NEW REGENT

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 949, 16 April 1930, Page 17

NEW REGENT

“DYNAMITE” ON SATURDAY “It’s a Great Life,” the all-talking vehicle selected by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for the Duncan Sisters, a story of the life of a “sister act” in vaudeville, is now in its last days at the Regent Theatre. The picture contains both humour and pathos and is done in such a natural, unassuming way as to immediately win the sympathy of every type i of audience. Lawrence Gray, recently signed up for a long term contract by I Metro -Gold wyn - Mayer as a result of j his work in “Marianne,” heads the ! supporting cast, which also contains • such experienced players as Benny ; Rubin and Jed Prouty. | One of the most effective things 1 about “It’s a Great Life” is the fact j that it was filmed with technicolour sequences, which adds considerable j beauty and charm to the gowns worn |in the production and to the revue I scenes, which are a riot of colour.

One© called by critics the “bizarre Cecil £5. De Mille,” it appears that the producer-director is about to reclaim that title in "Dynamite,” which comes to the Regent on Saturday. It is his first talking picture and presents girls, gowns and gaiety of the frivolous sort, although his early reputation was mad© with this type of material. “Dynamite” is said to have food for the eye in two particular sequences, one at a country club, the other in the home of Cynthia, the feminine lead. The country club sequence finds Kay Johnson and Julia Faye racing in the sensational new “aero-wheels” to determine whether Miss Johnson shall pay 100,000 dollars or 200,000 dollars for Miss Faye’s husband, Conrad Xagel! To provide the dramatic leavening for this highly modern situation, De Mille shows Charles Bickford being condemned to death and, later, a marriage of Bickford to Miss Johnson on the eve of his execution. How Bickford escapes death, and what happens afterward, at a party in Cynthia’s home, and in the coal mine of which the lead is gang boss, completes the dramatic framework of Jeanie MacPherson’s latest original. It is evident, therefore, that “Dynamite” is of the type of “Manslaughter,” “Male and Female” and “Why Change Your Wife?” rather than “The Ten Commandments,” “King of Kings” and “The Godless Girl,” more recent De Mille productions.