LAVISH MUSICAL FILM.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20540, 15 February 1935, Page 3

LAVISH MUSICAL FILM.

11 Dames ” to Have Extended Season. Although its decidedly American title might suggest that it is one long “ leg show,” “ Dames,” which will enter the second week of its successful season at the Crystal Palace Theatre to-morrow, is really an unusually entertaining picture. It is a bright comedy with a money-grubbing plot and half a dozen leading players :n the foremost rples. Guy Kibbee and Zasu Pitts appear as husband and wife who have decided hopes from a wealthy and most eccentric unclej Hugh Herbert. Ruby Keeler is their daughter, in love with Dick Powell, the “ bad fruit of the family tree.” When the uncle decides to start a moral uplift movement the family “ hangers-on ” are compelled to see it through for the sake of the expected ten million. Meanwhile the daughter joins with the black sheep in a stage production. There are so many twists in the plot which pile laugh on laugh that they cannot be enumerated here. The climax is reached when these too moral people attend a “ first night ” fortified with “ golden elixir ” 73 per cent alcohol. There is not a dull moment and the production is further enhanced by the appearance of dozens of attractive “ dames ” in some astonishingly beautiful settings. Trick photography and ingenious camera work are responsible for an atmosphere of distinction in comparison with previous musical shows. Ruby Keeler’s dancing needs no emphasising to an already appreciative public, and Dick Powell’s singing and gaiety are already a standard. Zasu Pitts is her usual mournful, laughable self, and no man plays the embarrassed'husband better than Kibbee. Good “ shorts ” are also screened. Box plans at the D.I.C.