REGENT THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 March 1939, Page 2

REGENT THEATRE

“THE TOY WIFE.” Luise Rainer, only star ever to be accorded two Academy Awards, proves her unqualified right to the honour with another character gem as outstanding as her “Anna Held” in “The Great Ziegfeld” and her “O-Lan” in “The Good Earth.” Her “Froufrou” Brigard in “The Toy Wife,” which will be shown tonight at the Regent Theatre, adds' a delineation which may well nominate her for the third time and create still another precedent. By turn the frivolous, light-hearted girl, the equally irresponsible wife, and the broken, tragic figure which her own folly makes her, she draws a masterful and truly moving picture which any other actress of the year will be hard pressed to match. In the masculine leads Melvyn Douglas and Robert Young live up to the high standard set by the picture’s star. Douglas, as Miss Rainer’s husband who is- loved by his wife’s sister, is at all times effective, while Robert Young is dashing and romantic as the young gambler with whom Miss Rainer finally runs away. Other excellent performances are contributed by Barbara O’Neil as Miss Rainer’s sister, H. B. Warner as Her father, Alma Kruger, Walter Kingsford, Leonard Penn, and the four-year-old Alan Perl, whose remarkable resemblance to Miss Rainer won him the role of her child. Worthy of mention, also, is the work of the negro performers, particularly that of Libby Taylor, Theresa Harris, Clinton Rosemond, and Clarence Muse. Richard Thorpe, who won world-wide critical acclaim for his direction of “Night Must Fall,” has turned in a finely conceived picture of one of the most colourful and romantic periods of American history, namely, Luisiana in the 1850’s, in “The Toy Wife,” and Merian C. Cooper, producing from Zoe Akins’s polished script, has lent it the authenticity of atmosphere which makes it doubly satisfying.