BEN TRAVERS FARCE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20281, 16 April 1934, Page 3

BEN TRAVERS FARCE.

“A Cuckoo in the Nest” is One Long Laugh.

A brilliant humorist’s play, interpreted by two first-class comedians, should present exceptionally good screen entertainment. And “ The Cuckoo in the Nest,” which opened at the Tivoli Theatre on Saturday, does this. In book form, this Ben Travers farce was capital fare; on the screen, with Tom Walls and Ralph Lynn in the leading roles, it is, if possible, even more entertaining. It is one long sequence of humour, in which the famous pair are ably supported by Mary Brough, Robertson Hare, Yvonne Arnaud and Grace Edwin—all familiar through their roles in previous screen adaptations of Travers’s plays. In “A Cuckoo in the Nest” Walls appears as Lynn’s father-in-law, but they are still companions in distress. The distress is by Grace Edwin, who worries W alls by her loud-voiced disapproval of his fondness for wine, and Lynn by her suspicious attitude concerning his conduct towards his wife, her daughter. Both give her some cause for worrying —Walls by adopting all sorts of ruses to get a drink, Lynn by missing a train aboard which he has left his wife, and then spending a night at a countrv inn in the company of another man’s'wife. The complications that ensue when Lynn s mother-in-law arrives at the inn and unmasks him and his companion to the very puritanical landlady provide some of the “ tit-bits ” of the piece. Mary Brough is excellent as Mrs Spoker, the landlady, who insists that her guests shall be “ without shame.” So, too, is Robertson Hare, the usually sad-featured, who enacts the role of the genial, well-intentioned but meddlesome curate who recognises Lynn’s companion. Yvonne Arnaud is gaily charm, ng: as the “ other woman.” tom Walls also directed the production winch m story, acting and setting reaches a particularly high standard. Aews, music and an interesting interview with one of Americas most tamous author-humorists, are featured in the. supporting programme.