AMUSEMENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 54, 5 March 1937, Page 9

AMUSEMENTS.

"CRAIG'S WIFE." EMBASSY. Harriet Craig Rosalind Russell Walter Craig J.rfin Boles Mrs. Primer Billie Burke Mrs. H.iri.M Jane Harwell Ktliel I,aridritli Dnrotiiv Wilson Billy Birkmire .... Raymond Wallmrii <iene Fri d. r:. ks Itoi-rt Allen ■Mazie Nvdi'i We-diiian Adelaide re . . Kathleen Burke Director: Dorothy Ar/.ner. Columbia. Again this week the Fmbassy Theatre has something unusual to present. Last week it was "Kembrandt." story of a genius who could not live an either people !ive. I his week it is the story of another and much less pleasant character, the cold and calculating woman. As the first was great as a picture, so. in its way, is this. In its theme it is reminiscent of "Dodsworth. hut it* characters are sirikingly different. Rosalind Russell in the title role gives a taut loss performance, lint that, perhaps. i« putting it coldly. It would lie better to say that she has never had a more satisfactory part, and that her presentation of it was superb. "Craig'* Wife" was not a very pleasant person, though she had beauty and charm I when she liked to exert herself). She was self-centred, embittered, calculating - a woman with one idea, her house. For that she had married, and for that she, unknowingly, sacrificed everything. Thus, it is a picture with a moral, an obvious one. At the same time the character is presented so clearly by Rosalind Russell that, with knowledge, sympathy cannot be withheld. 1 hat sympathy came in the classic moment of the picture, when the wife, confronted with a husband who is no longer blinded by love, reveals her creed. Her mother had married for love, and it had brought her ruin—to her all men were creatures who had to be saved from themselves—and she could see security only in the ramparts of her home. They must be maintained at all co6ts, and it did not matter who was hurt in the rprocess. Through the course of the picture the walls of the home are maintained, but inside them all that is human crumbles away. The husband, controlled in every movement, gradually loses his friends and nearly his self-respect. Rut in the dramatic climax it is the wife who loses everything, except her home, and suddenly that means nothing. John Roles as the husband fits his role splendidly, and though lie cannot touch the emotional heights of Miss Russell, the scene in which he confesses rather pathetically to his wife that "he has been quite a fellow for a couple of hours, ' and then, with quiet dignity, makes his exit, is splendid. It is a picture full of excellent characters, but those of the aunt, and the neighbour (played by Rillie Rnrke) stand out. For once Miss Rurke is not the flippant rainbow-chaser, and in her quieter role she makes more than a passing impression. The "shorts" programme is good, with a laughable comedy, news reels, "Screen Snapshots," and a cartoon of merit. AMUSEMENTS GUIDE. HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE—Monte Carlo Russian Ballet. PICTURE THEATRES. MAJEBTIC—G\ven Munro and Rrian Abbott ■in "Orphan or the Wilderness." REGENT —Merle Oberon and Brian Aherne In "Beloved Knemy." EMBASSY—John Boles and Rosalind Russell in "Craig's Wire." ST. JAMES'—Robert Taylor an<l .loan Crawford in "The Gorgeous Hussy." LONDON—Joe Penner in "College Rhythm" and Jean Arthur in "Whirlpool." I AMBASSADOR—"Speed" and "Here's to Romance." ASTOR—"The King Steps Out" and "Fury." AVONDALE—"The Tnguarded Hour." BRITANNIA—"The Man Who Could Work Miracles" and "It Had to Happen." CAPITOL—"San Francisco." GAIETY—"The Melody Lingers On." GAIETY (Otahuhu) —"The Leg-ion or Valour." GREY LYNN— "The Preview Murder Mystery" and "It's a Great Lire." KINGBLAND—"Lnder Two Flags" and "Educating Father." MAYFAIR—"The Bohemian Girl" and "WhJpsaw." ORPHEUS (Otahuhu)—"White Fang" and "Kelly the Second." PRINCE EDWARD—"The Case Against Mrs Ames" and "Coronado." STAR (Newton) —"Captain January" and "Passport to Fame." BTATE (Symonds Street) —"Our Relations" TUDOR—"It's Love Again." VICTORIA—"FataI Lady" and "Three on a Trail."