STATE THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 January 1940, Page 2

STATE THEATRE

“THE DAY THE BOOKIES WEPT." Designed for laughing purposes only. Joe Penner's latest picture, "The Day the Bookies Wept," brings the famous comedian to the screen at the State Theatre tonight with an hilarious race track story. The plot deals with the efforts of a group of taxi-drivers to make themselves a fortune at horse racing. They lose their money consistently, to the jibes of the bookies at their favourite track, and they plan cn revenge. They will buy a horse of their own. enter him at long odds, and clean up. In furtherance of this brilliant idea they select Penner, one of their number, to buy and train the horse for them. Penner is a pigeon fancier and knows nothing about horses, but the boys over-rule him and send him to Kentucky to purchase a suitable steed. A pair of sharpers trick him into buying a nag named Hiccup, and Hiccup has one remarkable quality; he’s a "drunkard,” and won’t run properly unless well liquored up. But Fenner doesn’t know this, and proudly he brings his prize back to Brooklyn. Against his protests the boys make him take Hiccup to the Jamaica track for training, which interfers with Penner’s romance with the sister of a ■ fellow taxi-pilot. The horse is entered in several races but invariably runs last, and the odds on him soar, while the temper of Penner’s fiancee does likewise. Finally Penner agrees to make the horse win his next race, and the gang make up a pot to bet on Hiccup, Penner also putting in his own savings, on which he had planned to marry. At this juncture the two crooks who sold him the horse show up, and, knowing of Hiccup’s secret vice, they send a barrel of beer around to the stable. What happens thereafter makes for the uproarious climax to' the offering, with the crooks, Penner, the taxi-driv-ers, the girl and the bookies involved in a wild merry-go-round of complications and troubles. The film is said to be one of the funniest pictures of the year. Betty Grable has the featured lead, and makes a splendid heroine for Penner, and the funster himself turns in one of his best performances. Such noted players are Richard Lane, Tom Kennedy, Carole Hughes, Thurston Hall, Bernadene Hayes and Jack Arnold have important supporting roles.