STATE THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 August 1939, Page 2

STATE THEATRE

“THE NEAREST THING TO HEAVEN.” Making their first appearance together as a romantic team, Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer have the stellar roles in “The Nearest Thing to Heaven,” showing at the State Theatre tonight. The audience was warm in praise of this brilliant picture. Miss Dunne is cast as the luxury-loving fiancee of a wealthy business man who sends her on frequent trips to Europe to collect art objects for him. Returning from one of these missions, she meets Charles Boyer, the notorious Continental playboy. Although Boyer is also engaged, the shipboard acquaintance of the mundane couple quickly develops into a genuine romance that virtually sweeps them both off their feet. At a brief stop over on the Portuguese island of Madeira the romantic influence of the picturesque background fuses their love into an almost invulnerable solidarity. Boyer, who has known only a caviare-and-champagne life, decides to prove himself worthy of this great love by a. six-month romantic moratorium, during which he will work in New York as an artist. Similarly, Miss Dunne goes to work as a night club singer. At the end of the period, they rush to the established meeting ground, the Empire State Building. Boyer arrives first, but his sweetheart meets with a car accident and is taken to the hospital. Believing that she is permanently lamed, Miss Dunne refrains from notifying Boyer. She prefers that he suffer his disappointment than marry her, who would be a burden. The plot development mounts to an exciting, heart-gripping climax, after the principals endure an interlude of personal sacrifice. Miss Dunne sings two numbers in “The Nearest Thing to Heaven,” “Sing My Heart” and “Wishing.” .