THE LADY IN QUESTION
(Columbia)
Not avery great deal happens in this picture, and what does happen is not what should happen from the viewpoint of dramatic construction, but in
spite of this it contrives to hold the interest, thanks to a certain quaintness of atmosphere and direction and a clever piece of semi-humorous character acting by Brian Aherne. He’s a middleaged Persian shop-keeper, soft-hearted, sentimental but shrewd about some things. To his unbounded delight he sits on the jury at a murder trial, is instrumental in securing the acquittal of the accused, a girl (Rita Hayworth) | charged with killing her lover. Then, without disclosing her identity he gives her a job, takes her into his family. Her presence causes disruption and jealousy; the son of the house becomes infatuated and steals from his father. Everything is working up to a situation where, by a sardonic twist, the girl will be killed by her protector and he himself will stand trial for murder. T’ll bet my. boots that is what happened in the play from which the film is taken, and, dramatically, it would have been a neat climax. But Columbia, by keeping the girl alive and white-washing her, has_ sacrificed neatness and dramatic effect for the sake of the happy. ending. It’s an intriguing little show all the same,
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19401206.2.83.1.3
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 76, 6 December 1940, Page 51
Word count
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220THE LADY IN QUESTION New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 76, 6 December 1940, Page 51
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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