CIVIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 934, 29 March 1930, Page 14

CIVIC

*“A SONG OF KENTUCKY” The triumph of a talented young | song writer is the Keynote of “A Song ! ! of Kentucky,” Fox romantic comedy* j drama which will be the attraction at { the Civic Theatre today. He battles j bitter enemies and strives to win the j girl of his dreams. I Hois Moran, beautiful and much loved screen actress, and Joe Wagstaff, who rose to eminence in musical comedy in New York, portray the leading roles and supply the love interest. Dorothy Burgess, well remembered for her outstanding portrayal of “Tonia” in “In Old Arizona,” is also prominently cast. Others furnishing commendable support include such well known favourites as Douglas Gilmore, Hedda Hopper, Edwards Davis, Herman Bing and Bert Woodruff. The plot is replete with romantic situations, exciting action and delightful music. It concerns Jerry Reavis, a song writer who falls in love j with Lee Coleman a beautiful society ! heiress who owns a colt which she enters in the Futurity and later in the Kentucky Derby. The girl and Jerry plight their troth, but are later estranged through the efforts of Pitcairn, a suitor for Lee’s hand, assisted by Nancy, Jerry’s former vaudeville partner. Jerry rises to prominence as the writer of a melodic syn*phony, and Lee attends its first public presentation. At the concert she learns of the plot that brought Jerry and herself so much unhappiness, and a dramatic climax ensues. One of the most thrilling scenes in the picture is the actual running of the 1929 Kentucky Derby at the historic Churchill Downs course. These scenes were made in May of that year by Lewis Seiler, the director, and the cast already named. The remainder of the programme at the Civic includes both musical selections and shorter talkies. Ted Henkel and his famous Civic Symphony Orchestra will play a potpourri of favourite melodies, and Fred Scholl at the Civic Grand Organ will play ‘•Love’s Happiness” (Kreisler) and an amusing feature entitled “Civic Rumours.” Among the talkie featurettes there is a sound cartoon, a talkie comedy, and a singing number featuring. J. Harold Murray (of “Married in Hollywood” fame), entitled * “Serenade.”