MAJESTIC

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 91, 8 December 1931, Page 6

MAJESTIC

TO-DAY AND TO-NIGHT E1 Brendel and Fifi Dorsay scored a double-barrelled triumph at the Majestic Theatre last night, where their latest Fox comedy,' "Mr. Lemon of Orange," had its initial showing. Both of these players in the past have contributed much in the way of comedy to productions in which others had the principal roles. In a pieture especially built for them, they are immense. Brendel essays a "dual" role in this production, and proves that he is able to enact a "straight" character part as well as his customary Swedish dialect performance. He is first and foremost the inoffensive "Mr. Lemon," a toy salesman in a big department store. Through no fault of his own he is fired. Stumbling homeward, he walks right into the middle of a battle between rival gangsters over a truckload of liquor. And there the fun staxts. "Mr. Lemon" bears a remarkable resemblance to "Silent McGee," gangster chieftain, and is mistaken for the plug ugly by friend as well as foe. Miss Dorsay, whose brother has been killed in the melee, invites the supposed "McGee" to her night club where she sings. Once there, she tries first to wrest information from him regarding the hijacked liquor truck, and later seeks to "put him on the spot." Brendel's eseape from this precarious position is one of the funniest scenes this reviewer ever has witnessed. How he finally outwits both sets of gangsters and wins the high regard of Miss Dorsay provides further hilarity. Miss Dorsay is excellent in her characterisation of the night club singer, and incidentally puts over a song, "My Racket Is You," in good style. William Collier, Sen., does an unusually fine job in the role of Brendel's irascible brother-in-law, and adds much to the comedy, when he starts in to beat up the hard-boiled "McGee" on the supposition that it is "Mr. Lemon."