"HOLIDAY” IS BIG DRAW AT REGENT THEATRE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 63, 16 March 1931, Page 3

"HOLIDAY” IS BIG DRAW AT REGENT THEATRE.

“ Holiday ”, the feature picture at the Regent Theatre this week, is an emotional drama with a high society background, interpreted by an excellent cast of players, and produced on a lavish scale. The dramatic moments are finely relieved by delicious comedy, while the dialogue is compact and witty. The . story concerns Julia Seton, the daughter of a wealthy man, who meets Johnny Case, a struggling lawyer, and, taking him to her home, introduces him as her future husband. He is treated with kindly tolerance, but little more, by the family, with the exception of the second daughter, Linda, who sees in him a seeker after freedom and the art of living, who will sympathise with her desire to escape from the connections that enslave her class.. Johnny's philosophy is to enjoy life while he is young, and his aim is to make some money as soon as possible, have a good time on it while he has youth with him, and then go back to work when the money is finished. Johnny thinks that he has found in an ideal companion for an adventure in freedorh, but when it comes to the point Julia sides with her father, who measures men principalis’-, in the light of their wealth and business ability to increase it. To Linda, on the other hand, Jrihnny’s advent has been a breath of life \in the house, and she plans a little party in the old playroom, at- which only a few spirited friends of the right sort are to be present. RUt Mr Seatton steps in, and on the night of Linda’s party the huge ballroom downstairs is thronged with the social set. who have been summoned to hear the engagement announced. Linda, however, carries out her party In the playroom as she. had planned, and a gay party it is. compared with the formality and grandeur down below. Johnny Is beginning to see what dangers lie in his marriage with Julia, and when she eventually persists in ignoring his point of view he decides to drop the whole business and go to Europe. Linda, although she has fallen in love with Johnny, does her best to patch things up, but Johnny, after a final vain attempt at reconciliation, leaves to catch his steamer. It is now Linda’s change, and, having wrung from Julia a confession that she does not love Johnny,®sets out to get the same boat. Ann Harding as Linda and May Astor as Julia are well fitted for their contrasting parts, and Robert Ames’s performance as Johnny Case is first-rate acting. Edward Everett Horton, whose presence in a cast is always a pleasure, has not much to do this time, but there are many bright moments when he has charge of the dialogue. There is a good supporting programme.