APPEALING TALE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 342, 1 October 1932, Page 7

APPEALING TALE

STORY OF "LIMPY" MAKES • STIRRING SCREEN DRAMA. JACKY COOPER PICTURE. The pathos of a hoy's struggle to conquer fear and thus overcome a physical handicap provides the dramatic appeal of "When a Feller Needs a Friend," co-starring Jackie Cooper and Charles "Chic" Sale, which opens on Saturday at the Majestic Theatre. The popular child star is said to have his most effective role in this pieture in which he is sesn as a boy who longs to play a share in the "hack lot" activities of his friends but who is scorned by the other kids because of his " lsg brace. The story, adapted from William Johnston's novel, "Limpy," is laid in a small town in which Tom Randall, a moderately successful lawyer, his wife and their little son, familiarly known as Limp, make their home. Because of his injured leg, the Randalls have mollycoddled Limpy from baby-

hood and in so doing, dsvelop a terrij fic feeling of inferiority in the boy. i This causes him consistently to run i away from any form of eonfliet. It ; is the effort of Uncle Jonas, aged ; friend of the family, to help the boy ! regain his solf-respect which provides . the basis for tne story's action. j This role is played by "Chic" Sale 1 and is said to he cne of the most poig- . nant and stirring characterisations i yet offered the screen. It is the eomradeship of the crippled boy and the | old man, who incidentally is the driver | of the towns obsolete horse-car, which ! gives the plot much of its humorous ! as . well as dramatic moments. The j old man teaches Limpy to box, takes 1 him on secret and forbidden fishing | expeditions, lets him drive his horseI car, encourages him to defy his tor- | mentors and in the end paves the way for his growth into a strong, healthy and morally sound youngster. The part of the boy's father is play- | ed by Ralph Graves, and Dorothy Peterson, who recently scored as Wal- ! ter Huston's wife in "The Beast of 1 the City," enacts the mother role. Other l'eatured players include Andy Shuford, Helen Parrish, Donald Haines, Cus Leonard and Oscar Apfel.