NEW REGENT

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 903, 21 February 1930, Page 17

NEW REGENT

“MARIANNE’' “Marianne,” Marion Davies’s longawaited all-talking picture, which Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is presenting, will open at the New Regent Theatre today. Those who have seen this film report that Miss Davies’s voice is extremely pleasant and natural. Playing a Drench girl in the picture, it is necessary for her to use her gift of mimicry to simulate an accent. She does this, they say, with excellent comedy results. One of the difficult vocal feats which Miss Davies performs is the singing of a song in both Drench and in English. When singing it in English she imitates a heavy Drench accent and this performance of hers has been declared one of the most laughable feats yet performed in talking motion pictures. “Marianne” may best be described as a war picture without any fighting. The action takes place shortly after the signing of the Armistice, when a battalion of American soldiers are billeted in Marianne's village. Her love affair with one of the doughboys, which begins with an altercation over a pet pig belonging to Marianne’s adopted family of war orphans, runs lightly and laughably along, until the time that Andre, her old sweetheart, returns blinded from 3, German prison The American boy immediately relinquishes all his rights to Marianne. There is the ordeal of parting for the two lovers, but then Andre sacrifices himself for Marianne, joins a monastic order and leaves her free to join her American lover in this country. As embellishments to this plot there are many comedy incidents and many specialty dances and songs. All in all, “Marianne” is a picture that may well be looked forward to with anticipation, according to the judgment of those critics and audiences who have already seen it. An excellent programme of short talkie features will also be presented tomorrow.