NEXT CHANGE AT STRAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 675, 29 May 1929, Page 17

NEXT CHANGE AT STRAND

“MOTHER KNOWS BEST” Love—or a career? "Which takes precedence? That question is answered in a most dramatic way in Fox Films’ “Mother Knows Best,” featuring Madge Bellamy, Louise Dresser and Barry Norton, which is coming to the Strand Theatre on Friday. “Mother Knows Best” is based on the widely-read story by Edna Ferber, and is said to be based on the actual lives of a famous stage star and her mother, but actually is similar to the story of a score of mothers and daughters. Louise Dresser, who has been called “the best-loved actress on the screen," gives an inspired performance of her role of tho mother in “Mother Knows Best.” There is a reason for her inspiration. The early scenes of the pictured story go back 20 years, a time when Louise Dresser was a reigning star of vaudeville. Madge Bellamy plays the featured role of Sally, the daughter, whose guide and mentor was her mother —a mother who might have fought with her at times, but fought for her all the time.

Added to this, every star speaks. Madge Bellamy provides some very clever impersonations of well-known stage stars, while Barry Xorton proves that he has a voice that would win fame anywhere. The dialogue between the mother and the doctor will linger in hearers’ hearts for a long, long time. It's the greatest lesson the screen has yet unfolded.