REGENT

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21245, 17 August 1934, Page 6

REGENT

"ALICE IN WONDERLAND" I i "The Mystery of Mr X" will be screened finally to-night at the Regent Theatre. "Alice in Wonderland'' will be the major attraction at the Regent Theatre to-morrow. With Charlotte Henry playing the title role, the film offers Lewis Carroll's immortal classic with such surprising realism that the fantastic figures seem to be alive. Pictorially the picture is perfect. Costumes and sets have been copied exactly from the drawings in the first edition of "Alice." All the actors—and the cast includes more than 40 big "names"—are made up with equal attention to detail. Charlotte Henry makes a charming and very real "Alice." Paramount had more than 7000 applicants for the role, and could not have found a better choice if 10 times the number had applied. She is natural, she looks the part, and has considerable acting ability. Others in the cast are: Richard Arlen, Rosco Ates, Gary Cooper, Leon Errol, W. C. Fields, Skeets Gallagher, Gary Grant, Raymond Hatton. Edward Everett Horton. Baby Leßoy, Mae Marsh. Polly Moran, Edna May Olliver, May Robson, Charlie Ruggles, Alison Skip- i worth. Ned Sparks, and Ford Sterling. j "Alice" is a fantasy; it is a comedy; it is a picture of peculiar beauty. Children as well as adults will enjoy it. Box plans are at the D.I.C. CRYSTAL PALACE j "SEARCH FOR BEAUTY" "Fra DiavokV* and "This Side of Heaven" will be screened finally tonight at the Crystal Palace Theatre. With a cast picked from thousands ' of aspirants for film fame from the British Empire and the United States, the Paramount comedy, "Search for Beauty." which will open at the Crystal Palace to-morrow, should be j a sure success. New Zealand audiences : will find it all the more enjoyable be- ' cause of the appearances of the win- I ners of the "Search For Beauty" contest. The Dominion is represented by Colin Tapley, who won a seven vears' contract out of the film, and Joyce Neilson, of Wellington. Tapley gets ample scope to show his ability and reveals a good presence and a pleasant film voice. The principals, Buster Crabbe and Ida Lupino, appear as swimming-title winners at an Olympic Games meeting, who form a happy international alliance as jointeditors of a physical culture magazine, backed by the "racketeering" promoters, Robert Armstrong and James Glcason. Dissatisfied with the use of their j names in connexion with cheap jour- j nalism. they elect to take over, en | bloc, a moribund health-farm and en- i sure success by engaging as instructors ; the winners of the "Search for Beauty" j contest. | The use of hypnotism to cause a ; man to commit murder without being conscious of the deed is the exciting theme of the second feature, "The Witching Hour." The climax- is a sensational trial scone, in which the «e- ; cased man's counsel tricks the villain of the story into giving the jury prac- , tical proof of his hypnotic: power, thus convincing llicm that the defence is a | reasonable one. Sir Guy Standing. • John Hallido", and Judith Allen lire the stars. Box plans are the D.I.C ! TIVOLI ' i | JOHN BOLLS AND GLORIA j STUART IN "BELOVED" j I "Bolero" Will be shown finally to- | night at the Tlvoli Theatre. i "Beloved." which will head the new ; proi/nimme at the Tivoli Theatre to- ; morrow, addresses itself to the soul : of music, and to the soul of love. In | commenting on this charming picture. ; the "Saturday Review" pointed out the difficulty of spanning a century in a dramatic presentation, and remarked that John Boles had the knack of growing old convincingly. Certainly ho has undertaken a part beyond his usui.il acting range: his singing is always' welcome; and he presents the old com- [ poser not only as a musical purist but | as a lovable character. Gloria Stuart; makes a notable contribution to the ■ romance and devotion of the story, j which has caught what is best in the ; spirit of the nineteenth century, with its atmosphere of lavender and old | lace. i "Beloved" is a musical romance. It I covers a romantic hundred-year period i The development of music during that . time is the motif, beginning with a ■ string quartet in a Viennese salon and ; ending with a symphonic orchestra in , America in 103-f. John Boles sings a number of songs in "Beloved." If is | a gentle and lunching love story set l in a suitable setting of music. The tale is that of Carl Hausmann, and it starts in his early youth and progresses with him through a richly coloured and I eventful life of love and aspiration, ' heart-break, and desperation. The sup- j porting cast, includes Mickey Rooney, , Edmund Breeze, Mae Busch. Jimmy j Butler, Lucille Glcason, and Ruth.) Hall. Box plans are at the D.T.C. ; - -- i MAJESTIC "MANHATTAN MELODRAMA" "Call It Luck" and "Aniakchak" will be shown finally to-night at the Majestic Theatre. "Manhattan Melodrama," which provides first-class entertainment, studded with dramatic and emotional scenes, and a generous sprinkling of comedy incidents and characters, will be the featured attraction al the Majestic I Theatre to-morrow. The Galaxy of screen stars assembled in Hs action to j support the powerfully-acted studies of American life presented by Clark Gable, William Powell, and Myrna Loy is bound to delight the regular picture i patrons. Clark Gable gives probably the most compelling performance of his career in "Manhattan Melodrama." With Myrna Loy and William Powell prominently cast, the picture is most absorbing entertainment. The film begins with a prologue re-enacting the fire and panic aboard the excursion I steamer General Slocum, in New York harbour in 1904, when hundreds were killed. In this horror two young boys lose their parents. They grow to manhood in a slum. Gable plays the young man who has grown up highspirited, reckless, an underworld gambler, but very likeable and—to the ' ladies—fascinating. Powell, studious ' in his youth, rises to bo a brilliant j barrister. Gable has a woman friend, | played by Myrna Loy. who leaves him for Powell. Although the three still . remain comrades, Powell fast climbs j the ladder of fame, and becomes state j attorney, with another short step to , governor. It is at this stage that ! Gable shoots a blackmailer who might; | have prevented Powell's election, and lands himself in a position from which only Powell and his wife can save him. From here on the audience has many surprises awaiting it. In parts the film is effervescent with humour, in others tensely dramatic. j Box plans are at the D.I.C. ; ! i

GRAND "KING OF THE JUNGLE" •'The Thundering Herd" will be presented finally to-night at the Grand Theatre. I "King of the Jungle," which will be- | gin a return season at the Grand | Theatre to-morrow, is something new iin animal pictures. Buster Crabbe, ! holder of world records for several ; aquatic events and a number of the I American Olympic swimming teams ! for 1928 and 1932, makes his screen debut in the role o£ the Lion Man in this thrilling drama. Crabbe is cast as a youth who, orphaned in the African ; jungle at an early age, grows up with a pack of roaming lions, and ultimately ; becomes their leader. | Box plans are at the D.I.C.