NEW REGENT

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 631, 6 April 1929, Page 14

NEW REGENT

“OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS” "On with the dance!" is the battlecry of modern youth. Care-free, headstrong-. pleasure-bent, the reckless stampede goes on to the lilt of music, the shuffle of restless feet, in a babble of tongues, shining eyes, endless laughter. "Our Dancing Daughters,” now at the New Regent Theatre, mirrors the life of our modern younger sets, catching every mood, every emotion, every laugh, every consequence, every tear. The rash, the follisome, the envious, the good, the pitiful, all pass by in scintillating array. What a story for the screen! It is an everyday topic of conversation. And how Joan Crawford fits it! She capitalises on every scene, every emotion, contributing a portrayal far more charming, skilful, and gripping than anything else she has ever done for the screen. The story centres around the pleasure-bent lives of three society girl friends, who represent the three foremost types in modern youth. Diana (Joan Crawford) holds the old conventions in disdain, and is frank to a fault in her honest attitude toward life, but true gold at heart. Beatrice (Dorothy Sebastian) makes mistakes, repents, and endeavonve orooK ours to win happiness when a real opportunity comes—her marriage. Anne (Anita Page) knows her baby stare, her innocent story, but is a ruthless gold-digger under her veneer of unsophistication. She beats the loving Diana for the hand of Ben (John Mack Brown), a young millionaire, and, having safely landed herself in the matrimonial barque, recklessly sets a pace which ends in her destruction, and a reconciliation of Diana and Ben. The story is unfolded in particularly lavish sets, with magnificent direction, and a fast tempo is maintained to the end.

A second picture is shown in “Midnight Madness,” the story of a deceived woman whose heart longed for diamonds, rich furs, and comfort, yet the man she married carried her into the heart of the African jungle. Jacqueline Logan and Clive Brook have the leading roles. The New Regent programme also includes the interesting vaudeville act by Gautier’s dogs which has already delighted hundreds of Aucklanders. The musical accompaniment is capably handled by Mr. Maurice Guttridge and his Regent Operatic Orchestra.