REGENT THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 November 1939, Page 2

REGENT THEATRE

‘•NAUGHTY MARIETTA.” ; Drama, romance, and the gorgeous I music of Victor Herbert’s greatest operetta are blended in “Naughty Marietta,” Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer’s spectacular romance of Creole days in New Orleans, which brings to the Regent Theatre tonight Jeanette MacDonald, the heroine of “The Merry Widow,” and Nelson Eddy, the eminent American operatic baritone. It tells a graphic story of the settlement of New Orleans by the French in the days of Louis XV. and of the love of a disgusted French princess, seeking escape from a marriage of State, and an English officer. The film is based on the Victor Herbert masterpiece in which Emma Trentini and Orville Harrold first starred on the stage. The dramatic side of the adventure, thrills, and perils of the period is stressed as a background for the glamorous music. Such song hits as “Ah. Sweet Mystery of Life,” “I’m Falling in Love With Someone,” "Tramp, Tramp. Tramp," “The Italian Street Song,” and all. the original music of the operetta are retained with new lyrics by Gus Kahn. Prominent in a large cast in support of Miss MacDonald and Nelson Eddy are Frank Morgan as Governor D'Annard, Elsa Lanchester (Mrs Charles Laughton) as Madame D'Annard, Douglas Dumbrille, Joseph Cawthorne, Cecilia Parker, Walter Kingsford. Greta Meyer, Akim Tamiroff, Harold Huber, and Edward Brophy. Spectacular reproductions of New Orleans and Paris of the period, gorgeous costumes, and elaborate staging mark the new production. Among the dramatic highlights are the flight from Paris, the battle with the pirates at sea, the capture of the Casquette Girls, the march of the scouts through the Everglades, the routing of the pirates, the New Orleans marriage market, where the girls are sold in marriage, the "confession” of the princess, and the disillusionment of her officer' lover. Other dramatic scenes are the discovery of her identity when the emissaries of the king come, battles with Natchez Indians, the marionette show episode, and finally, life flight of the lovers from the long arm of the French Crown. An unusual detail is the bevy of 40 Casquette Girls, picked from among the most beautiful of the younger players of Hollywood. Quaint and 1 romantic costumes of old New Orleans : and other lavish detail are interspersed with comedy episodes, through which the central thread of romance runs. i