STATE THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 November 1939, Page 2

STATE THEATRE

“SO THIS IS LONDON.” Generously provided with amusing dialogue by Ben Travers in a hilarious story of trans-Atlantic rivalry, Robertson Hare and Alfred Drayton prove themselves an ace comic team in “So This is London,” which will be shown tomorrow night at the State Theate. The story tells of the business dealings of an American who believes himself to have no sympathy with things English and an Englishman to whom the very thought of America is an irritation. Brought together by business interests, their pejudices threaten to ruin everything, until romance steps in to make the score a draw. Lord Worthington (Alfred Drayton) and Hiram Draper (Berton Churchill) are constantly at loggerheads in their negotiations over the formula for a new type of bread. Henry Honeycutt (Robertson Hare), wanting peace at any price and a successful conclusion to the deal, tries to bring them together, achieving little more for a long time than the scorn of both. A bogus foreigner, claiming to be the inventor of the precious flour, attempts to dupe the business men by playing the one off against the other. George Sanders plays the role of the imposter with tremendous verve and gusto. Stewart Granger and lovely Carlo Lehmann carry the romantic leads, and their engagement is the event which sets the seal on the eventual friendship of Worthing and Draper. A fine cast has been recruited from both sides of the Atlantic, including Hare and Drayton Fay Compton. Stewart Granger and George Sanders, all of them English. From Hollywood came Berton Churchill, one of the screen's finest character actors, and Lily Cahill. Carla Lehmann is a Canadian girl who has made a successful stage career for herself in London. A second riotously funny comedy team in addition to the costars appears in “So This is London" — Ethel Revell and Gracie West, who play the highly unorthodox servants in the' Worthing country mansion. In connection with the Shirley Temple competition, the management announce that the date for the closing of the competition has been extended to Wednesday. November 8, and entries must be sent into McDuff’s by 5 p.m. that day.