ROBERT TAYLOR STARRED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 3, 5 January 1939, Page 3

ROBERT TAYLOR STARRED

“THE CROWD ROARS’’ Robert Taylor appears in an entirely new type of role in “The Crowd Roars, ’ which is now showing at the Majestic Theatre, on Friday of next week. Although .‘ The Crowd Roars ’ is a picture about boxers and box'ng, its real appeal lies not in the thrills of the ring, which are stirringly depicted on tne screen, but in the series of excellent character studies presented by the leading figures. Robert Taylor is cast as a line, sincere young man unwillingly drawn into the boxing game. Frank Morgan is a patheticfigure as the young fighter’s father a broken-down actor who is sincere at heart but weak in character. Nat Pendleton is, as usual, one of the gangster* type. Maureen O’Sullivan is a very appealing recipient of Taylor’s affections. At the commencement of the film a youthful Robert Taylor sings Irish songs in a small-town boxing ring to earn a few cents which are immediately spent on drink by hi. wastrel father. Success comes at l?._t. and so does love. Not a Character. When choosing the title of “Dear Octopus” for her new play, Dodie Smitn (writing under her own name and not under the pseudonym of "L. C. Anthony”), indicated that the name is not that of a person, but of an idea, the meaning of which the end of the play itself suggests. She is a popular playwright at Home and her plays are always sure of long runs. Marx Brothers’ Greatest. Heralded as one of lhe most ambitious features ever produced by R.K.O. Radio, “Room Service,” in wnich th • inimitable Marx Brothers dispense their peerless hilarity, comes to the screen as one of the highest-priced stories ever secured from the stage in film history. "Room Service” is a ready-made comedy with a real plot that carries suspense along wile laughs for the breezy Marx trio, ii theatrical producer who, with his cast, has run up a huge bill at a Broadway hotel, promising the unhappy manager to pay in fuil when he finds a backer to finance his new play. The unexpected arrival of the hotel auditor preciptates a crisis. The twentytwo members of the cast play hide-and-seek with the auditor all over the building, while the producer, with a backer finally nibbling at his' hook, desperately tries to stall off the angry official long enough to capitalise his scheme. Aided by his two assistants, and a bewildered young playwright, the producer finally tricks the hotel executive into financing his show without his knowing it. A stormy and uproarious climax when the bamboozled backer learns the truth results in some of the most exciting and most explosive comedy ever provided by the mad Marxes. Groucho Marx is the harassed producer and Chico and Harpo his aides in hilarity. Ann Miller and Frank Albertson supply the romantic interest: Lucille Bail is the show’s prospective star; and six actors, who repeat the roles they created in the Broadway play, Clifford Dunstan, Donald Macßride, Charles Halton. Philip Wood. Alexander Aero, and Philip Loeb, comprise the principal cast. William Setter directed.