AMUSEMENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 180, 31 July 1940, Page 16

AMUSEMENTS.

"CHARLIE CHAN'S MURDER CRUISE." ROXY-TIVOLI. Charlie Chan Sidney Toler Paula Drake Marjorie Weaver Dr. Sudcrman Lionel Atwill Jimmy Chan Sen Yunj Dick Kenyon Robert Lowery Director : Lew Landers. Universal. Also: "FRAMED." starring Rot>ert Armstrong. Variety is the keynote of the new programe which was shown for the first time to-day at the Roxy and Tivoli Theatres, for on the one bill is a thrilling melodrama, a Charlie Chan feature and a singing song of the range. First on the bill is "Framed," a melodrama starring Robert Armstrong, Constance Moore and Frank Albertson. An absorbing story is told of how a gang of unscrupulous blackmailers is brought to justice. Latest of the famous screen series whose popularity never seems to drop, "Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise" stars again the able Sidney Toler, with subordinate parts played by Marjorie Weaver, Lionel Atwill and Don Reddoe. The starting point is Honolulu, whence the story moves aboard ship and then to San Francisco. We find Chan being informed by a Scotland Yard man in disguise of a world cruise party which has been losing numerical strength and emotional composure through the operations of an unknown criminal. Chan tackles the problem with his usual good humour and pithy proverbs. To complete a film treat, the Roxy and Tivoli are showing "Cupid Rides the Range." in which the stars are Ray Whitley and his 8-Bar-B Cowboys. ST. JAMES' THEATRE. A light-hearted comedy produced by the redoubtable Ernst Lubitsch, "The Shop Around the Corner." will follow "Judge Hardy and Son" at St. .Tames' Tiieatie this week and have its initial Auckland screenings there on Friday. James Stewart an<l Margaret Stillavan take pride of place in the cast list, but other nutab'e players who are prominent include Frank Morgan, Joseph Schildkraut, Sara Hadta.i Felix Bressart and Inez Courtney. The story revolves around a novel theme, tne

two leading characters being depicted as co-workers in a chop in Budapest. They quarrel incessantly, but unbeknown to each other they are at the same time conducting a mutually anonymous correspondence. The manner in which they are brought to a common realisation of this makes for great entertainment, handled 'n the typical Lubitsch style. Adroit direction and the uncanny sense he has of guiding a story to get the best out of it are very evident. "The Shop Around tiie Corner ' can be unreservedly recomnitndcl, too, on the vote of many overseas ciitks. REGENT THEATRE. "Safari," the excit'iag drama which is now in season at the Regent Theatre, is graced with one of the finest casts seeu here for many a day. First there is the beautiful Madeleine Carroll, co-starred with Douglas Fairbanks. Then, interesting to most: is the reappearance of the Italian singer Tullio Carminati, after a long absence. He plays a moie serious role than formerly, and pi iys it to perfection. Others in the cast are the young English girl Muriel Angelus, who here has her second Hollywood role, and the comedian Lynne Overman. A picture with many features of appeal, it lias its locale in the jungle of Africa, when the main characters in the plot are thrown together in primitive surroundings on a hunting trip. There is a handsome young American hunter, who guides the party; a wealthy sportsman:

and the girl, who ia mourning bhe loss of 'her lover in the Spanish War. Their adventures together makf for engrossing entertainment. I2dward H. Griffith, who produced, did so with deft touches, and the film rune at a fast pace throughout. CENTURY THEATRE. "Irene,' the latest screen version of the famous musical comedy of the early 1920'5. comes to the Century Theatre on" Friday, and the nofed English actress Anna Xeagle is entrusted with the main part of the mercurial, impudent lass whose name gives the picture its title. Miss Xeagle plays a part directly opposite to her more serious parts of recent' pictures, such as "Xurse Edith Cavell - ' and "Queen Victoria," and it is stated overseas that she makes a complete success of it. Also in the cast are Kay Milland. Roland Young, Alan Marshall, May Robson. Billie Burke, Arthur Treacher. Marsha Hunt, Isabel Jewell and Stuart Robertson —an almost unbeatable selection of talent in the one film. Herbert Wilcox directed the film. He has been associated with Miss Xeagle in a series of films dating back to "Xell Gwyn." The musical side of the show is stated to be

outstanding, with the highlight a scene in which a negro swing interpretation is presented of "Alice Blue Gown," a number in the original, just as popular as ever. MAJESTIC THEATRE. [ Three thrilling action features will be presented on the same programme when, at the Majestic Theatre on Friday, a new serial, a Hopalong Cassidy Western and a melodrama starring Victor McLaglen are set down for screening. The serial is the Universal production of "The Green Hornet," and its popularity in other spheres should be repeated on the screen. William Boyd, one of the most popular Western stars ever to appear in films, has the main role in "State Coach War," which has Hopalong Cassidy engaged in an exciting battle to prevent the robbery of gold shipments. Assistance is provided in the film by Russell Havden, Britt Wood. Harvey Stephens, J. Farrell Mac Donald and Julie "The Big Guy," the other film, stars Victor McLaglen and t'.ie outstanding youth, Jackie Cooper. This is a prison drama presenting McLaglen as a

warden temporarily appointed, and so distressed by possible demotion that he steals funds. Cooper has one of the best roles of a remarkable career as a youth wrongly convicted of murder. CIVIC THEATRE. The boisterous Wallace Beery has a role that suite him down to tile ground in "The Man From Dakota." which on Friday is scheduled to have its"initial Auckland showings at the Civic Theatre. The next players of imr>ortance are John Howard and Dolores Del Rio, and the three make a complete success of the film. Others in the cast are Donald Meek, Robert Barrat and Addison Richards. A mixture of melodrama an.-l comedy against a background of the Civil War. Beery is cast as a lazy old soldier, and in the first scenes he and Howard, both union soldiers, escape from a rebel prison camp. They come upon a Riu«sian girl, who has just shot a Confederate officer in self-defence. From the dead man fchev find a plan to break the Union Army. Then they realise they must get to General Grant*in time to warn him. The manner in which they eventually do stop him from walking into the trap is accompanied by dozens of thrilling sequences. Lesli? Fen-ton directed "The Man From Dakota," which is a really worth while film.