MAJESTIC THEATRE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 195, 21 August 1935, Page 9

MAJESTIC THEATRE

“NAUGHTY MARIETTA” > Seldom before has a Wanganui audi- - once seen such a lighthearted and - tuneful musical comedy on the screen ! as “Naughty Marietta,” which eon > tinned its Wanganui season at the Ma . jestic Thea:re yesterday. Never before i has the vivacious and beautiful Jean- • ette MacDonald been seen in a role which so suits her vivid and charming i personality, and in which she is given ■ so many opportunities of displaying the perfection of her excellent soprano ! voice. “Naughty Marietta” is an , essentially romantic operetta, with a 1 colourful and exotic background that . gives striking point to the story, while the delightful music composed by Victor Herbert lends it a savour that is particularly appealing. In all her moods, playful, coquettish, slightlymelodramatic, thoughful, or .passionate. Jeanette MaclDonald maintains superb finesse in her character-drawing, and her Marietta will linger long in the memory. Second only to the principal character looms the figure of Nelson Eddy, a young man with a strength of character that is successfully transmitted to the screen, and the possessor of an excellent baritone voice' which he is given generous opportunity to use. Eddy 's study of Captain Warrington, the leader of a troop of mercenaries in Erench Louisiana, who first rescues Marietta and a number of other girls after they had been captured by pirates, and then falls in love with her, unaware of her true identity, is a fine piece of work, and would indicate that this young actor has a considerable future in films of this type, if not in more sober productions. The whole story is definitely operetta. When the Princess Marie de la Bonfain, as a protest that she should marry Don Carlos de Bragnaza, an effete Spanish grandee, sweeps out of the royal draw-ing-room, changes clothes with her •maid, and ships herself to the colony of Louisiana on a brideship, her tantrums are not to be taken seriously. The quickly-changing scenes are excuses for presenting Jeanette MacDonald whirling gaily round the court and singing some capital songs. Her capture by a gang of unshaven pirates brings the debonair baritone into the picture. He is Captain Warrington, the leader of a company of irregular troops, who share with the princess and their captain a passion for song. Warrington, believing Saucy Marietta, as she has now become, to be merely a husbandseeking immigrant girl, treats her with familiarity, but she only pretends to resent it. They sing their way through an even(ful courtship which culminates in a gallant rescue in the face of fearful odds. Excellent comic interludes are provided by Frank Morgan, as a vacillating colonial governor with a distinctly keen eye for a pretty figure, but a wholesome fear of his wife’s tongue, and Elsa Lanchester, who will be remembered for her delightful portrayal of the part of Anne of Cleves in “The Private Life of Henry VIII,” as his übiquitous wife. “Naughty Marietta” is definitely a film to •be seen. The supporting programme is a varied and interesting one, and constitutes an entertainment in itself. The principal supports arc a hilarious Laurel and Hardy comedy entitled “Going Bye-Bye,” and an interesting travelogue, filmed in colour, covering Los Angeles.