CITY THEATRES

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21255, 29 August 1934, Page 8

CITY THEATRES

CIVIC «THE LADY IS WILLING" The Civic Theatre this week has an excellent programme, and one that will find favour with all picture-goers. The main film. "The Lady is Willing," is a comedy-drama, with plenty of romance and full of delightful humour. Leslie Howard has never acted so well before as In "The Lady la Willing," and he portrays the suave, engaging and fascinating rogue to perfection. Other members of the cast include Binnie Barnes, last seen in "Henry VIII." as Helene Dupont, the wife oiihe wealthy financier, Gustav Dupont (Sir Cedric Hardwicke). What happens when a kidnapped woman falls in love with her captor and refuses to be ransomed provides material for a story that has not one dull moment.

The popular organist, Miss Iris Mason, is also heard in new numbers on the grand organ. Box plans are open at the theatre from 10 a.m. daily. "THAT'S A GOOD GIRL" Outstanding appreciation wherever shown has greeted Jack Buchanan's latest musical production "That's a Good Girl," and on Saturday next picturegoers will be given an opportunity to witness this brilliant attraction when it begins its Christchurch season at the Civ cTh atre. His dc'.ightful T : -nlity hi purity of English : ■ •-ch, his v-rsai";iy in singing, cueing, and aciing havj all combined to make Jack Buchanan one of the greatest favourites of the present day, and in "That's a Good Girl' r he is given every opportunity of displaying his ability. Supporting Buchanan are Elsie Randolph and Vera Pearce, both of whom will be remembered for their performances in "Yes, Mr Brown.'* The story concerns a young man who In order to Inherit money, has to marry his pretty cousin to some eligible bachelor., His choice falls on the lover of a temperamental opera star, and from then on complication follows complication, in which endless humour is mingled with really clever work. The music is tuneful, and "Fancy Our Meeting," "Now That I've Found You," "So Green," and "Oo La La" are all sung in the inimitable Jack Buchanan style. Three excellent supports and the personal appearance of Miss Iris Mason at the grand organ complete an outstanding programme. Booking has already commenced, and the management asks patrons to avoid disappointment by making early application for reserves at the theatre, where plans are now open. REGENT "AUNT SALLY" "Aunt Sally," produced in the Gainsborough studios, is a picture thaf'has two very adequate recommendations: the singing and dancing are good, and the acting of Cicely Courtneidge is excellent. The opening of the film is inauspicious, until this fine comedy actress makes her appearance and changes its character completely. She possesses a decided screen personality, the power of rapid and effective changes of expression, and her burlesque dancing, and, one might fairly add, her burlesque singing, are splendid. There is a story which hangs together well, provides an excellent medium for the exploitation of Cicely Courtneidge's talent, and can be regarded as quite sufficient for the purpose. Sally, otherwise Cicely Courtneidge, arrives from Cardiff and endeavours to secure employment with Mr Michael Kelly, who, since his arrival from New York, has been endeavouring to establish himself in the night club business. Sally proceeds to demonstrate that her jest—-my middle name is repartee"—was not altogether an idle one; so effectively, in fact, that she finds herself turned forcibly away from Mr Kelly's presence. Undeterred, with a quick change of costume and accent, she reappears as Mademoiselle Zaza, and in this guise soon obtains the part of leading lady and a place in Mr Kelly's heart. Certain sinister gentlemen from America, however, who have followed Mr Kelly to London to keep in touch with his activities, abduct Mademoiselle Zaza and demand sums of money for her release. Her escape from their hands is a richly humorous episode. While "Aunt Sally" is designed to show Cicely Courtneidge at her best, a fact which alone strongly recommends the picture, the minor parts are all competently rendered. The supports, including a News Reel, a cartoon, and scenes of Buckingham Palace, are of high quality. "RIPTIDE" SENIA CHOSTIAKOFF Norma Shearer offers another of her magnetic and fascinating performances as a modern woman with ultra-modern ideas in "Riptide," the latest Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production which will j be presented at the Regent Theatre on I Saturday. Lavishly produced, brilliantly enacted by its star and an impressive supporting cast, "Riptide" provides an entertainment of distinction in every phase of motion picture artistry. As Lady Rexford, Norma Shearer is superb and is ably supported by Herbert Marshall and Robert Montgomery. "Riptide" reveals Norma Shearer as a very modern young woman who is unafraid of life, entrusting her emotions to an honesty of expression, regardless of consequences. Married to a matter-of-fact English peer, she becomes stifled in an atmosphere of smug oppression. From this sheltered life she finds, exhilaration In the mad pursuit of a former sweetheart who willingly renews the chase of earlier days. Ensuing situations bring about a marital deadlock and a most unusual climax. I Included in the impressive cast are Mrs Patrick Campbell, Ralph Forbes, the late Lillian Tashman, Arthur Jarrett, Geo. K. Arthur, Marilyn Spinnert, and Halliwell Hobbs. A special attraction will be the appearance on the stage of Senia Chostiakoff. the celebrated Russian tenor who recently toured the world as the principal soloist of the Don Cossack Choir. Senia Chostiakoff will sing a number of his most popular songs accompanied by an orchestra. The box plans for the brief season are now open at the Regent Theatre. GRAND "ALICE IN WONDERLAND" The magnificent screen version of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland," which was such a success at the Regent Theatre, has been transferred to the Grand Theatre. The cherished story has received only the kindest treatment by those who adapted it for the screen. It has been trimmed; but, so cleverly that the story flows on its even way and there is no sense of anything essential missing. Alice's wanderings in the land of phantasy and topsy-turveydom are faithfully recorded and the strange creatures she met on her journey have come to life. They are not merely clever characterisations. They are Sir John Tenniel's pictures stepped from the pages of the book. No praise can be too great for the child Alice, as played by Charlotte Henry.

PLAZA GRACIE FIELDS IN "LOVE, LIFE, AND LAUGHTER" ! In "Love, Life, and Laughter," the new Gracie Fields film which is being shown at the Plaza Theatre, there are considerable stretches when Gracie ceases to be audacious, impudent, mocking, ribald, irrepressibly light-hearted. The cause is in the story, which gives her the part of an inn-keeper's daughter, in love with the heir to the little Kingdom of Granau, and loved by him, but firm enough to send him away to his duty, when the king dies, and to keep him to it, when he is Hesitating to make a necessary political marriage. During these parts of the film it is Gracie's business to subdue her spirits and to leave the broadest comedy to the soldiers and bandsmen and flunkeys of the Court of Granau —an accomplished troupe of ciowns. Their farcical performance at the railway station and the palace, where Gracie receives the musical and military honours intended for the young king's future queen, could hardly be bettered. Gracie herself, in these circumstances, can only introduce into the pathetic song, "I'm a Failure," one of her saxophone twiddles, sad and ironical now, and scrub and dress and encourage the princess with delicious vigour. When her heroic, self-sacrificing part is over, she swings into the exhilarating song, "Love, Life and Laughter," and ends the picture happily among the orphanage chil ren tor whom she has brought back pockets full of money iiorn Granau, and in whose cause she hit the old king's chamberlain in the i o Wich an ornig.. ..mong itu su,jp.,rts first place beings to a coloured cartoon. "The Little Red Hen," which makes it appear that Walt Disney has at least one rival. An Australian newsree), pictures of Venice taken by a rather too meltingly romantic cameraman, and a pleasantly various Pathe Pictorial complete the programme. TIVOLI "TURKEY TIME" A comedy with the whole delicious Aldwych team in it, Tom Walls, Ralph Lynn, Robertson Hare, and Mary Brough, can generally be relied on to be amusing. There have been exceptions, it is true, but "Turkey Time," the team's latest effort which is now being shown at the Tivoli, Is noi one of them. On the contrary, it is as good as anything the team has yet made, a really delightful show. The team is in its best form. Tom Walls reassumes the cloak of suave villainy that he wore in "Plunder," this time with the addition of a little Wild West "he-rnan stuff." Lynn is as charmingly futile as ever; there never was so hen-pecked a husband as Robertson Hare, and never was there a landlady so determined not to be "put upon" as Mary Brough, rejoicing this time in the delightful name of "Mrs Gather."

The irrepressible Walls and Lynn are the guests of their cousins, Mr and Mrs Stoatt, Walls being engaged to Mrs .Stoatt's sister. Mr and Mrs Stoatt are pillars of society and models of respectability; care-free Tom Walls has just returned from 15 years in Montana; Ralph Lynn is Ralph LynnNaturally the respectable Mr and Mrs Stoatt soon begin to find their guests a little difficult. The supporting programme is entertaining, containing an excellent dancing ball cartoon, two English news reels, and an American musical. CRYSTAL PALACE ROMANCE AND COMEDY A startling romance, "The Song of Songs," with Marlene Dietrich starred in what is rightly claimed as her best picture, and "His Doubie Life," a comedy, make the double-feature programme which is being shown at the Crystal Palace. Marlene Dietrich readily became one of the foremost stars in Hollywood after her "discovery" in Germany by Josef von Sternberg, and many will remember with satisfaction her performances in "Morocco," and "Shanghai Express." In "The Songs of Songs" her director is Rouben Mamoulian, who produced "Love Me To-night" and "Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde"—to mention only two—and she has given him her finest act " ing performance. The cast supporting iVlarlene Dietrich includes Alison Skipworth, Brian Aherne, and Lionel Atwill, and to each of those must go high praise. The other film, "His Double Life," has a lively theme which sets off as i ccrnedy but broadens to farce. Lilian Gish is charming in the role of a matter-of-fact woman who "catches" the butler through a matrimonial agency. MAJESTIC "THE LAST ROUND-UP" If the now popular song, "The Last Round-up," has come to be regarded as the swan-song of the wild west and of the cowboy-brigand, then it can properly be said that the picture of the same name interprets the song truly. In any case the producers showed sagacity in selecting for his Zane Grey story a title which must have such a wide immediate appeal. The film is a sincere interpretation of Zane Grey's famous novel, "The Border Legion." Perhaps, of all the stories by that author which have been used as the basis for screen entertainment, this one has responded best to film treatment. Even shorn of the sentimental appeal of the song itself, the talkie would attract strongly: there are certainly occasions when, in scenes of deep dramatic intensity, the intrusion of the theme song is unwelcome, but even in the song there is a pathetic appeal, and an appropriateness to the occasion, which lifts it well above the ordinary run of American musical importations. "The Last Round-up" shows all the best qualities of the wild western film—plenty of the wide, open spaces, plenty of sunshine and of the vigorous action of men and horses; not too many close-ups of harrowing deaths; and simple and clean romance. There is a new thrill when real sound Is given to the thunder of horses' hoofs, to the bark of rifle and revolver, and even to the wind in the trees and the running waters of great rivers. There is a straight-out appeal to the senses and the imagination in this medium, which explains its great popularity and gives reason to the fairly persistent demand for a return of the cowboy and the' outlaw film of some years ago. A fine cast, including Monte Blue, Randolph Scott, and Fred Kohler, and the one lonely woman in the story, Barbara Adams, does much by restraine 1 acting to lift the film to a high level. A short of the first Rugby test in Australia is included in the interesting supporting programme.

THEATRE ROYAL "THE BOWERY" The bright comedy-drama, ""Looking for Trouble" (Spencer Tracy and Jack Oakie), will be presented finally on Friday at the Theatre Royal. When factions descended to a thorough argument in New York's famous "Bowery" in the years just before the beginning of the present century, ardent partisans apparently did everything but wreck the district. But Wallace Beery and George Raft, as rival ward leaders, give their own interpretation of the conduct of affairs in the splendid Twentieth Century film, "The Bowery," which comes to the Theatre Royal on Saturday, and a very satisfactory interpretation it is, too. It seems from this production that the screen has hit upon another highly successful pair of comedians. There has been no other film like "The Bowery," which deals exclusively with an age which is remembered only in story and perhaps legend. Beery is introduced to the auiience as Chuck Connors, a ward "boss" and saloon-keeper in the days when saloons were really saloons. He does not disguise his rugged nature, but with all his faults he has noble impulses which are best reflected when he gives sanctuary to a waif, played by Jackie Cooper, and an innocent girl who seems likely to be submerged in the sordid life of the neighbourhood. If there is one properly disturbing element in the life of Chuck Connors—he manages with conspicuous success to overcome such minor trials as occasional brawls with the unruly, and strife with the ardent prohibitionist, Carrie Nation—it is provided by Raft. As a leader of partisans, Raft, who takes the part of Steve Brodie, another "boss," is provoking enough, but his principal delight consists in practical jokes directed against his rival, whose rather heavy wits are incapable of providing subtle rebuffs. The story goes on rapidly through uproarious stages, although there are elements of pathos which provide a deeper note suggestive of the grim atmosphere which lurked behind life in the Bowery, and at one stage it seems that Raft has gained the upper hand. Jackie Cooper brings in a strong human touch, and the girl in the story is played charmingly by Fay Wray. A first-class list of supports will include "The Big, Bad Wolf," Walt Disney's latest Silly Symphony in colour. This "short" is the sequel to the world-famed "Three Little Pigs." Box plans are at the D.I.C. LIBERTY "BIG CITY BLUES" AND "LAZY RIVER" An entertaining film of life in New \ork is "Big City Blues," one of the two new films at the Liberty this week. It is a vivid and well constructed picture of adventure and excitement, with effective scenes of New York night life. Its story is about a young man on his first visit to the city who meets by chance a city-wise chorus girl, who proceeds to "show him the town." Joan Blondell and Eric Linden are the stars of the picture which has a large cast.

The second film on the programme is a mixture of comedy and drama. and entertaining comedy and drama it is. "Lazy River" is a story of the Ascendants of the French settlers in the mysterious swamps and backwaters of Louisiana. Heading the cast are Robert Young, as a former convict who strays into the settlement,

and Jean Parker, as one of the beauties of the place, with whom lie fall a in love.