“DAD AND DAVE”

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 November 1938, Page 2

“DAD AND DAVE”

REGENT THEATRE ON SATURDAY.

The latest product of Cinesound Studios, “Dad and Dave Come to Town,” after playing to record houses in Wellington comes to the Regent Theatre on Saturday. The film provides first-rate comedy. It is a fever of fun artistically presented, a comedy as original as it is diverting in the boldness of its conceptions and the skill of author and producer. The Rudds have prospered since they were last seen, but they still do things backwards, and whether the fun comes in the roundabout way they work, or in the miles they travel to straighten things out again, they still represent the soul of Australian humour, and the sentiment which is-a religion with the backblocks folk. A lawyer’s letter brings turmoil to the Rudd family. Property has been left to Dad in the city, and off go Dad, Mum, Dave, and the eldest daughter, who, having been a modiste in a country town, nas polish and poise. After twenty years at Snake Gully Dad is rather a mossback. They land among city sharks, who proceed to work a well-tried swindle on the family, and the spectacle emerges of Dad undertaking the management of a costumier’s business, which is in debt. It is hard to see the Rudds getting out of this one, but they do. Romance, loyalty, and the creations, which are magnificent, do the trick. The fashion parade is a surprise, magnificently produced, and of the latest styles. This also has the merit of originality which stamps the whole film. Bert Bailey does his best work on the screen to date, and Dave excels himself. The cast is a strong one, stiffened by Shirley Ann Richards, Muriel Flood, and two Americans, Billy Rayes and Leila Steppe.