CITY THEATRES

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21685, 20 January 1936, Page 8

CITY THEATRES

CIVIC COMEDY AND MUSIC Although the present-day limitations of comedy make it almost always a craft of ingenuity, there are times when spontaneity still creeps into it. At such titties the humour is‘generally very sufficient. Jt evokes laughter, it is really funny; and since that is the business of comedy, all must be well It must certainly be said that all is well with “Are YOU a Mason?” which is being screened at the Civic Theatre this week. For that is a comedy in which Ingenuity is a subordinate quality. It is used only to find new humour in several fundamental jokes. It is, in fact, the kind of unobtrusive ingenuity that has for decades kept “Punch” a superb journal. And the nature of the film allows it to make gentle fun of a great many of those who see it. Outwardly. it appears to he a quite kindly Satire on -freemasonry. But rather it Is a rebuke to those who are not masons, but who would profess a cer- , xu^ n ? wl . edge of th P secret doings of that body. Robertson Hare, although he is not the main character, might claim the a f h + is , ow £ As a man with a P as t. he is truly fine; but he is magnificent as a man who is still a reprobate, having brilliantly evaded the incessant watchfulness of his wife bv representing himself as an exalted offlcer in the Masonic Lodge. Nobodv chackling at the thought of «lif o ii 1 t« scoUnd j el CoE ? in g borne in the small hours and earning his wife’s an. by telling her he has been J? aissi i 1 g de g r ®es at the lodge.” He has the same game successfully, by occasionally referring to an encvcloSowiv for u° y® ars * It is not so good, however, when, he meets another bogus mason, and the chief concern of each is secret signs. The second film “In Town To-night” has no purpose but to bring together wJT 16 f t shlon man y the artists who have been made popular by the gramophone and the’ radio. It is a piece. Many well-known items +£® nH^^ gain -' but because one sees “Alhprt nnH ls T an ?. d £ ed enjoyment. Albert and the Lion has been made famous here merely by Stanley Holloa/S fi , r " CO l dingS - “ ia obvS from the film, however, that part of its WeciS expression m ■-Jf?l en the film plays some Of the great a peculiar trick. Not all of them S °« thesereea hidden unsuspected so far m shidios. Exposed now, they are hnni P erfe otly to a film in which burlesque and music are twin qualities. . REGENT “BROADWAY MELODY OF 1936”

“Broadway Melody of 1036.” which is having a season at the Regent Theatre, is a remarkable film ’in many ways. In the first place the traditional slenderness of the musical comedy story has been entirely disuegarded and all the brilliant dance spectacles and choruses have been .woven into a tale that might have been quite entertaining without them. I In doing this, of course, the director

ran the risk of making some rough joints; but such was his skill that he moulded the whole film into a graceful and artistic piece of work. This is one of the many triumphs of the picture. Another la that the producers took a whole bunch of artists new to

films and tried them out in one of the year’s most elaborate productions. The success which has greeted the film, in many countries is a fitting reward for their courage. “Broadway Melody of 1930’’ tells an

old story with tremendous pace, rhythm, and enthusiasm. Roy dei Ruth has directed so expertly that the bbn never flags for a moment. The star Is Eleanor .Powell, Who has been

described a* one of the major film discoveries in the last year and a very serious rival as a tap dancer to Fred Astaire. If she can compete with his. invention, use of ballet, and perfect body, hand, and arm movement there Would seem to be no screen heights to which she cannot climb. She is also a graceful ordinary dancer and a brilliant mimic. CKYSTAL PALACE “THE PAY OFF”

It Is Hot Often that a motion picture

producer succeeds in incorporating in One film such genuine elements of drama, romance, and comedy as has Robert Florey in “The Pay Off.” Sal.“fe* yfbich heads the programme fb* Crystal Palace this, week, is excellent entertainment. A fast-moving

ft°ry of newspaper work in New York, the picture gives an illuminating- insight into the big-money sports business of the United States, which has become for many shrewd and unscrupulous persons as profitable a ’’racket” as boot-legging. The StOry concerns Joe McCoy (James Dunn), a happy-go-lucky sports writer on a big newspaper, who has earned an enviable reputation as an enemy of anything not “on the square,” Maxine (Claire Dodd), his wife, is a beautiful but entirely selfish . woman, who would rather see him

making money by “playing ball’' for the Sports racketeers. While her husband 1« covering big sports fixtures in another part of the country she becomes infatuated with Marty Bleuler night club proprietor and racketeer’ one of the chief losers through McCoy s clean sports campaign. McCoy returns to find that his wife is not friendly terms with Bleuler. but that she is deeply indebted to him f °r gambling losses at his night club. Shorf/ 6 * 3 an lnteresting Programme of STATE “TOP HAT”

- For the fourth time in a musical romance Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are starred together. The fltm In which they are appearing is “Top Rat,** which is now showing for a fourth week at the State Theatre. The outstanding merit of this film is Unquestionable.

To produce a film that will please everyone is impossible, but it is possible to produce a film that , will have a very Strong appeal to the great majority of theatregoers, and “Top Hat” can be recommended as a film that ' has been extremely popular. The credit for its sucfiS* belongs chiefly to that brilliant team, Fred .Astaire and

Ginger Rogers, who have the leading Pfrtp- . If fault was to be found with tue last production in which they were seen in Christchurch— that was “Roberta —it was that they were not allowed to have the picture to themselves. The needs of the story, of cpurse, made that impossible, but the picture was less attractive than, for Gtey Divorcee.” Astaire Hogersare so delightful in them dancing, and Astaire has such a for clever fooling, that they are always welcome. Certainly if they " can offer entertainment of such a standard as they do in picture, _ they will cominand a leading in the estimation of the public, w^ S i on in i h l c f st of Edward Horton, ® first-class comedian work is always of a uniformly XtfWs *•“” with ' i

MAJESTIC.

BORIS KARLOFF AGAIN . Boris Karloff has conie into demand with the average amueeSat seeker, and this has resulted in the ffim directors producing many thrillers with him as the principal star. With such & demand lor stories which are ‘bloodcurdUng** enough for his inimtable variety of acting, these directors have been hard put to secure suitable plots. However, for “The Raven,” which is now at the Majestic, they have delved into the past to secure ideas from that king of mystery-writers, Edgar Allan Poe. Unfortunately most of Poe’s stories are not very long and have not sufficient material to provide a full-length picture. The directors have therefore taken from several of his greatest plots the ingenious torture weapons invented by his abnormal brain. With these they have combined ““W , te " lfy ng “MKtera appliances which to the American mind make for even greater terror. Karloff perhaps owes his suitability to act in pure thrillers to his terrify-1 B? e - ..„ T > ose Y( h0 s&w the “Black 1 Room’ will be well aware of the awe his presence introduced into the film. But it can be safely said that his an-

pearance is even more ghastly m this, his. latest production, than it,has been m his former ones. THEATRE ROYAL “HARD-ROCK HARRIGAN” AND “SPRING TONIC”

The two pictures, at the Theatre Royal this week are “Spring Tonic” and “Hard-Rock HarriganThey are of' an entirely different nature, but both are among the best of their class. The first is mainly comedy, the second drama, but it has its moments of comedy and romance. Between them they offer a good evening’s entertainment. Lew Ayres and Claire Trevor, supported by the Inimitable Zasu Pitts, take the leading roles in “Spring Tonic,” and they form an efficient trio. The story concerns a very conven-

txonal young man who is about to marry a young woman to whom a very conventional life does not appeal. George O’Brien plays the title role in “Hard-Rock Harrigan.” He derives his peculiar name from his occupation, which is making tunnels in rocky country. All the action takes place at or near a big tunnel construction works. The scenes of the steam Shovels and the men at work, as well as being interesting, lend a very real atmosphere to the play. As a result, the audience is able to share in the emotions of these men in their hard and dangerous work, and their intense liking for fighting seems Inearly natural. Harrigan is an Irishman. MAYFAIR

“THANKS A MILLION” Perhaps the greatest recommendation for a musical film is that it should be considered suitable for broadcasting. “Thanks a Million,” which Is now Showing at the Mayfair Theatre, was broadcast by station 3ZM. And so prolific is the film in new musical numbers that there can be no doubt that it would make an excellent programme. There mus.t be disadvantages about only hearing the songs and dialogue, however, since there are many, comedy scenes which are srlendidly acted. Indeed. the story is one of the freshest pieces of humour that have been shown for some time. ..A .State election in America gives the opportunity for , the action. A bibulous, stupid old fellow is the candidate, chosen in desperation by one party. His general Incompetence and his habit of being drunk when he is to address electors make him the lapghlng stock of the people and the weeping-stock of his party. It seems that the party must be defeated because of its candidate. But the manager of a touring entertainment show suggests that the election, should bo contested in a new way. The audiences of the hopeless candidate should first be soothed by music and dancing. After that they would be prepared to bear with any 'campaign Speeches. .

The scheme goes wrong, however. The candidate drinks only the more, and even when he I» sober. he is still met with disapm'bval. Soon It becomes evident that the people are no longer interested in election matters. They want music. So it occurs to the committee of the political party that they would prefer to give votes to a singer than to a politician.

TIVOLI

“EONNIE SCOTLAND’* Scotland and the kilt have provided many laughs for comedians, and it waa to be expected that Laurel and Hardy should some day become McLaurel and McHardy, as they do In “Bonnie Scotland," which is now showing at the Tivoli Theatre. The' change 6f name, however, does not mean a change of character, or a loss of their own inimitable kind of humour. Laurel is still wondering, useless, and talkative, and Hardy, still hides his inefficiency by a blustering pomposity; The kilt merely provides them with an added fringe of fun. for it is the sight of these two playing about like overgrown children—in a way that many other comedians attempt WithORt achieving anything like the same situation— that makes the GRAND “THE GREAT DEFENDER” The Great Defender,” a stirring drama featuring Matheson Lang, and tfappy > a musical comedy starring Stanley Lupirio,. are the main at- & a £ lons a t the . Grand Theatre. Matheson Lang has few peers a dramatic actor, and in Gr ?? t Defender” he has a role plat enables him to give of his best in a sterling character study. Marga Bannerman > Arthur Margetson, and Sam Livesey are also in the cast, nappy x is a delightful musical that will appeal to many persons. The story concerns the adventures of an inventor who despairs of his inven-tion-ever being a success.

PLAZA

A BOY’S CLASSIC Blue seas, cut-throat privateers, roistering sailors, and sufficient hand-to-hand combats to last a wrestling enthusiast tor a lifetime are a few of the ingredients of the film version of Captain Mar.ryat’s famous adventure story, “Midshipman Easy,'* which is now showing at the Plaza Theatre. This is a film which boys of all The W “o“ i %f the film follow. Marryat’s classic with remarkable fidelity. Hughie Green, as a likeable ■if somewhat over-eager Easy; Roger Livesey, as an excellent naval captain; and Harry Tate, as hilarious Bos’n Biggs are by no means the only fine actors of a long cast, which includes some notable minor characterisations, especially those of the negro Mesty, and of bandit Don Silvio. The lastnamed is somewhat overdrawn, but no healthy boy will think so. AVON “THE DARK ANGEL” The first of the United Artists’ films for 1936, “The Dark Angel” now showing for a second week at the Avon Theatre, has an exceptionally brilliant cast, headed by four players, who are very popular, Fredric March, Merle Oberon, Herbert Marshall, and John Halliday. „ If ever there was a film that gave full measure of . emotional situations it is this one. There have been many stories of thwarted lovers,' of lovers who liave been kept apart by other people, by economic circumstances, or by their own misunderstanding—really determined misunderstanding—but “The Dark Angel” must be eminent among films of frustration. ,

“THE LAST OUTPOST” COMING

Cary Grant, Claude Rains, of “The Invisible Man” fame, Gertrude Michael, Kathleen Burke and Colin Tapley head the cast of the Paramount film, *;The Last Outpost/' which comes to the Avon Theatre soon.

It is a story of a handful of men who control the destinies of millions of people in the fierce, mysterious deserts and Jungles of Arabia. Filmed by the same company that made “The Lives of a Bengal Lancer,” this film tells of a triangular romance between two officers and a nurse in a hospital behind the firing lines. Fast friends, inseparable, the two men go through many-dangers together. Grant’s life is saved by his brother officer, who In turn, because of the girl, goes through a tremen-

dous hardship to kill him. How these two friends are reunited is told in an exlcting climax. The film was directed by Charlie Barton. . LIBERTY

“BRIGHT EYES” There are two kinds of sentimentality. Without trying to analyse either, or to explain their existence, it can be said that one is what even the most diligent reader of popular novels would call “slushy”; the other would move the heart of the hardest cynic. “Brighteyes,” the film featuring the small girl actress, Shirley Temple, which 1$ now showing at the Liberty Theatre, is unashamedly sentimental, but its sentimentality is of the better sort. r “Police Car 17.” the supporting feature, stars Tim McCoy. McCoy Is well known for his characterisations in roles that call for plenty of action, and in “Police Car 17” he has every chance to give ,o£ his best.