REGENT THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 October 1939, Page 2

REGENT THEATRE

‘■SERGEANT MADDEN.” A gripping story of Ihe New York’ police and of a father who must put a halt to the criminal activities of his own son, ‘‘Sergeant Madden.” screening at the Regent Theatre tonight, presents Wallace Beery in his most masterful characterisation to date. As Sergeant Madden, thirty-year veteran of the force, soft-hearted, plodding and idealistic, Beery epitomizes the finest traits of ‘‘New York’s Finest.” Alan Curtis as the son who tries a short-cut to promotion and finally is forced to turn bank-robber, plays a meaty role io the hilt, with a finely shaded progression of character from the time he finds himself a victim of the prizefight racket to the climatic moments when he is the snarling, cornered criminal. In a difficult role as the Irish waif whom Beery adopts and who marries Curtis. Laraine Johnson comes through with flying colours in this, her first important featured part. Tom Brown, as the adopted son whose loyalties are torn both ways, shows a fine conception of another colourful characterisation. An excellent array of short featurettes complete the programme. ‘‘FOUR DAUGHTERS.” The girls get their innings this week when “Four Daughters,” the Warner Bros, picture adapted from a famous story by Fannie Hurst, will open at the Regent Theatre on Saturday. Priscilla, Rosemary and Lola Lane, Hollywood’s only three sister stars, and Gale Page, a lovely Spokane, U.S.A., newcomer, have the title roles, and it is around them that the bright and charming story revolves. The daughters of an elderly musician, played by Claude Rains, theirs are all the joys and sorrows of small-town girls whose lives are full of work and play, dreams and ambitions. Of course where they are four pretty girls, four young men are likely to put in an appearance. And they do, in the person of Jeffrey Lynn, a handsome screen newcomer who seems destined for stardom, John Garfield, a young character actor recruited from Broadway, Dick Foran and Frank McHugh. May Robson is on the spot to act as chaperone.