AMUSEMENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 187, 10 August 1939, Page 7

AMUSEMENTS.

REGENT. Members of the famous Royal Canadian Mounted Police swing into action to track down a gang of bandits in "Heart of the North, the thrilling action melodrama at the Regent Theatre. The unfolding of the screen-play sees a trading steamer, laden with furs and gold, set 6ail from a northern trading post, when she is held up and looted by bandits, and a policeman is killed. The "Mounties" go to work, but unexpected complications arise, that cause a welter of exciting incidents before the crooks are finally brought to justice. Set against a background of the Canadian Rockies, the picture was made particularly effective by being filmed in technicolour, which does full justice to the majestic grandeur of the mountains. In the leading role, Dick Koran gives of his best, and he seems definitely now to have said "good-bye"' to the cowboy roles which he has filled for some time. Gloria Dickson is excellent in the feminine lead, and others prominent are (iale Page, Allen Jenkins, Patric Knovvles, Janet Chapman and James Stephenson. MAJESTIC. Kdward G. Robinson, whose performance in "A Slight Case of Murder," will be well remembered by all who saw that film, portrays a modern type of J Jr. Jekyll in "The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse,'' opening at the Majestic Theatre to-morrow. He has the part of a brilliant and highlyrespected neurological surgeon, who becomes obsessed with the idea of writing a medical treatise on the habits of criminals. To do this he becomes a criminal himself, noting his own reactions. As the story unfolds he becomes involved with a gang of crooks, of which he becomes leader. He experiments with the criminals as with guinea pigs, and then completes his personal observations of criminal reactions by murdering a racketeer who threatens his position as g&ng-leader. The film reaches an unusual climax in a Court scene when the doctor is tried for the murder, with an unexpected result. Claire Trevor and Humphrey Bogart arc the other principals. Gordon Harker is starred in the associate attraction, "No Parking.''

MAYFAIR. | A refreshingly "different'' type of i mystery drama is brought to the screen by , Twentieth Century-Fox in Hornleigh." centring round the exploiix of the man who collects criminals with the same equanimity and ease that he collects postage stamps, at the Mayfair Theatre. The picture stars Gordon Harker with long-faced Alastair Sim. and the two make a highly successful team, with Sim giving further proof that lie is one of the best English comedians. The story centres round the efforts of the inspector to recover a lost bag containing important papers, and the complications that arise during I his search. "The Jones Family in Holly- ! wood," the associate attraction, is another j of the popular series dealing with the | adventures of the Joneses when they visit the movie capital. CIVIC. "A coniedy with music designed to please persons who don't like music, or musicians," is the provocative way in which a prominent American critic commented on "Wife, Husband and Friend." i booked to open a season at the Civic • j Theatre to-morrow. The rather strange I j statement is explained when it is known that the screen play presents the successive dilemmas of a wealthy gentleman, allergic to tine music, whose wife decides she wants a career as a singer, and sets out to develop her voice. The man's efforts to dissuade her from this course of action are as amusing as they are ingenious, and the film provides fast-mov-ing. frothy and amusing entertainment, designed to keep audiences chuckling from start to finish. Warner Baxter and Loretta Young, stars of "Wife. Doctor and Nurse," have the main roles, with Cesar Romero, Binnie Barnes Eugene Fallette, Helen West ley and J. Edward Bromberg in the other featured parts. The musical score is, despite the plot, charmfrig, and the picture should appeal to a wide variety of audiences. EMBASSY. Lavish production, fine performances by the players, and the glorious lilting music of the master waltz composer, .Tohann Strauss, combine to make "The Great Waltz," at the Embassy Theatre, a film that definitely should not be missed by patrons with a taste for music. Based on the life and works of Strauss, it captures something of the infectious gaiety of Vienna as Strauss knew it: it presents his immortal "Blue Danube" and "Tales of the Vienna Woods" in settings such ; as he might have dreamed of and its bcfrilled beauty is something that catches the heart in these days when Vienna is being ground under the iron heel of Nazidom. Fernand (Sravct, the talented French actor, is ideally cast as Strauss, and Academy Award winner Luise Rainer is charmingly impressive as his wife. The film is a triumph, however, for a Polish singing star. Miliza Korjus, who makes her screen debut in it. She has a mar- | vellous soprano voice that is ideally suited for screen recording, and, in addition, has a stately and striking type of blonde loveliness. Hugh Herbert and Lionel Atwill are also in the cast. PLAZA. Australia in the early days of its colonisation forms the background for Hal Roach's thrilling melodrama, "Captain ' Fury." a popular draw at Plaza Theatre. Brian Aheriie. who became a! prime favourite with Auckland audiences I

following his preat work in Roach'ft record- : breaking comedy. "Merrily Wo Ijive." has the title role, as a dashing ex-convict who champions the cause of the settlers in j their struggle against their oppressors. The j good-looking young Englishman is just as ruggedly assertive in the new production as he was suavely amusing in the comedy, and he makes a convincing hero. He is ably supported by burly Victor McLaglen, as his light-fingered lieutenant, and the feminine lead is expertly handled by .Tune Lang. Action is the keynote of the film, and the romance is relegated to comparatively minor importance, but Miss Lang's characterisation is charming. Paul Ltikas and the lantern-jawed John Carradine are also featured. ; | STRAND. j The predicament of the innocent man convicted of murder on circumstantial evidence, supported by mistaken eyewitness identification, and saved at the eleventh hour by new evidence unearthed j by his sweetheart, is not altogether a novel theme for a film. Aft treated in "Let Us Live," which opens at the Strand Theatre to-morrow, however, it becomes an outstanding commentary on the judiciary system, law enforcement, and the attitude of established officialdom to "little people." Brilliant dialogue is a potent factor in developing the theme into a fine picture, and credit for this is due to Anthony Veiller and Allen Rivkin, who adapted the screen play from an original story by Joseph Dinneen. They did a masterly job of work. Maureen O'Sullivan, Henry Fonda, Ralph Bellamy and Alan Baxter, the four principals, play their parts competently, and speak their significance-laden lines forcefully. "Missing Daughters," another powerful drama, completes" the new programme. Richard Arlen, Rochelle Hudson and Marion Marsh have the leading roles.