galore, interrupted only by choice serious bits that provide relief with pathos and effective tugs at the heart strings. Alan Hale. Walter Pidgeon and Gene Lockhart form the trio of would-be suitors who fall victim to the plans of Freddie and Judy and what they go through is plenty. A gripping story of the New York police and of a father who must put a halt to the criminal activities of his own son, “Sergeant Madden" presents Wallace Beery in his most masterful characterisation to date. As Sergeant Madden, veteran of the force, softhearted, plodding and idealistic, Beery epitomises the finest traits of "New York’s Finest." He is the cop on the beat to the minutest detail. And as the father who must track down the son whom he has failed to impress with the traditions and ideals of the job, Beery is magnificent.