"The Old Maid"

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21040, 16 February 1940, Page 8

"The Old Maid"

Miriam Hopkins returned to the screen in “The Old Maid” and gave a fine performance in a role that made one dislike her intensely in the early scenes. It turned out well for her. because it was just the part an actress needed for a comeback. Whether she will be courageous enough to continue in these parts is another thing. Ida Lupino, who usually plays very ordinary ingenue parts, steps out of character in "The Light That Failed” and plays the slipshod harridan opposite Ronald Colman. She wears little or no make-up, and her hair is unkempt, but she gets her first chance to prove she is a capable little actress. Alice Faye did a few sequences in "Hollywood Cavalcade” of which no glamour girl of a year ago would have even thought. She stands up and allows Buster Keaton to plaster her face with custard pies for Keystone cop scenes. It is mildly funny to see the star getting into a custard pie fight, and so far it has not don# her any harm among American audiences. Later, of course, she becomes very dramatic, which helps to erase the earlier comedy acanaa.