CITY THEATRES

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22073, 22 April 1937, Page 3

CITY THEATRES

AVON "THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1937" "The Big Broadcast of 1937," which is showing-at the Avon Theatre this week, succeeds admirably in making a smooth and entertaining story out of a series of brilliant and hilarious variety acts. The film is a thoroughly enjoyable one from every point of view, from the absurdities offered by Gracie Allen and George Burns to the opportunity of hearing Leopold Stokowskis Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestra. "Men are Not Gods" Miriam Hopkins, the greatest American actress to make a film in England, and at the height of her brilliant career, has a grand role in 'Men are not Gods," which will begin at the Avon Theatre to-morrow. She plays Ann Williams, impulsive secretary to the theatre critic of the "Daily Post. Born in Georgia in 1904, she made her first stage appearance in New York at the Music Box Theatre, as a dancer in 1921, but her film career dates only from 1930. Her recent pictures are a long list of successes? including "Design for Living," "Becky Sharp," "Barbary Coast," "Splendour," and "These Three." The combination of this experienced emotional actress and glamorous star with a dynamic director such' as Walter Reisch should have most interesting results. It is Ann's falsely reported criticism of the "Othello" first night that makes a young actor, Edmond Davey, the name part, famous overnight. Ann. who loses her job for distorting the criticism, goes to see the actor from the gallery and becomes infatuated with him. She gets to know him well, but gives him up when Edmond's wife begs her to do so. In a thrilling and dramatic climax Ann is the means of stopping Edmond from killing his wife while they are appearing together on the stage. Sebastian Shaw, who plays the principal role of Edmond Davey, an actor, has played a large and varied number of roles on the stage. His film appearances include "Brewster's Millions" and "Jury's Evidence," but his leading part in "Men are not Gods" is by far the most important screen role he has so far been awarded. 1 There are several interesting features in this production. The actual waiters and waitresses of the famous "Cheshire Cheese" appear in the sequences reproducing the famous Fleet Street hostelry. Scenes showing the Savoy Hotel are enhanced by the appearance of well-known personalities including Charles Laughton, Marlene Dietrich, and Noel Coward. CRYSTAL PALACE DOUBLE-FEATURE BILL A bright double-feature programme that should have a popular appeal, is showing at the Crystal Palace. "Off to the Races" is a bright comedy of trotting, with the lugubrious Slim Summerville as the owner of a very promising young colt. "Woman Wise," the second attraction, is a clever admixture of the more exciting moments of sporting journalism. "They Wanted to Marry" and "Conflict" Hilarious comedy played against a background of a newspaper cameraman's adventures forms the theme of "They Wanted to Marry," RKO Radio's latest screen romance, which comes to the Crystal Palace to-morrow with "Conflict." The picture deals with the love affair between a roving photographer and a society heiress. They fall in love soon after meeting at a fashionable wedding, but no matter what road they take toward getting married, they wind up in the city gaol without benefit of matrimony. This result is discouraging to the two participants, but it offers plenty of laughter to the audience. Jack London was the master fiction writer of the last generation. His magic still lives to-day. One of his outstanding tales, "The Abysmal Brute," has been adapted for the screen under the title of "Conflict." The dramatic narrative sets forth the struggle of two men for mastery. One of them is a treacherous prize-fighter who gains his money by cheating the simple folk of small towns in California |p 1890. The other is a cleanlimbed giant who defeats him in an exciting manner. John Wayne has the leading role. CIVIC EXCELLENT JOSEPH CONRAD DRAMA I j Joseph Conrad is perhaps one of the greatest adventure writers which this century has produced, and it is amazing that his books and stories have not long since been the subjects of films. In "Sabotage," which is showing for a season at'the Civic Theatre, however, one of Conrad's vivid stories, "Secret Agent," has been adapted to the screen. "The Man in The Mirror" An original and highly amusing film by Gaumont-British-Dominions, "The Man in the Mirror," starring Edward Everett Horton with Genevieve Tobin, will start at the Civic to-morrow. The story of Jeremy Dilke and his unhappy, hen-pecked adventures would be all too familiar if it were not for the astonishing appearance of his own reflection, who steps from a mirror to assume command of his affairs. Genevieve Tobin is an attractive and polished wife, while Ursula Jeans vamps Jeremy No. 2 successfully and Garry Marsh is the big, bad stockbroker. Edward Everett - Horton plays two roles—and is on the screen many times,. shaking hands and talking to his double. The comedy twists provided by this situation—a man's own reflection stepping out of a mirror—are endless, and Horton makes the best use of them. MAYFAIR "HEARTS IN " REUNION" In "Hearts in Reunion," now showing at the Mayfair, the scenes in which the Dionne quintuplets are featured are the highlights of a film which surprisingly, as one would think that most producers would be ! satisfied with the amusing and inconsequential doings of the babies, has a strong story running through it. "Tne Ploogh and the Stars"

"The Plough and the Stars," a fictitious story of the Irish "uprising of 1916, which brings Barbara Stanwyck and a distinguished cast to the Mayfair Theatre to-morrow, has been called "the greatest drama of the twentieth century." An Irishman born and bred, who lived through the terrors which the film depicts, Sean O'Casey (the author of the play from which the film is taken) has risen high for his ability to blend the humour and the tragedy of Gael and Ireland as no other writer can. "The Plough and the Stars" displays this ability at its most brilliant peak, and the screen version, as directed by John Ford, is said to give filmgoers an entirely new slant on Irish humour. The cast of "The Plough and the Stars," which takes its title from the emblem on the flag of the Irish civilian army, features Preston Foster and Una O'Connor in support of Barbara Stanwyck. Barry Fitzgerald, Denis O'Dea, Eileen Crowe, and Arthur Shields.

STATE "LLOYD'S OF LONDON" IN v FOURTH WEEK The romance of "Lloyd's of London" at the State Theatre is based on the historically true friendship of Horatio Nelson and a young commoner, Jonathan Blake. While Nelson rose to fame on the sea. Blake acquired a great name at Lloyd's. The cast is notable for the inclusion of Tyrone Power, Madeleine Carroll, Freddie Bartholomew, Sir Guy Standing, C. Aubrey Smith, and Virginia Field. The ideals which made the British Empire were also the ideals which became, by a natural rather than a defined process, those of the famous international insurance house of Lloyd's. Because of this, and because ot the nature of the constructive task Lloyd's set itself, it is impossible to dramatise the history of the firm without portraying a typical cross-section of the Empire building game during its most difficult days, when the rivalry of France so threatened the existence of the structure that only the new might of the British Navy and the genius of Kelson kept Napoleon from the coveted prize in St. James' Palace. "Lloyd's of London" tells of this great drama in a way no history took could rival. OTHER THEATRES "North of Nome," starring Jack Holt, and "Panic on the Air." with Lew Ayres, form the double feature being presented at the Majestic Theatre this week. „ "Captain Blood," with Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland. and Basil Rathbone in the leading roles, is being shown for a season at the Tivoli Theatre. . , • "The Great O'Malley," with Pat O'Brien in the principle role, is the film which is again presented tins week at the Plaza Theatre. "The Great Zeigfeld," with William Powell, Myrna Loy Louise Rainer, and Frank Morgan, is the current film at the Regent Theatre. "The Gay Divorcee," with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and "The Rainmakers," starring Wheeler and Woolsey. are showing at the Liberty Theatre. . "Police Car 17," starring Tim McCoy, and "Eight Bells," with Ralph Bellamy and Ann Southern, is the programme at the Grand Theatre this week.