“CUKOO IN THE NEST.”

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20276, 10 April 1934, Page 3

“CUKOO IN THE NEST.”

Tom Walls-Ralph Lynn Film for Tivoli. “ Voltaire,” starring George Arliss, will conclude its season at the new Tivoli, Theatre on Friday night. Tom Walls and Ralph Lynn, who scored such a “ hit ” in their first Ben Travers picture, “ Rookery Nook,” will be featured at the Tivoli Theatre on Saturday in “ A Cuckoo in the Nest,” from the pen of the same author. It is good English comedy. The leading players are also of the original cast — Marv Brough as the “ completely occupied ” landlady, Robertson Hare as the “ cuckoo ” curate, and also Yvonne Arnaud as Mrs Hickett. Tom Walls is the bibulous father-in-law, and Ralph Lynn, of course, the victim of matrimonial circumstances. The thousands who have read the boc.k will appreciate the apt casting for these roles. The film is a merry chuckle from beginning to end, with now and then a gust of louder laughter. In the adaptation for the screen the snappy dialogue loses little of its quality and gains somewhat in its quality of entertainment value. The character part taken by Walls is the oldest type he has played and his ceaseless yearning for the cup that cheers, under the eye of a wife who nags, is given expression on every occasion where good punning is possible. This most difficult of his roles is a decided success, and his mannerisms and antics are well suited to the part. Ralph Lynn, as usual, is caught and compromised bv a perfectly innocent set of circumstances, and braves through the heap of trouble with his distinctive inanity. Trying to sleep under a washstand, chasing a “ Peke ” in a strange yard on a pouring night, and trying to explain to his weeping wife that things were not what they seemed, are in his share of the show. Box plans open on Thursday at the D.IC.