“MY OLD DUTCH.”

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20631, 4 June 1935, Page 14

“MY OLD DUTCH.”

Betty Balfour Featured in Gay Comedy. George Raft and Carole Lombard are starred at the Tivoli Theatre in “Rumba,” a blend of romance and drama. The rhythm of the rumba, a Cuban native dance, is the background for the unfolding of a story of high dramatic quality, flooded with music. Inspired by Albert Chevalier’s everpopular song of the same name, “ My Old Dutch,” the Gainsborough film which comes to the Tivoli Theatre on I-riday, is a delightful comedy of Cockney life and customs. Skilfully capturing the tawdry glamour of the East End of London, the picture revives pleasant memories of the “ gay nineties.” Acting honours must go to Betty Balfour, so popular in the days of silent films, who makes her first screen appearance since “ Evergreen,” and gives an unusually fine performance in the role of Lil, a Cockney woman, the portrayal extending over a period of forty years. The development from a pretty girl of 20 to a mellowly dignified woman of 60 is beautifully done. Playing opposite Betty Balfour as Bert, a good-hearted and intelligent working man, Michael Hogan acts with quiet restraint. The part of Ernie, a Cockney lodger, is taken by an old favourite, Gordon Harker, whose sayings and antics are said to keep audiences rocking with laughter. Mickey Brantford is seen as the youthful son of Lil and Bert, who loses his life at the war, the part of his beautiful young wife being taken by Glennis Lorimer. Presenting as it does a story of a long period in the life of a London family, with the major political and national events of the time as a background, the film provides splendid entertainment and is a credit to the English studios. Box plans at the D.I.C.