BRILLIANT COMEDY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 115, 18 May 1939, Page 3

BRILLIANT COMEDY

MASTERPIECE AT MAJESTIC ' “YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU” ; An artfully constructed tale j which delightfully harmonises superb nonsense, whimsical deft drama, and a leavening of senti- | mentality, Frank Capra’s “You Can’t Take it With You” opens ' to-morrow at the Majestic Theatre. Robert Riskin. who penned the screen-plays of “Lost Horizon,” “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,” “11. Happened One Night,” and other sensational Capra films, is the author of the current masterpice, which is based upon th,e Pulitzer Prize play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. “You Can’t Take it With You” is the heart-warm-ing story of two families whose philosophies of life are poles apart. One family, presided over by happy-go-lucky Grandpa Vanderhof, lives merrily and somewhat madly in a suffici-ent-unto-the-day atmosphere of untroubled fun. The other family, thej social - conscious, money - grubbing,' power-mad Kirbys, are the purest of I wealth worshippers. The two families clash when the Kirby son and the I Vanderhof granddaughter fall in love. Tony Kirby, not so dollar-bound as his father, nor so class-conscious as his mother, believes his parents are genuine at heart and only synthetic stuffed shirts. He hopes that contact with the Vanderhofs will change their attitude towards his marriage to Alice. But the meeting, of the two families is marked by an exhibition of typical Vanderhof good humour which winds up with everybody—the Kirbys as well as the Vanderhofs—in gaol on suspicion of anarchism. Lionel Barrymore is peerless in the part of Grandpa Vanderhof. Jean Arthur, prettier and livelier than ever, supplies a perfect performance as the I light-hearted granddaughter, Alice, and James Stewart is unforgettable in the role of Tony Kirby. Edward Arnold, playing the difficult part of Kirby, the tycoon, offers a convincing portrayal of this coupon-clipping gentleman who, it transpires in the end, was not. so bond-hearted after all. Such players as Ann Miller, Mischa Auer, Spring Byington, Halliwell Hobbes. Dub Taylor, H. B. Warner. Mary Forbes, and Samuel S. Hinds are in the supporting cast. I I FATHERLESS FAMILY "MOTHER ( ARIA’S CHICKENS” I Anne Shirley. Rub> ? Keeler and I James Ellison combine their talents to i portray the leading roles in “Mother! Carey’s Chickens,” the screen ver-i sion of the well-known classic by I Kate Douglas Wiggin, which is showing on Friday of next week at the I Plaza Theatre. The screen version of the novel concerns the brave efforts of a fatherless New England family to stick together. Anne Shirley and J Ruby Keeler are cast as the younger and older Carey sisters respectively, while Fay Bainter is seen as their courageous mother. The death of their navy captain father starts a train of unfortunate events that inquire the mother and her four children to combine all their ingenuity in order to exist on a meagre income. James Ellison and Frank Albertsonj bring romance into the Carey family in their courtships of Anne and Ruby. | Comedy also plays a prominent role' in the lives of the Careys in the hilarious climax featuring a supposed I haunted house. 1

Robert Preston has been assigned: to one of the three top roles in “Beau ' Geste.” With Gary Cooper in the title role, Preston will play his brother, Digby, while Ray Milland will play the I younger and romantic brother, John.

I The jewellery of the late Pearl I White, the film actress, who was the I first “serial queen,” has fetched £ll,000 at auction in Paris. A ring with a 27-carat brilliant was sold for £2500. I Another with a fine emerald—Pearl White’s favourite stone fetched 1 £2OOO.