CITY THEATRES

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21745, 30 March 1936, Page 5

CITY THEATRES

CIVIC

“TOP HAT”

e association of two such stars „ pred Astaire and Ginger Rogers is ftpw enough guarantee of excellent Mjtertainmen t. In “Top Hat,” the curnnt attraction at the Civic Theatre. Htfio screen favourites are seen at flywr best. Excellent music, lavish Itafing. a number of spectacular new jances. and a brilliant supporting cast djauld tn-ure for this film a remarkably successful return season.

TTxe ftcry of “Top Hat,” although jjriit, thoroughly intriguing. A corner of errors, in which the principals, through a mistake in ideality are placed n embarrassing and amusing fituation : it affords much scope for $e clever fooling of an able supportjog cast of comedy stars—Edward Everett Horton. Helen Broderick, Erik jUiodes and Eric Blore. Essentially • imisit a! comedy, the film is remembered nr re for its spectacular singing jjjd dancing than for the credulity or importance of the story. Irving

Berlin already world-famous for his tong, hits- Alexander’s Ragtime Band” was hi? first great success—deserves particular commendation for the music and the lyrics. The score comprises five songs, each of which was written to fit a situation in the story; and the iplendour and lavishness of the modern musical production form a praiseworthy background for the excellence

erf the music. Fred Astaire and Miss Rogers dance pud sing with inimitable verve and appeal. Their films are always welcome. and in this one they excel. Their

dancing in the final number, the “Piccollno.” leaves nothing to be desired, and fully establishes their reputation to the title, “the king and queen of rhythm." The theme of love at fifst fight, old but romantic, is revived in this film. with, of course: Astaire and Hits Rogers as the principals. The two meet in London under most extraordinary circumstances, and the hilarious complications that arise from the

meeting form the basis of a swiftlymoving story, in which the scene changes from the staid surroundings of the Thackeray Club to the canals tad gondolas of the picturesque Lido. The supporting programme is of an equally high standard, one "short” depicting submarine animal life, being especially commendable.

AVON

“SPLENDOUR”

Nothing has been spared by Samuel Goldwyn. the producer, or by United Artists, through whom “Splendour” is brought to the screen, to make -certain of the success of the film. It is now showing at the Avon Theatre, and for those who like well-played and well-directed drama there is satisfaction in every foot of the film. The main parts are taken by Miriam Hopkins and Joel McCrea. They were

recently seen acting together in "Barbary Coast.” and the success they made of that film has been carried to I. greater heights in the present prolyl duction. I But “Splendour” is by no means a triumph for them alone. Billie Burke appears to have lost none of her unhappy knack of always saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, and the has a perfect foil for her humour in Arthur Teacher, playing as her hus-

band. Helen Westley, who played with success in “Roberta,” is yet another lof the many stars included in the cast, and also featured are Paul Cavanagh, Katherine Alexander;, and Ruth Weston. One has become used to perfect directing from the famous name of Samuel Goldwyri and equal perfection in the photography of United Artists. Their reputation has suffered no set back in the present film, which has been capably handled throughout. The story is one of the older gen-

•ration clinging to the honour of the ©id house and the family name, but in very straitened circumstances. Money must be had, and even marriages must be arranged to that end. As is natural the elder son refuses to conform to orders and marries a poor girl These parts fall to Miss Hopkins and Joel McCrea. There is the I domineering, brutal, and unfeeling I mother, played by Helen Westley. A rich young man, who can give the •on a job, demands the affection of Miss Hopkins and, so blinded to

everything by the lust of money to put the house in order is the mother, that she winks at this liaison. The

husband and wife are very much in love with each other, and when he learns of this there arises a separation. The wife goes to work as a mannequin and the' husband joins a newspaper office. The family mansion is sold without the mother’s knowledge and the husband and wife live ia happiness again, while the proceeds of the sale are distributed among the family.

The supporting programme is excellent, and further entertainment is provided by the Avon Orchestra.

TIVOLI

“THE MURDER OF DR. HARRIGAN”

The solution of two murders in a >|: hospital—those of a surgeon and a < patient on whom he is about to operate—provides the excitement in “The 1 Murder of Dr. Harrigan,” which is having a season at the Tivoli Theatre. It is the type of mystery picture that appeals to the majority, for it often a keen test of ability to solve the problem, and it is a type that on , the whole is more enjoyable than the that tells the audience at the ®ot*et who is the criminal. There are five who might reasonably oe suspect’d of the murder of Dr. Har-

but the clues prove to be misleading. The picture is true to type, the murderer is discovered in altnoit the last scene. There are all •®ts of developments to keep the audis «ice guessing. The atmosphere of in-

excitement that prevails in the hospital is communicated very effectwely to the audience, for the unfoldf I of the plot is swift and unfalterl ■ ; Happily, though, the story is not f 'Mhout its touches of comedy, adroitly . Pkced to give the grimmer scenes the lucre value*.

LIBERTY

“STORMY WEATHER”

“Stormy Weather,” a Tom Walls«*lph Lynn story, is having a season 11 the Liberty Theatre. A Gau- , toont-British picture, based on a I*>rce by Ben Travers, it is an interesthig film of piquant situations and untwist.* of comical fancy. Tom Walls has found here an exfield for his particular sort of humour—and he has in Yvonne

Arnaud and Ralph Lynn two serviceJ*l* foils. Lynn has here to play the Wfrt of a rather stupid subordinate m * large general retailers’ business. yH» is Sir Duncan Graggs, the

fcewly-appcunted chairman of directors •» the company. , .. „„ i „ Fugitive Lady,” the second attrac*f°u. introduces a lovely and talented screen star. Florence Bice, of Grantland Rice, the wellAmerican sports writer. Miss

in her initial motion picture has “dded advantage of playing oppog* Neil Hamilton and Donald Cook. ||R* ctocy. jg a romantic melodrama.

MAJESTIC

“IT»S IN THE AIR”

When two men who have never been in the air before find themselves at previously unheard-of altitudes in a stratosphere balloon, amusing situations might be expected to develop, expand. and burst. They do in “It’s in P l 6 Air,” a hilarious comedy which is having a season at the Majestic Theatre. The. basic story of a comedy must be as simple as possible. This is the old. old love story, but it is dressed in a new suit, and the new suit fits well.

Jack Benny makes an excellent gentleman trickster, but his early activities on racecourses, and in gambling schools are very puny, beside the greatest trick in which he becomes, temporarily, the tricked. Separated for some time from his wife, Una Merkel, and doggedly trailed by a Revenue Department agent, Benny determines to give up his then mqans of livelihood, find his wife, and settle down in an

honest and steady job. He finds his wife without difficulty, but with her he finds rather more trouble than he is seeking. The climax is reached with an actual balloon ascent. At the take-off the Revenue Department agent succeeds in getting into the balloon, but the ascent Has only commenced when he hastens

to leave with a parachute. Ted Healy providqs the greater part of the comedy in the air, his* clothes first seeming too cumbersome, and then greatly insufficient. Terrific storms batter the balloon until the bag commences to tear, and a wild descent from 14 miles above the earth carries them hurtling towards the ground. The supporting programme is an unusually fine one. including a cartoon, some magnificent scenes of winter sports in Austria and America, and a comedy featuring Thelma Todd.

REGENT

“MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY”

The story of Captain Bligh and the mutineers on his warship, the Bounty, one of the most amazing in British naval history, after touching up and amending at the command of Hollywood producers,*has reached the screen in “Mutiny on the Bounty,” which is the principal film at' the Regent Theatre this week. In every countryin which the film has been shown it has attracted great attention, and great

attendances. The pictorial and techni-

cal merit of the film is so high that what are popularly termed by the producers themselves “epoch-making films” will have to measure up to a new and higher standard in future—the standard of “Mutiny on the Bounty.” There are some—perhaps

not many—who yill entirely repress their admiration for the production because the producers have given fictitious twists to the real history of the mutiny. However, it is certain that their cries will be drowned amid the general applause the film will win from all the theatre-going public who are thrilled by stark drama, and who do not care a fig for history. Even in Christchurch controversy may be expected—history versus film license —so that this aspect of the film cannot be entirely overlooked. In short, "Mutiny on the Bounty” is the most stark

drama that one can remember on the screen. No public exhibition of cruelty has approached it in recent years. Charles Laughton, the greatest of the screen’s character actors, is remarkably forceful in his portrait of Bligh, but it must be added hastily that, his characterisation is so lurid that is ceases to have any light and shade. Mainly because of this Laugh-

ton makes Bligh—one of the most famous martinets —a perverted, repulsive, mean-minded lunatic, and to say that this is even substantially supported by history is to stretch the truth to breaking point. Bligh’s megalomaniac antics in the opening section of the film, during the voyage of the tiny craft, will cause

wide-eyed amazement. However, there are some magnificently powerful scenes when Bligh fights the elements in an open boat and these would have been given additional weight if only Bligh had been previously established as a human being. The later scenes, bojft at Tahiti and Pitcairn, are remarkable. Franchot Tone appears as a midshipman, and Herbert Mundin, Eddie Quillan, Dudley Digges, and Francis Lister are others in the cast.

There is a delightful coloured cartoon in the short supporting programme.

PLAZA

“GENTLEMEN OF THE NAVY”

Sir Guy Standing and Richard Cromwell played well together in “Lives of a Bengal Lancer.” This success is repeated in “Gentlemen of the Navy,” the current attraction at the Plaza Theatre. Sir Guy, in particular, gives

a splendid performance and is chiefly responsible for making the film the good one which it is. As Commander Fitzhugh, Sir Guy makes this person appear the very man he is intended to be—an old retired naval officer who lives principally in the past and has a profound contempt for the modern navy. In the earlier

scenes the audience sees in him an object of fun, but later, when he imagines himself to be once again in command of his old ship, Congress, and he issues orders to a crew which

he imagines is under his command, he is a pitiful, but courageous old fellow whom one cannot help admiring. Richard Cromwell’s acting as Boyce Avery, a young midshipman in the United States Naval Academy, is of a high standard, but it cannot compare with that of Sir Guy, who gives a really excellent performance. Avery’s room-mate, and rival, at the academy is Click Haley, acted by Tom Brown. The film reveals the training, educa-

tion, and romances of the midshipmen at the naval academy. This is not an unusual theme for a film, but the accurate picture of life in a naval academy as shown in this picture can have been rivalled in few previous films. This may be because “Gentlemen of the Navy” is the first film

in which the American Government has permitted such definite scenes of life in the army and navy to be shown. There are in the supporting programme at leapt two films which would be worth seeing alone. They are “Babies in Hollywood,” an amateur attempt at producing films, and “Henry, the T Funniest Living American.” The latter feature well supports the claim made in its title.

GRAND

“THE FIRE RAISERS”

A dramatic and spectacular thriller, “The Fir<* Raisers,” is having a season at the Grand Theatre. In this film, the principal roles are played by Leslie Banks, Anne Grey and Carol Goodner, all of whom give excellent performances. Included in the film are a number of amazing scenes which picture the wholesale destruction of buildings and the exploding and sinking of a hner at sea. The realism and tenseness of a thrilling story have been successfully captufedland the result is excellent en-

‘ e ”m™ en on a Honeymoon” Is a in which galyEtoj and Zasu Pitts head the cast. Charles Starrett, the young man who gave so excellent a performance in Mr Ikitch ” has the masculine lead oppose Miss Filers. The comedy situations of rwhich there are many, a?e portrayed by that hilarious comedienne, Zasu ?itts. '

MAYFAIR

“THE LITTLEST REBEL”

Shirley Temple, in her fifth picture, “The Littlest Rebel,” which is showing for a third week at the Mayfair Theatre, once more charms her audiences with her bright and natural manner, her lively tap dancing, and her singing. Sceptical people have prophesied that this very young actress would soon become, spoiled by the

publicity that inevitably accompanies star acting; they had thought that all childish charm would disappear and that Shirley Temple would become an unattractive, forward little prodigy; yet this has not happened. For the fifth time this child ha; made a successful picture and for the fifth time she has made a picture in which she 'appears as an unsophisticated, refreshingly simple little girl playing her part with naive spontaneity. There is not

the slightest suggestion that this'young actress has been given her lines to learn by heart; she has the happy gift of speaking her part as if she had just that moment thought of the words she meant to say. It is the same with her actions and with her singing. She settles herself quite naturally and announces that she will sing to her audience; the result is ilnstudied and

therefore most pleasing. The story of “The Littlest Rebel comes from the American Civil War. Shirley Temple plays the part of Virgie, daughter of Captain Cary (John Boles), of the Confederate army; her

mother (Karen Morley) and father have taught Virgie never to tell a lie. But as the trouble between North and South becomes more acute and Captain Cary has to take graver risks for his army, things become very unhappy for the people who live at the Cary home. In the supporting programme there are several interesting news reels and two educational pictures, one of Hawaii and a particularly good film showing the mysterious island of San Nicholas. There is excellent photography in this educational support.

STATE

“DIAMOND JIM”

A story that carries one back to the days when America knew nothing of the Eighteenth Amendment, when policemen wore helmets and were not called “officer,” and when every second name heard in New York was an Irish one, is featured in “Diamond Jim,” which is having a season at the State Theatre. Edward Arnold, the star, has been prominent

in several recent films for the sincerity of his character acting, and “Diamond Jim” gives him a renjarkable opportunity. The picture is based on a famous American, James Buchanan Brady, whose name was well-known in ’eighties of last century for his free spending, big-heartedness, and for his passion for diamonds. The life of this famous character is shown from the time when he finds opportunity beckoning him from the humdrum security of his job as baggage-man on a rural railway station. His genial disposition, ready wit, and native ingenuity make his career a progression from one success to another, and he soon finds himself a railroad million-

aire. . , The story does not offer sensational episodes and denouements. It develops smoothly, providing a character study which is enlightened by many bursts of irresistible humour. Edward Arnold dominates the whole cast by the perfection of his acting, but excellent support is given by Binnie Barnes and Jean Arthur and other members of a large cast. The supporting programme provides an interesting selection of news items, and there is a delightful colour cartoon entitled “Candyland,” and an entertaining musical variety feature.

CRYSTAL PALACE

“TWO HEARTS IN HARMONY” AND “VILLAGE TALE”

Two excellent films, one British and one American, are now showing at the Crystal Palace Theatre, Two Hearts in Harmony,’ the pain attraction, is a novel and exceedingly well-acted picture, and is filled with very tuneful songs. It is a comedy with a pleasant romantic interest, and a

thoroughly entertaining and unusual plot. The story moves rapidly in a series of well-varied episodes to a very satisfactory ending. The picture opens with a marionette show, an opportunity for presenting a Sfine little piece of entertainment in the film. One of the women who, running the show, does the soprano singing for one of the dolls, becomes dissatisfied with her position and seeks a new job. She finds the opportunity of posing for an artist who designs stained glass windows, but by mistake the address given her is that of a young widowed nobleman.

“Village Tale,” the second film, is in marked contrast to the first. It is a very thoughtful study of the life of an American small town, outstanding most of all for the excellent characterisation. The collection of stupid and petty villagers who gathen at the drug store every evening to drink, exchange gossip, and plan to make the lives of others as miserable as possible, is very well portrayed. The atmosphere of the place is caught admirably, and the story, though grim in parts, has many humorous episodes. The main actors are Randolph Scott and Kay

Johnson, and there is a very good supporting cast. . During the interval the songs of Miss Khodg Rain ton, in male impersonations, form an item which is much appreciated by the audience.