CITY THEATRES

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22136, 5 July 1937, Page 7

CITY THEATRES

AVON

j "HISTORY IS MADE Al NIGHT"

"History id Made at Might," which is now showing at the Avon Theatre, has its intriguing story based on a stark disaster on the high seas. It follows the lines of all good drama by delaying the tragic climax until the last few scenes. A new luxury liner, crossing the Atlantic on its maiden voyage, crashes into an iceberg. It is the Tetanic disaster over again, with the exception that there is happy rescue to end the story. But the appeal of the story is not in its dramatic climax. It is in the love-story of two people who, by all that is right and proper, should never have met, and of a strange sequence cf events that leads up to such a close escape from finality on that wrecked liner. The story, with all its appealing detail, cannot be told adequately in any short review, without loss of the convincing atmosphere which good direction gives this film. But even told sketchily, it reads as a strange tale, fit for the attractive dressing-up which film-production allows. Charles Boyer, Jean Arthur. Leo Carillo, Colin Clive, and Ivan LebedefE are all film names of some fame. They have their parts in this outstanding talkie in that order of importance.

MAYFAIK

"THE PLAINSMAN"

"The Plainsman," which is now showing at the Mayfair Theatre, is no ordinary "Western" film, although it has all the elements which have made "Westerns" favourites in film entertainment for so many years, ft is, besides being good entertainment, an interesting historical study. The people it deals with actually lived in circumstances very like those presented in the film, and it is apparent that no pains have been spared in the endeavour to retain historical accuracy.

Credit for the vitality of the performance must go to a large number of people, but the two, most who see the film will remember, are Gary Cooper, as "Wild Bill" Hickok. who was sent into the West in the early seventies to inquire into the illicit selling of guns to the Indians, and Jean Arthur, as "Calamity Jane," the most famous frontier woman of the times. She brings to the character a tomboyishness that is well in keeping with the part and gives it vitality.

CIVIC

"AS YOU LIKE IT'*

No better justification for putting Shakespeare in films could be provided than is furnished in the film "As You Like It," which has begun a season at the Civic Theatre. It is not offered as a film to be appreciated only by those who have stud.ed and learned to appreciate the works of Shakespeare, but as an amusing comedy able to hold its own with any modern work as a piece of popular entertainment.

Elisabeth Bergner, who takes the part of Rosalind, has a part here which enables her to offer a delicacy of interpretation, a whimsicality, tenderness, and humour which even the best of her previous roles has not allowed her.

STATE

"SEVENTH HEAVEN"

Few love stories could have more appeal than the celebrated romance portrayed so skilfully in "Seventh Heaven," the film which, because of its popularity with audiences, is offered for an extended season at the State Theatre.

The players in the leading roles are James Stewart arid Simone Simon, comparatively new to the screen. Yet each is thoroughly at ease in every situation. It is good work indeed on their part to keep any suggestion of artificiality out of their characterisations, and the talent of bo;h should arouse admiration.

CRYSTAL PALACE

"LLOYD'S OF LONDON" AND A "MYSTERY THRILLER"

The Crystal Palace Theatre presents this week a double-feature programme of a standard seldom equalled. Ine two films leatured are the famous "Lloyd's of Londjii," an a mys crydrama, "The Great Hospital Mystery. The principal attraction is "Lloyd's of London," here for a return season which promises to be an outstanding success. Those who have not seen this gre*t production should make the most of this opportunity to do so. Those who already have seen it will know it is worth a second visit. The second attraction on the programme, "The Great Hospital Mystery," is a cleverly presented mystery thriller, combining comedy with tense drama.

PLAZA

j"CRIME OVER LONDON" AND 1 "CLARENCE"

A contrast of type id provided in the entertainment at the Plaza Theatre. "Crime Over London" is a British version of a story of the "G-men" type, and "Clarence" is an American production dealing amusingly with the life of a family in an American city. They make a well-balanced and satisfying offering. "Crime Over London" moves rapidly, the material is interesting, the acting more than competent, and there is all the excitement one would expect in a storv of Chicago gangsters nitted against the honest strength of Scotland Yard. "Clarence" moves placidly by comparison, but it is stimulating comedy of the type that the American studios produce so well.

OTHER THEATRES

"Born to Dance," a musical film, starring Eleanor Powell, is the attraction at the Regent Theatre this week. Jean Arthur and George Brent are the stars of "More Than a Secretary," the film at the Majestic Theatre. Irene Dunne takes the leading rote in "Theodora Goes Wild," which has been transferred to the Tivoli Theatre. "Laburnum Grove," with Edmund Gwenn and Sir Cedric Hardwicke, and "The Final Hour" are the two films at the Liberty Theatre. A double-feature bill, "The Age 01 Indiscretion," with Madge Evans, and "The Case of the Howling Dog," with Warren William and Mary Astor, is at thu Grand Theatre.