STRAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 936, 1 April 1930, Page 15

STRAND

“THE LOVE PARADE” '• "The Love Parade," Paramount’s gay operetta, at the Strand Theatre, said to be the first musical extravaganzza of its kind written especially for the talking- screen, from the author of the story to the star boasts of an imposing array of people prominent in the world of the theatre. ‘‘The Love Parade" was written by Ernest Vajda, the noted Hungarian playwright who wrote the well remembered Theatre Guild success, "Fata Morgana," in which the late lamented Emily Stevens scored one of her greatest successes. In writing “The Love Parade,” it must be remembered that Vajda adopted a new technique, taking into consideration the amazing possibilities which only the audible screen can give to the vital action of a play. In other words, the story was written with one eye on the camera and the result is as amazing as it is novel. The music, lilting melodies that already are being played and sung everywhere, is the work of Victor Schertzinger, the well-known composer of “Marcheta." Included in the hits that Schertzinger has written for "The Love Parade" are "My Dream Lover," "Anything to Please the Queen," "My Love Parade,"Let’s Be Common," "Nobody’s Using it Now," "Paris Stay the Same,” and “March of the Grenadiers.” The amusing lyrics are the work of Clifford Grey, who wrote the words for such well-known musical comedy successes as "Hit the Deck," "Sally,” and "The Three Musketeers." Then to ensure the success which only imaginative direction can make possible, Paramount assigned Ernst Lubitsch to direct. Considered one of the most noted directors in Hollywood, a man whose genius for new effects and techniques has startled the motion picture world on more than one occasion, Lubitsch was allowed full range in directing one of the most costly and elaborate pictures of the year. Lubitsch, it will be remembered, was the director of "The Marriage Circle" and "The Patriot," both of which represent high marks in the realm of comedy and tragedy respectively. The star of "The Love Parade" is •Maurice Chevalier, the famous luminary of the Paris musical comedy stage, -who scored a great success in his first flaking picture, "Innocents of Paris"; one of the world’s best-known comedians, Chevalier in this picture is said to be at his very best; a best which takes into consideration the days of adulation at the Folies Bergere and the Casino de Paris. Chevalier’s leading lady is the beautiful Jeanette MacDonald, the star of a number of Broadway musical comedies. The possessor of an unusually fine singing voice, Miss MacDonald gives every promise of being one of the outstanding "finds" of the season. In the supporting cast are Lupine Lane, Lillian Roth and Eugene Pallette.