AMUSEMENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 74, 29 March 1933, Page 3

AMUSEMENTS.

CIVIC THEATRE. Coming almost on the heels of the most mazing international financial swindle io msjness history, Auckland will see at the ;ivic on Friday a new dramatic picture ntitled "The Match King," paralleling iu creen drama the astonishing story of ne man's skilful manipulation of matches mo a colossal bubble that broke only >'heu general business depression revealed he crookedness of his financial machinaions. '"The Match King" is the story f a man whose power and ambition aised him from a Chicago street-sweeper o a world financial power on the top of , pyramid of credit, built on the ruins ox ither lives. It is the story of a mail rho was as ruthless in love as in finance, mt who learned, to his sorrow, that a eekouing was inevitable in both. In this tieture Warren Williams equals the record leld by any star for the number of cosume changes he is called upon to make n the course of the picture. Twentywo changes of costume are required, and hey range from the outfit of a Chicago treet sweeper to the costliest fabrics and inest tailoring of Europe's finest craftsnen. As the Napoleon of finance, "Paul troll" becomes no lees a dominating igure in the sartorial world, where the inal verdict is awarded by lovely women ather than the monarchs of the money nart. The bevy of beautiful women who orm a dazzling background to his whirlvine! career are represented by Lili Damita, Glenda Carroll, Claire Docid and Juliette Compton. REGENT THEATRE, Promised by Samuel Goldwyn as the biggest as well as the funniest picture to ;ome out of Hollywood this season, "The Kid From Spain" will come to the Regent Theatre on Friday. It is the annual screen song-and-dance comedy of Eddie Cantor, succeeding his "Palmy Days" of last season and "Whoopee" of the year before. Eddie rrakes but one picture a year, saving lis energy, his voice and his laughs for a single bi" effort. "The Kid From Spain" is the story of a button-eyed lad, who, jetting; expelled from school with his roomnate tor certain quite harmless goings-on in a girls' dormitory, gets involved in a aank robbery and escapes to Mexico disguised as Don Sebastian 11., the famous bull-fighter. He accepts the acclaim of a jreat fete in his honour, trying desperately to maintain his masquerade until the minute he is forced into the arena to fight the four bulls in the thrilling climax of the picture. For the beauty and colour rf the arena and for the gala fiesta that precedes it, Goldwyn marshalled together 76 of the proudest beauties of the world. Song, dance, music as well as laughter bring them into the picture and take them sut. Eddie Cantor's songs get their refrain from the effervescent, bouncing jomedienne, Lyda Roberti, who seconds his comedy through the story. Others in the cast are Robert Young and Ruth Hall, John Miljan, Carrol Naish and Stanley Fields. MAJESTIC THEATRE. " Secrets of the French Police," the gripping picture opening to-day at the Majestic Theatre, with Gwili Andre, Frank Morgan, Gregory Ratoff, and John Warburton in the leading roles, is not only a revelation of the remarkable methods of crime detection used by the Surete, the French secret police, it also deals with that most tenacious " racket," the Czarina "racket. Paris, more so than other European capitals, has been a haven for Russian Rovalists since the Bolshevist revolution n 1917, at which time the Reds are believed to have slain every member of the reigning Romanoff family, from Nicholas 11., Czar of all the Russias, down. Yet a legend has persisted that Anastasia, youngest daughter of the Czar, was spirited tc Paris. Various Russian Royalist refugees, some sincerely, some out to raise money, have attempted to find Anastasia. For in any restoration of the monarchy she would be the Czarina. If she were alive, she might prove a powerful rallying point for those anxious to overthrow the Soviet regime. " Secrets of the French Police," which Edward Sutherland directed, deals with the attempt of one General Han Moloff to use hypnotic domination to empty the mind of a French flower girl of all knowledge and impressions of her past life, and to hypnotically suggest to her that she is Anastasia. The detection of the attempted imposture is one of the strangest tales of international conspiracy ever told on the screen. ST. JAMES' THEATRE. "Night After Night," which features George Raft, Constance Cummings, Wynne Gibson, Mae West and Alison Skipworth, will open a season at the St. James' Theatre on Friday next. The action of the film is set in a luxurious New York night club, an old brownstone mansion rescued from decay to serve as an oasis for Manhattan's wealthy thirsty. George Raft has his first leading role as proprietor of the club. Miss West, colourful figure of the Broadway stage, who makes her "movie" debut in the film, and Miss Gibson, are two of Raft's ex-sweethearts who find more difficulty in breaking the tie with him than he does. Miss Cummings is seen in the role of a society debuntante who finds that the night club has been established in the house in which she was born, a couple of decades back, in its better days. A nostalgic yearning draws her back to it time after time. Her frequent visits bring her in contact with Raft, who is fascinated by her, and a queer romance develops between the two—a romance which is precipitated into startling channels by a series of unusual events. NATIONAL THEATRE. The talkie version of' the exceedingly popular silent film, "Wild Horse Mesa,' adapted from the Zane Grey novel, -.s proving verv popular at the moment at the National Theatre, where it will end its season on Thursday night. Randolph Scott and Sally Blane are co-featured once more, both having been seen together recentlv in "Heritage of the Desert,' which served as Scott's Western debut on the screen. Friday's attraction at the National is a revival of the amazingly successtul "On Our Selection," which saw four weeks during its initial run in the city. Bert Bailey, who made famous the original play which he wrote himself, directed and starred in the film version, which was made at Cinesound Studios, Sydney, as their first big production. The photography and acting throughout are both of a high standard, many well-known names occurring in the lengthy cast. TUDOR CINEMA, REMUERA. A splendid partnership is realised by Carl Laommle in his talkie version of the Fannie Hurst story, "Back Street,' m which he co-stars Irene Dunne and John Boles. "Back Street" will screen this evening at the Tudor Cinema, Remucra. MUNICIPAL BAND. The Auckland Municipal Band will give programmes of popular music at Missior Bay to morrow evening, in the Zoological Park on Sunday afternoon, and in Alberi Park iu the evening.