SALVOES OF MIRTH IN NAVAL COMEDY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18091, 26 February 1927, Page 6

SALVOES OF MIRTH IN NAVAL COMEDY.

“WERE IN THE NAVY NOW,” TO BE SHOWN NEXT WEEK.

“Fifteen, men on the dead man’s chest, vo, ho, ho and a bottle of ginger ale!" Why? Well, it’s th 6 American Navy, and while ships may get wet, the sailors mustn’t. At least, so Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton say is the case in their latest comedy gem, “We’re in the Navv Now.” which opens at the Liberty Theatre on Monday. Astonishing sailors are these two, and with Chester Conklin as the commander of the transport a very good idea of just what goes on upon that same transport can be had. It is war time, and the doughty heroes had not rushed headlong into the thick of things of their free will. Neither had they been conscripted: and they were not recruits. Things' like that have a habit of happening in the movies, and things happen with’ a vengeance in this picture. It is a nautical cc.medy made along the same lines as “Behind the Front,” hugely amusing, a swift, light dash of pathos, enormous thrills and that complete understanding of human nature which marks but the superlative picture from merely the average one. And yet in the tout ensemble of “We’re in the Navy Now” there is something which is peculiarly its own; it is original in its story, but the treatment afforded its military forerunner was so successful that the same was meted out to this one, with the same wonderful resuits. A great deal of this, indeed, almost all of it, can be traced to Beery and Hatton. Now Beery is naturally a cinema villain, and Hatton is a cinema sneak, and they have both been wallowing in these crimes during the entire course of their film career; yet in one fell sweep they wipe all that off the slate and blossom out as the rarest comedians on the screen. Although the story bristles with wit and burlesque comedy of exceptionally lusty dimensions, the picture- would lose a great deal of its at.raetive.ness. were arty other, two actors handling the loading roles. While they are not patterned after the usual stage sailor, all deck-

ed bravely out'in immaculate ducks and romantic smiles, they do not go to the other extreme and strut around in uniforms straight from the engine-room; they are a happy medium in their actions, never too absurd and never at all impossible. But they call forth laughs; the picture is the signal for almost a continuous roar of merriment. They are cast as friends aboard a transport, lost in a maze of . strangers, but that does not prevent them from skirmishing with one another all the : time, poking fun at the other's colossal ignorance of naval things, in the next breath revealing his own; exchanging whispers about the first mate, the chief engineer, the commander, the navigator, and these exchanges must be placed on record as easily the smartest and wittiest subtitles ever seen in one picture. They are a mine of sparkling humour. After a filthy day cleaning brasses, dabbling in oil and coal and paint, they agree, plaintively, that it’s just as well they don't have to wash their own uniforms. They perform some astonishing things on the ship, things which no self-re-specting captain would permit in life, but then the Navy does not pose as n rest-cure, and “We’re in the Navy Now” is a rest cure, and thereby hangs a tale. They may not catch sharks and swordfish over the rails, but they clown and then re-clown, and they catch the imagination of the picture-going public as no other sailors have done. Chester Conklin is immense as the captain, not in the least dignified or impressive, but a rather meek figure peering through enormous glasses, smirking. under a huge moustache, slapping his jolly boys on the back whenever anything* goes wrong, telling them not to do it again, no end of a good fellow, and, we believe, great fun with the officers. At the same time the picture does not disappoint with any suggestion of forced farce or satire. Its comedy is human and natural, although .so brilliant and new. and it will long be remembered as one of the brightest contributions to the comedy realm of the screen. A clever cast support Messrs Beery, Hatton and Conklin. Donald Keith, popular juvenile lead of many productions, and Lorraine. Eason form, the essential romantic element, While other players fit into their different roles admirably.

The Liberty Concert Orchestra, under Mr Ernest Jamieson, will play a special orchestral programme of music, including the following:—Overture, “Spring" (Goldmark),* “Pelleas and Melisande” (Sibelius): “Lilac Time” (Clutsam); "Symphony No. 1” (Schumann): entr’acte, “Raymond” (Thomas), soloist, Mr E. Shelton; “All Aboard” (Dixon); “Nautical. Scenes” (Fletcher): “Hands •Across the Sea" (Pascal); ballet music, ’"Tschaikowsy” (Beece). The box plane are open at The Bristol Piano Company, where seats may be reserved.