AMUSEMENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 34, 10 February 1939, Page 11

AMUSEMENTS.

>:. : "THE RAT." .;. . -:■■■■■■■:.■ EMBASSY: ■>->,"'"-■. -V'\' ■•■.' Zelia '..... ...... Kutir Cliiitlerfoii. '. The Kiit■'..... i. ;..'.".'■ Autuii Wnlbrook;'Odllu" ,'. ;v....■.'..';...'.. Uone U»)V:.;i ';■ Marguerite ...*.v Beatrix Lcliiminu/: .More Colino i'.-Mary ■ Claro :;; l'roiccutlng. Counsel 1 . ...Felix AylmerM :■' Director: ■ ■;.--•■■;;■■;■■■'■■':. '■■■;.'.;-■ Jack Kii.viiiuudti (Inipcrator.'.Pll»is)..'j Dominating the production, witli, ;.l brilliant dramatic,portrayal,: Anton;j\Yal-. ■ brook fives what must,be ranked as his finest, performance to date ih''"Thc..Rat," .: which opened yesterday., at -the Embassy: . Theatre before large houses. Even remembering his line performance ill "Victoria Hie Great," it can be said that Walbroqk; has never reached such heights as iiivthe.., role of that complex personality known.: to the underworld as "the'rat." ,'. ■■;*',; , ' , ::'i To add further to the filings pretensions, is the name oE Ruth Chatterton, in, the leading 'feminine■ role. 'Her-' part,{Jin "Bodsworth" proved her : beyond:.."doubt one of the ablest actresses in pictures, and she is equally oiltstAndingin "The; Hal." Other players oE worth ..are : Rene. : . Ray,: Beatrix Lchmann, llary•■'.■■. Clare, '.Felix Ayhuer and Hugh !Mi 11 er;."'■■ ■..'■■ ': '" The keynote of "The Rat!.' is ''rbalishi,' Its scenes, for the jnost part, arc laid in the Paris underworld, ; but there .'arc,,, excursions into the realms' of..the-Freneli city's upper strata of society. It is soon evident that (the. Rat is as dangerous to women as .ho, is - to ..the; gendarmes. Ho promises : n dying friend that, he will protect his daughter. Odlle (Reno Ray). Odlle undertakes; tho task of keeping hoiißo for the Eat.-.-' ,, . , y '■ ■:-" : ~- The Rat's complex doings .-are'.made much more so with tho appearance of a beautiful and wealthy woman, Zelia' : <le ; .Cliaumont (Ruth Cliatterton).. ■-The two women soon find.thcmsclves-Tiyiils for, the love of the Rnt. Then is introduced ; 'a. wealthy Parisian, jealous of the Rat.and admirer of Zelia; Zelia persuades him to turn Ill's attentions to Odlle, but the Rat's ward shoots him. The Hat takes..the blame for the murder, but in a. dramatic final courtroom scene Zelia tells the court that ho .was with her at the time of the crime. „ No little credit for the succeed of "The Rat" is duo to Jack Raymond, who directed. 'The stage play from which the production hnß been adapted was written bv two of England's most versatile playwrights, Ivor Novello and Constance Collier. ■'.•:•'.• To cap off an enjoyable programme in ail excellent selection of supporting items, which include latest nowsreel dispatches from overseas.. " . . CITY SHOWS. ' Picture programmes will be showing at citv theatres this evening as follows:— St. James': Norma Shearer • and Tyrone Power in "Marie Antoinette." Civic: Tyrone Power nndi Annabolla in "Suez." Majestic: Maureen O'Snllivan and Lew Avrcs in "Spring Madness," and Herbert Marshall and Virginia Bruce.in "Woman Against Woman." Regent: Errol Elynn ' and Olivia De Hnvilland in "The .Adventures of Robin Hood." Embassy: Anton ■ Walbrook and Ruth Chatterton in "The Rat." Mayfair: Preston Foster and Tony Martin in "Up the River," Strand: Joel McCrca and Andrea Leeds in "Youth t Takes a Fling" and Charles Riiggles ill "His Exciting Night." Plaza: Gary I Cooper and Merle Oberon in "The Cowboy, and the Lady." Roxy-Tivoli: Gene i Aiitry in "Springtime in the Rockies" and Barton MacLano and Glenda Farrell in "Blondes at Work." State, Symomls ' Street: Paul Muni in "The Story of Louis Pasteur" and June Travis and William Hopper in "Over the Goal." Star Karaiigahapo Road: Richard Greene and .' Loretta Young in "Four -Men and a Pravcr;" and Jean Arthur alid Ray Mil' i land in '.'Easy Living." Prince Edward, Xewton: Wallace Beefy in "Port of Seven Seas" and Allan Jones and Judy Garland , in "Everybody Sing."