REGENT THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 April 1940, Page 2

REGENT THEATRE

“THE UNDER-PUP.” A new motion picture star, possessing a remarkable singing voice and a personality at once warm and refreshing, is Gloria Jean. She is 11 years old and her coloratura voice and natural appeal dominate a picture replete with romantic, comedy and musical “surprises.” She fakes the leading part in an outstanding picture, “The UnderPup,” which will be shown tonight. Presented by Professor Joe Pasternak, the man who also introduced Deanna Durbin, Gloria Jean will undoubtedly be compared to her stellar predecessor yet she has a personality all her own. Gloria is by no means the whole show, however, nor is she the sole newcomer. One of the year’s longest casts has been gathered, and all deliver in impressive style. In romantic assignments Robert Cummings repeats his hit of “Three Smart Girls Grow Up,” while Nan Grey, again opposite him, is equally effective. Honours are divided between a cast of adults and as talented an array of youngsters as has ever been assembled on the screen. The grown-ups are Beulah Bondi, Margaret Lindsay, C. Aubrey Smith, Billy Gilbert, Raymond Walburn, Paul Cavanagh, Frank Jenks, Ernest Truex and Samuel S. Hinds. Among the youngsters Virginia Weidler and Ann Gillis are welcome and familiar faces, while Shirley Mills, as the “meanie,” scores in her first appearance. Also on the hit side are Billy Lenhart, eight-year-old “slap fiddle” player and his partner, Kenneth Brown, aged 'I, accordionist. Gloria Jean, who sings five numbers in “The Under-Pup,” has a voice development comparable in many ways to Deanna Durbin’s. It is Gloria who carries the most important character. She plays the part of “Pip-Emma” with the ease that belies the fact that it is her first picture. She is cast as a poor girl from the East Side of New York, whose "lowly” station in life and her eccentric but loveable family incur the ridicule of a group’ of wealthy girls at an exclusive summer camp. The heartbreak of Gloria’s attempts to make friends with the “Penguins.” her winning over of a bitter old-maid camp sponsor and the amusing part she plays in the lives of other adults provide the theme of the story.

Splendid featurettes complete the programme which is an outstanding one in every Way.