King’s Theatre.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 397, 2 April 1937, Page 8

King’s Theatre.

“Girl of the Ozarks.” The charm of a section of America where life retains primitive simplicity and moves with the tempo of a placid mountain stream is translated to the screen in “Girl of the Ozarks," Paramount film starring young Virginia Weidler, which shows at the King's Thepitre to-night. The eight-year-old girl star gives one of the most convincing child perpormances in many months as an underprivileged mountain girl whose spirited nature leads her from one difficulty to another. A real veteran of films, having played in her first picture at the age of three, Virginia “sells herself” not so much through beauty or cuteness as through fine acting ability. She proved her capability in “Peter Ibbetson,” and her characterisation in the present film illustrates the wisdom of executives in rewarding her with stardom. “Girl of the Ozarks” Is a simple story, simply told in the language and customs of the section it depicts. Characters of the films are finely drawn: Henrietta Crosman succeeds in catching the feeling of the gnarled, pipe-smoking and gun-toting hill woman who is Virginia’s grandmother, and Leif Erikson and Elizabeth Russell make real mountain sweethearts who give the picture its romantic background. Classroom difficulties, and the trouble arising when the grandmother “arranges” to get a dress for the girl’s class day exercises send Virginia to the county home and Granny to gaol. Their release and return to the simple hill life is bound up with the happy ending of the Erikson-Russell romance. The picture provides fine entertainment for every member of the family.

“Three Cheers For Love.”

A gay. romantic musical, is faststepping as the “swing tunes” it features, is presented in “Three Cheers for Love,” Paramount show with Eleanors Whitney and Robert Cummings in leading roles, which shows at the King’s to-night. Miss Whitney and Robert Cummings are aided by a cast of talented performers, including Louis DaPron and Olympe Bradna, ace dancers; William Frawley and Roscos Karns, in comedy roles; Veda Ann Borg, John Halliday, Elizabeth Patterson, Grace Bradley and Billy Lee. Eleanore is the pep-filied, tap-danc-ing daughter of Halliday, a Hollywood movie producer. Miss Borg, her step-mother, sends her to a finishing school which she believes ultra-cor-rect. The school, however, has been about to close. Miss Patterson, headmistress and a former vaudeville star, is persuaded by Frawley, an actor out of a job, to keep it open for the one prospective pupil. Frawley’s plan is to star Eleanore in a “school show,” invite hJI- father, and land Hollywood contracts for himself and his whole troupe. The vaudeville performers go into action! chorus girls pose as students, actors pose as professors. Eleanore, arrived at the school, proceeds to fall in love with Cummings, a songwriter who is “Professor of Music” in the plot. [ “Three Cheers for Love” introduces a number of songs which moved to the hit classification as soon as the show was released. The ballroom dance staged by Miss Whitney and Cummings in one sequence, the “Swing-Along,” is proving a nationwide sensation.