"WHOOPEE" AGAIN

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 59, 31 October 1931, Page 5

"WHOOPEE" AGAIN

RETURN SEASON GORGEOUS PAGEANT IN GREAT GOLDWYN AND ZIEGFIELD SUCCESS RIB-SPLITTING COMEDY "Whoopee," spectacular and lavish Goldwyn and Ziegfield success, reopens for a return Rotorua season at the Grand Theatre on Monday. All the lavishness implied in these two names appears in the gorgeous scenes, the beautiful girls, the ribsplitting comedy from Eddie Cantor and his numerous assistants, the fast pace, and the splendid photography which make "Whoopee" what it is. The plot of the picture is an adaptation of Owen Davis' grand farce, "The Nervous Wreck," with its story of the imaginary invalid forced to be a he-man in order to get the heroine out of trouble and married to the right man. Eddie Cantor's portrayal of Henry Williams, the invalid in question, is a ' classic comedy from one of the stages' greatest. Combined with the beauty of huge ensembles of hand-picked girls, fast, unflagging direetion by Thornton Freeland, and breath-taking photography, the whole picture is the talking screen at its opulent best. Among the pulchritudinous features of the production are Eleanor Hunt, selected personally by Samuel Goldwyn from the chorus of the stage "Whoopee" for the leading role of the picture version, and Dorothy Knapp, famed "most beautiful girl in the world" as well as huge numbers of beauties selected from the best of Hollywood and New York. The "Invocation to the Sun" sequence toward the end of the picture is a memorable example of what can be done with colour photography and human beauty in natural outdoor settings. The signing of Paul Gregory, Ziegfield's 25,000 dollar tenor, and Chief Caupolican, the Indian baritone, form another notable feature of the screen "Whoopee." It is a picture which satisfies from any angle.