“LADY FOR A DAY.”

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20278, 12 April 1934, Page 3

“LADY FOR A DAY.”

First-class Acting: in Drama for Regent. “ Friday the Thirteenth ” will conclude its season at the Regent Theatre to-morrow night. The difficult fat of telling a fairy stcrv in which the principal characters are New York gangsters and beggars, is accomplished with delightful artistry and humour in “ Lady for a Day,” which will come to the Regent Theatre c: Saturday. The film, in effect, sets out to show that even in the heart of New York romance and chivalry are not dead, and that the miraculous is as likely to happen to-day as i n the The story concerns an old apple st ,er, Apple Annie,” who has seen better days, but whose fondness for gin keeps her among the city’s outcasts. She has a daughter, whom she sent as a child to a convent in Spain. Greatly to her alarm, the daughter writes to say she is coming to New or k* bringing with her her fiance and his father, a Spanish count, who refuses to consent to a marriage until he has seen the girl’s parents. A gangster, who has always experienced f»°°d luck through buying one of Annie’s apples before engaging in his nefarious projects, comes to the aid of the old woman. Through his good offices she is provided with beautiful clothes and transformed into the handsome and gracious lady her daughter imagines her to be. Drama, pathos and humour are blended with excellent judgment. May Robson, the Australian actress, plays the part of Annie with great sympathy and understanding, and her acting both as the old apple woman and as the lady of society is of a high standard. Warren Williams is well cast as the gangster, who becomes the equivalent of a fairy godmother, while a strong supportine cast includes Guv Kibbee as “ Judge Blake,” the professional billiards pla3*er, who is called on to play the role of Annie’s husband, Jean Parker, who gives a charming performance as the daughter, and Sparks as the gangster’s laconic assistant, and Glenda Farrell. Box plans at the D.I.C.