MAJESTIC THEATRE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 211, 6 September 1934, Page 7

MAJESTIC THEATRE

“LOOKING EOR TROUBLE’’ “Looking for Trouble,” now showing at the Majestic Theatre, contains many qualities which have a general appeal; those who are attracted by a definite American atmosphere, and like their melodrama in large amounts, will find added pleasure- The term melodrama cannot with justice be avoided, but melodrama has its grades. “Looking for Trouble” easily finds a place in the first grade. One of the great virtures is that the story moves at a high level of excitement, evenly and without pauses; there are no deviations into boredom. Relief is provided from the continued tenseness by a bountiful .supply of humour. The dialogue, particularly for those who have been well schooled in the racy terms of the American language, is excellent; and their is, as might be expected, a full measure of romance. The dedication, to the linesmen, or “trouble shooters” as they are termed, whose duty it is to set right the trouble which can occur in a complicated telephone system, is somewhat misleading. Spencer Tracy and Jack Oakie, who, as Casey and Graham, play the leading parts, are rarely seen engaged in their proper business. Instead, with the aid of romance, they are involved in a most imposing series of adventures. The acting of these two is worthy of the highest praise; it is enough to say that it has that quality of naturalness which makes one forget to enquire into the actor’s technique. As a team the somewhat grim and determined man of action, Graham, and'the lighter-hearted Casey, play excellently well together. Regarding “Little Man, What Now?” the Universal moving-picture epie, due for release at the Majestic Theatre on Saturday, in a letter to his American publishers, Hans Fallada, the author of the novel on which the film is based, writes: “People talk about six million unemployed. But these six million unemployed are also six million human beings with children and wives and relations. There have been plenty of dismal, grey, tendentious novels dealing with this theme. They’ve always irritated me, because I know these people. I’ve lived close to them. They have their days of joy, too, and it isn’t true that they’re always slinking around with long, drawn faces. That’s why I made my I’innebergs a happy married couple and gave ' them a little boy in whom they take | delight. Others among the unemployed l compensate in other ways; one wid culI tivate a little garden or keep doves or do something else that gives him pleasure. In a word: I write “Little ' Man, What Now?” in the first place because I hoped to help him by calling his attention to his fate, and in the second place because I wanted to describe his life as it really is.” Margaret Sullavan, who registered such a , big hit in “Only Yesterday,” plays the role of Lamnichen with exquisite artistry; whilst Douglass Montgom- ‘ cry’s portrayal of Pinneberg shows this : rising young actor in a now light, re- ’ vealing hitherto hidden histrionic ’ powers.