EXACT DIVISION

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20101, 22 November 1939, Page 3

EXACT DIVISION

FORMER PARTNERS NEW YORK, Oct. 3. There was nothing half-way about the manner in which Mr. Herbert L. Bruce dissolved his nine-year partnership with Mr. Miles Duncan, co-owner of a popular Harlem restaurant. Angry after a political disagreement with his Republican partner, Mr. Bruce, Tammany Flail’s only negro district leader, called in 10 men to help him remove his share of the restaurant property. They divided the tables and chairs equally, then sawed a counter in half and similarly partitioned a mirror, a straw hat—even a roast chicken on a platter waiting to be served. Foran—that picture is bound to line! popular appeal. When, lo cap all those features, there is a story as powerful as that possessed by "Four Daughters,” there, it can be said, is something for critics to exclaim about, for theatre managers to delight in, and for the public to enjoy and to feel better for having seen it. "Four Daughters is due for screening at the Regent Theatre on Friday. The three sisters mentioned are the Lane sisters— Priscilla, Rosemary and Lola —as lovely a trio as could grace the eye and with good acting ability to boot: with them as the fourth sister is Gale Page, beautiful and with talent that should carry her far. The two new stars are Jeffrey Lynn—another thrill for feminine hearts, but the type that men like, too —and John Garfield, who seems certain to win as notable a name on the screen as he has already on tiie Broadway stage. The story, from the pen of Fannie Hurst, might be typed as a cross between “Three Smart Girls Grow Up," and "You Can’t Take It With You.” It has a similar variety of character, a similar depth of humanity, a similar family setting, a similar balance of humour and tense drama, and even a leavening of music. It is only in type that it is related to them, however; its story is as distinct from theirs as those two stories were distinct. Picture the opening scenes —Rains, forsaking his recent heavy drama roles, is an elderly musician at home with his family of four daughters and Aunt Etta (May Robson), each a separate, clear-cut typo, yet all as one in a happy-go-lucky loving family circle. Enter then the four male romantic elements in McHugh, rich, but humorously pathetic, Lynn, gay, handsome and the cause of a lot of trouble: and Garfield, cynical problem man and the cause of even more trouble. From there the various elements merge and contrast in excellent story material to the happy ending. There is a depth of feeling in the story of 10 lives that gives it considerably more worth than the average picture of its type, yet the whole thing is handled so well by each of the actors that it is never lagging in interest or too tense in drama. It is a picture that can be whole-heartedly recommended. Combined with its main feature the Regent has a first-class selection of shorts, with the features in an interesting screen magazine, an amusing cartoon “What Price Porky?” (a "war” feature with a difference), and a travelogue dealing with a city in which New Zealand has a special interest at present—Singapore.