REGENT THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 June 1940, Page 2

REGENT THEATRE

“THEY MADE ME A CRIMINAL.” The programme at the Regent Theatre tonight will be headed by that brilliant outstanding picture sensation. “They Made Me a Criminal.” “They: Made Me a Criminal” is a tense and exciting drama with a prize-ring background that co-stars John Garfiek' and the “Dead End” kids in a cast that also includes Claude Rains, Gloria Dickson, May Robson and Ann Sheridan. Aside from its merits as entertainment, “They Made Me a Criminal.” is noteworthy because it is the follow-up of Garfield, young newcomer from the New York stage, to his sensational screen debut in “Four Daughters.” It is the answer of the Warner Studio to the insistent public demand that the brilliant young actor be raised to stardom immediately. It presents Garfield as a left-handed (this is important) prize fighter who, the day after he has won the lightweight championship of the world, learns by big stories in the newspapers that he is supposed to have murdered a newspaper reporter and then been burned to death in an automobile accident while fleeing from the city. He drops out of sight, and finds his way across the country. Eventually he gets a job on an isolated California date orchard and falls in love with the niece of the woman who owns Ihc ranch. Seeking to get some money for the two women he gets into the ring with a barnstorming heavyweight who offers £lOO a round to anyone who can last against him. This puts a suspicious detective on his trail, and leads to the thrilling and emotional dramatic finish. The picture, which was an adaptation by Sig Herzig of a novel by Bertram Millhauser and Beulah Marie Dix, was designed to exhibit the full' range of young Garfield's talents as well as to give the “Dead End" kids an opportunity to cinch their hold on the public’s fancy with their very distinctive type of entertainment. Superb featurettes include the latest Overseas News, a delightful variety number, a Hawaiian Melody Master, and a Porky Cartoon, “It’s An HI Wind.” The plans are at Nimmo's and the theatre.