AMUSEMENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 194, 18 August 1930, Page 3

AMUSEMENTS.

NATIONAL THEATRE.

"Be Yourself," with Fannie Brice, ■ the Broadway comedie'nne, in the leading role, is the chief attraction at the National Theatre. It is tuneful, and dramatic with elaborate sets dwarfing those of the greatest Broadway revues. The amusing and fast-moving story concerns a night club entertainer and hostess, who falls in love with a lazy prize-fighter. She forces herself upon him, trains him, and eventually sees him win the championship. However, the fighter, played by that excellent actor, Robert Armstrong, falls for the wiles of a chorus girl, Gertrude Astor, and allows his battered 'nose to be remodelled so that he may appear more attractive to her eyes. He jilts Miss Brice, who, seeking both revenge and salvation for him, rematches him with the former champion and sees to it that he is soundly whipped. Remorseful, Armstrong goes back to his first love. Miss Brice is presented in all those ludicrous foibles of accent, gesture and so'ng that have earned her her place in the theatrical world as perhaps a great American comedienne. Formerly she has been identified with vaudeville and the elaborate stage revues of Ziegfeld; Harry Green contributes hilarious comedy in his role of a lawyer-manager. A second feature, "Paris" Bound," has Ann Harding as the star. TWO BRITISH PICTURES. Two British pictures are to be screened for the first time at the Roxy Theatre on Wednesday. One is "Harmony Heaven," England's first technicolour production. This film caused flattering criticism in London. The cast embraces England's foremost vaudeville artists, headed by Polly Ward, the leading revue artist. The second feature is "The Hate Ship," with Jameson Thomas and Jean Colin in the leading roles. This programme of English pictures should appeal to all Britishers. SKATING RINK OPENS." The opening of the roller skating rink in Khyber Pass attracted a large number of skating enthusiasts on Saturday evening. Excellent music was played by an orchestra of brass instruments, and many competent skaters, as well as a large number of novices, exchanged their shoes for skates. Judging by the laughter from the crowded floor on Saturday, this amusement will be as popular as ever it was in the past.