MAJESTIC THEATRE

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 94, 22 April 1933, Page 8

MAJESTIC THEATRE

A very unusual production is "Secrets o£ the French Police," the principal, attraction In the new programme at the Majestic Theatre. Based on !ho series of the same title by Ashton Wolfe, published in popular magazines, the picturo deals with tho detective work of tho Paris Surcte, the particular episode chosen for the Plot being the unmasking of a band of clever" anil unscrupulous criminals who uro seeking to produce a claimant to the titio of Princess Anastasia of Russia, who Is alleged to have escaped when the members of the royal household were massacred by the Bolsheviks, and for whom large sums avo held In trust in various European capitals. The opening scene is an impressive one, representing ' the burial by. night of a murdered police ofllcer whom his comrades are seeking to avenge. Then follows the mysterious killing In the slums of an old man, the guardian of a beautiful flower girl who not only has the features of a Romanoff, but is also, a good hypnotic subject and has consequently been singled out by the master-crook as tho. most valuable impersonator of the Princess Anastasia. To assist In the apprehension of her raptors the police give a free hand to .her lover, an ex-soldier who has turned pickpocket. Glimpses of the police laboratories, questionable cafes, a strongly-foctlfled chateau, and dark, foul powers follow in succession as the skilfully-constructed story Is unfolded, tiwlll Andre plays the/ part of the' flower girl dupo, Frank .Morgan Is . the head of the police, John Warburton is the thief who Is set to catch the abductors of his sweetheart, and Gregory ItatolT plays, the part of the master criminal. An excellent supporting programme includes a. comedy, "Private . Wives," 'starring Skects Gallagher, a sound cartoon, "Pencil Mania," a (Jrimflnnd Rico' Sportlight, and ncwsrecls. . ST. JAMES;THEATRE';' \ ' > America's money stqry, from the Pilgrim Father's down, is sketched in the Ann Harding picture, "The Conquerors," now :at St. James Theatre. Alternations of prosperity, and slump, and all the human reactions they bring, are graphically presented. One sees a run on the bank in the days when. men wore beards, and- a' run .on the bank today, and one is struck with the difference between the hard-faced men of then and the smoothfaced men of now—and yet human nature is the same, with, the same procession of strong ■characters,. weak .characters,' arid villains. Richard Dlx is cast as an American banker who opens his own private bank—amid ths .'ruins of a slump in the, 'seventies, prospers, :is nearly ruined by another slump, and eventually arrives in" the' awful mcSs. of 'today, but Is still going," As his bride, his wife, and later as a grandmother, Ann Harding plays charmingly, and* Edna May Oliver : has - the comedy role of a doctor's wife. As it skips over several cycles of history, the picture contains n bit of everything—tho Wild West, tho wild war days, and the even .wilder days that .call Roosevelt prophet. The heart interest,' In the' hands of capable actors and actresses, is also welt maintained. .There'is.'a lynching ■which-Is'pot very convincing, nnd a railway accident tl]at is. In Ihe supporting programme are some : good news gazette items, and a parody on "Tarzan," In which a girl buriiesciues ■ tlve well-remembered part played by .Toh'nny , Welssmuller. A crazy cartoon helps; to make up (ho programme. " . Coming to the- St. James Theatre on Friday will bo.the first of tho 1933Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.releases, "SmMin' Through," with Norma 'Shearer in the featured role. Hailed as ".The cinema gem that has captured -the; heart of the world," it has been chosen bySlc Ben-> tairin and Mr. John Fuller, with Metro-Gold-wyn-ilayer, to usher in their new era of "perfect entertainment."! Other notable'players'in* !tha cast are Leslie Howard. Beryl ~Mercor,'and' Fredrlc March. .. . .' .