NEW REGENT

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 875, 20 January 1930, Page 15

NEW REGENT

“FAST COMPANY” “Fast Company” came to the New Regent Thefatre last week amid gales of laughter. It is real amusement of the highest order, with comedy of the best rib-tickling kind. Jack Oakie is the main reason for the laughter; he is a very clever comedian. “Fast Company” is a talkie. The plot is based upon a story of baseball players written by a great American humorist, Ring Bardner. The hero, played by Jack Oakie, is a boastful but lovable slangster who “wisecracks” and home-run-hits his way to the foreground, helping his team, the Yankees, to win the League pennant. He falls into the fast company of smart city-bred folks, including a show-girl and some crafty gamblers, and he almost ruins his own and his team’s chances for victory on the day of the final game of the world’s series, when something happens to change the whole aspect of the plot. Oakie is a new type of comedian on the screen, and he will add thousands of admirers to his string with his swaggering “big league” comedy capers in this one. Evelyn Brent, as the girl who spurns him but later warms to his naive charm, does good work as usual. Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, another young actor who has risen rapidly in comedy roles, gives a remarkable performance as the manager of Oakie. Gwen Lee adds a full quota of feminine charm, and Sam Hardy as the manager of the Yankees, is, as ever, equal to the demand upon his powers as a gifted actor. In a word the thrills, the laughs, the exciting suspense of baseball are here aplenty and there is an abundant overflow of clever acting. A splendid suporting programme is presented. This includes talking and singing featurettes, items on the Wurlitzer organ by Ewart Lyne, and songs by Jack Lumsdaine, the “whispering baritone.” _ _ On Friday next the New Regent Theatre will present “The Virginian, ’ a film of stupendous action scenes made vivid by the sound effects. 4 The Virginian” is America’s great outdoor classic, 'made on a befitting scale, and has been called “an all-talking ‘Covered Wagon.’ ” . A big cast has been chosen for the main ides. They include Gary Cooper, May Brian, W'alter Huston and Richard Arlen.