Cinema Reviews

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22355, 19 March 1938, Page 13

Cinema Reviews

CIVIC ANNABELLA IN “DINNER AT THE RITZ” Annabella’s first two films were notable events in screen history. She was rightly acclaimed as the most naturally beautiful on the screen at the moment, and was received as one of the British studios’ most brilliant stars. The Civic Theatre had the privilege of presenting her in her two earlier successes, and now offers her third achievement to eager theatregoers. In “Wings of the Morning” Annabella’s unusual, but simple and sincere charm captured the unrestrained enthusiasm of her audience. Now in “Dinner at the Ritz” she is not only again most beautiful, but also she acts, and she does so with a quiet, light touch of efficiency that is in keeping with her natural manner. It may honestly be said that her third nicture is the equal if not the superior of her earlier achievements.

The film has a brilliant background of opulence and beauty, set in the gay cities of Paris and Monte Carlo. Through all. this Annabella moves, first a picture of light-hearted gaiety, then of quiet sadness, then of dramatic intent. and then again of youthful abandon. Her moods are directed by the intricacies of a delightful story, containing equal measures of drama, romance, and comedy. She is the daughter of a wealthy Parisian banker and is about to be married ,to a fashionable baron who moves both in high society and high finance. Then dramatically a party at her home is stilled with the discovery that her father is dead in his study, with a pistol alongside him. The doctor’s verdict is suicide, but Annabella refuses to believe it of her father, and she sets out intent upon the discovery of the murderer. The pursuit takes her to the glittering casinos of Monte Carlo, where she forgets much of her sorrow and finds new romance. The thrilling pursuit then takes her back to England. where it ends happily with “Dinner at the Ritz.”

The supporting programme is of exceptional merit. It includes a clever piece of comedy and a Terrv Toon cartoon.

A notable and ponular feature of the programme is the solos played on the Civic organ by Mr Clarence B. Hall. Mr Hall’s music was enthusiastically received among last night’s large audience. It was a most pleasant interlude. It will be a feature of the Civic programme this week.

STATE

“A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS”

It must be many months now since picture-goers have roared with laughter so freely- as did these who attended the New Zealand premiere of "A Damsel in Distress” at the State Theatre last evening. Though the inimitable Jeeves is not one of the characters, the film must rank as one of the very finest adapted from any P. G. Wodehouse book, and Fred Astaire, George Burns, and Gracie Allen make a team which can get the most out of the author’s whimsical humour. It cannot be far from the truth to say that this is the finest film that Fred Astaire has yet made. It is not ft musical comedy, so frequently and so easily spoilt by spectacles, choruses* modernistic marble floors" stdge numbers. It is the flimsiest of - ' light comedies, and possibly the first dancing comedy of the screen. His acting and his dancing are enriched by this less luxurious setting.

His acting is more convincing as he has a more convincing story to act; his dancing is more acceptable as each number is natural to the story and more nearly spontaneous than any previous film dancing. Fred Astaire dances in a public street and into a crowded bus that passes opportunely; he dances before distorting mirrors and on moving platforms at a fun fair; he forsakes the tap-dance for something more ethereal in a woodland scene; and he concludes with an eccentric drum dance, the only one of his numbers which could in the least be called artificial. Fred Astaire’s break with Ginger Rogers in co-starring in films was regretted by many. In his latest film he has shown that he can carry a picture through to success on his own. His numbers are not entirely solos; most of the humour that is gained in the picture is to a large extent dependent on the back-chat and fooling of George Burns and Gracie Allen. As a team they are irresistible, and as his publicity managers they cause endless trouble to Astaire’s romances through their headlines about his romantic conquests. Joan Fontaine has charge of the romantic side of the film, and her success is equal to that of the comedians. There is nothing in the film that anyone could wish altered.

Among the supports there Is an excellent Walt Disney coloured cartoon, “The Old Mill.” Lacking the farcical element of many of Disney’s previous pictures, this cartoon. may well rank as the most enjoyable thing that Disney has yet done.

CHRISTCHURCH CINEMAS, LIMITED

“Dead End,” a powerful drama of the efforts of a woman to prevent her young brother from falling under the evil influences of the New York underworld, began a season at the Regent Theatre yesterday. The stars are Sylvia Sidney and Joel McCrea. “Bulldog Drummond Comes Back,” starring John Barrymore and Reginald Denny, began at the Majestic Theatre yesterday. Also showing is the comedythriller, “She Asked for it,” with Orien Heyward and William Gargan. Robert Young and Florence Rice are featured in “Married Before Breakfast.” which is now showing at the Tivoli Theatre. Pinkie Tomlin appears on the same programme in “Sing While You’re Able.”

An exciting Hopalong Cassidy story, “Hills of Old Wyoming.” began at the Liberty Theatre yesterday. Rite Hayworth and Charles Quigley are the principal players. “The* Shadow,” a story of mysterious happenings at a cir cus, is also showing.

“Remember Last Night?” starring Edward Arnold and Sally Eilers, is at the Grand Theatre. Also showing is “Stormy,” featuring Jean Rogers and Rex, king of wild horses.

REX THEATRE

George Arliss does his best work since "Disraeli” in “His Lordship,” a fast-moving story ranging swifty between thrilling drama and brilliant comedy, which will show at the Rex Theatre, Riccarton, to-night and on Monday. Arliss, the master, plays two roles in “His Lordship,” and is great in both.

The Railway Department advertises in this issue particulars of the train arrangements for the Methven Agricultural and Pastoral Association s show on Saturday, March 26.

CRYSTAL PALACE

“HIGH FLYERS”

Coming suddenly into the possession of a package of jewels may be good or bad luck, but for Wheeler and Woolsey, who appear as a pair of erratic aviators in “High Flyers” at the Crystal Palace, it combines the two and adds a lot of merriment and action. How a dog kleptomaniac, by shrewdness and an unconquerable love for secreting everything he can steal, brings confusion to a pair of amateur detectives to say nothing of the regular trackers of crime, is hilariously depicted in this new RKO Radio comedy, in which Lupe Velez, her Latin vivacity making an excellent foil for the two incomparable comedians, takes the part of Juanita, the leading lady. The two aviators who are under a cloud undertake a commission to fly out to sea and bring back a package which was thrown overboard by an incoming ship. They use a seaplane which belongs to the harbodr police, finding that the package contains a collection of jewels and also some cocaine powder, which, when it blows in their faces, makes them both temporarily stupefied, and when coastguards open fire with an anti-aircraft gun they head for the estate of one, Arlington, crashing into a tree. Arlington, who turns out to be the owner of the jewels, welcomes them as detectives, and the aviators, afraid to confess to Arlington, hide the jewels in a fireplace, and, assuming a professional air, investigate the various thefts which had been committed by a criminal who had imposed on Arlington and offered to help him. This man is the same man who commissioned the two half-witted airmen to obtain the jewels. He persuades Marjorie Lord, who takes the part of Arlington’s daughter, that the airmen are harmless lunatics, and offers, with the aid of his trio of cronies, to look after them.

They endeavour to find the jewels, and when in the resulting battle Arlington telephones for the police, and the aviators confess, under pressure from the criminals, that the jewels are hidden in the fireplace, the dog, Squeezie, buries them in the garden. In a dozen farcical situations the jewels are found, stolen by the dog, found by the crooks, and finally, in a wonderful climax, recovered by an army of policemen from the wrecked garden, every square foot of which had been dug up by the conscientious police, the unscrupulous thieves, and the useless comedy pair. Lupe Velez sings “I Always Get My Man,” and interpolated in the act are imitations, cleverly executed, of Katharine Hepburn, Simone Simon, and Dolores Del Rio. A fitting supporting programme, in which is included a remarkable feature, "Phantom Sea,” completes a fine evening’s entertainment.

MAYFAIR

“LANCER SPY” BEGINS SECOND WEEK

Stories of espionage have a fascination of their own. “Lancer Spy,” which has begun its second week at the Mayfair Theatre, brings to the screen an exciting story of espionage and counter-espionage, in which the characters of men and women whose business is betrayal are strikingly portrayed. Full of amazing exploits, the film is chiefly notable for the meritorious performance of its principals and for the capable manner in which it was produced. In the cast of unusually able players, George Sanders, a virile English actor, Who had a prominent role in “Lloyd’s of London,” and who will be remembered for his efficient handling of this difficult dramatic part, overshadows the others. He has three characters to portray, and each is in itself a masterpiece. The swift transitions from gravity to gaiety are made with smoothness by Sanders, who has not only the ability but the stature and voice to play, to the greatest satisfaction, the difficult part of an English officer posing as a German. The scene, early in the picture, in which he breaks down under the stress of a test of his thoroughness to carry through his imposture, reaches dramatic heights, which he touches again in later episodes. * The fidelity with which the producer has sustained the German atmosphere is, perhaps, the next feature of the film, and in every way the direction is strong and faithful. Dolores del Rio moves through the romantic scenes with exotic grace and refinement; Peter Lorre also does excellent dramatic work as the German major; Joseph Schildkraut provides the comedy relief, and Maurice Moscovitch, who played in melodramatic thrillers at the Theatre Royal some years ago, has his best screen part to date as General von Meinhardi.

The story is based on an aspect of the book “I Was a Spy.” by Marthe McKenna, and the incidents result from the chaos of nations in conflict The characters destroy their very iden r tity to play war’s most dangerous game, and their perilous living provides engrossing entertainment. The film is presented by Twentieth-Cen-tury Fox. The showmanship of American wrestlers makes a most amusing “short,” and the Fox newsreel contains much of New Zealand and Australian interest, the shots of the capture of a striped marlin off the coast of New South Wales and of surf-boat racing being exceptional. “Going, Going, Gone." a breezy comedy, completes a splendid programme.

PLAZA

“THE PRISONER OF ZENDA”

After a highly successful run of four weeks at the Avon Theatre, “The Prisoner of Zenda,” which has been hailed by enthusiastic audiences as a masterpiece of acting and production, has been transferred to the Plaza Theatre for a final week. Produced by David O. Selznick, it is an adaptation of the well-known story by Anthony Hope—a story set in picturesque surroundings—and so well has it been produced even the most ardent of Hope’s admirers have no fault to find with the adaptation. Artistic direction has, in fact, added to its screen appeal as a story and it has by no means suffered from distortion, as so often happens. Richly imaginative. the story of a Ruritanian king and his English double, who foils the schemes of plotters against the throne is presented on the screen with a vigour that the novel cannot match. Rupert of Hentzau, for instance, is even more reckless and dashing a figure than he is in the book. So engaging a rogue does the younger Fairbanks make of him that one is almost sorry to see his plotting upset by the even more intrepid Rudolph Rassendyll (Ronald Colm an V masquerading as the weakling king. The life of the Ruritanian Court, too. is presented so vividly that it loses its' mythical quality, and that notable duel between Rassendyll and Hentzau has a vitality that only a very fertile imagination could supply to it as told in the book, in spite of Hope’s ability as a story-teller. There is a do-or-die spirit about the picture that makes it truly thrilling. The laurels for the faultless acting, are hard to allot. Colman is outstanding, and his acting compels sincere admiration for his . dual characterisation of king and impersonator. Fairbanks and Raymond Massey score eminent successes in the roles of the two unscrupulous rogues who plot to steal

AVON

“SOULS AT SEA”

“Souls at Sea,” which is showing at the Avon Theatre this week, is one of the most realistically spectacular films that has been produced for a long time. With a story based on actual history, It makes the most of the vivid background of slave-trading during the early years of the l as t ccmtury, and the scenes at sea, with tneir climax in the sinking of a clipper ship, are sufficient in themselves to maKe the picture an outstanding attraction. But it is not a film which relies on spectacle only for its appeal; the dramatic story is brilliantly acted oy a large and distinguished cast, which is headed by Gary Cooper and George Raft, and which includes Henry Wilcoxon and Frances Dee. The. film opens with a trial scene, in which a young man (Gary Cooper) is charged with the murder of a number of people during a shipwreck. It is claimed that he did it to save the lives of the others. When the story behind the trial/ is unfolded it shows him on board a slave ship, of which he is suddenly forced to take command because of the death of the cap» tain. The ship is taken by a British patrol, but by this time_ Cooper has given effect to his own views on slavery by allowing the captives to swim ashore. The British Government offers him the task of assisting in an effort to deal a crushing blow at the slave trade. Cooper takes a passage on the clipper ship Sam Brown for America, and in the wreck of the vessel through fire are shown the circumstances which force him to the action for which he is on trial. The sinking of the vessel and the efforts of the passengers and crew to secure their safety are extraordinarily vivid and real. The story has many humorous touches, provided mainly by George Raft, who as Cooper’s companion gives the lighter touches to the picture. There is a romantic interest in the attachment that grows up between Cooper and the sister of a British officer who is secretly involved- in the slave trade. The part of the girl is taken by Frances Dee and that of her brother by Henry Wilcoxon. Both give excellent performances. A secondary romantic, interest, which ends tragically, is offered by Raft and Olympe Bradna, who, in the part of a lady’s maid travelling on the vessel, is fatally injured during the wreck. Raft refuses to desert her.

The capable production of the film is a notable feature. There is no looseness in construction, and the episodes follow one another with such a dramatic rapidity that it is impossible for the attention to wander. Although the theme is an intensely serious one, there is no suggestion of melodrama. The whole tone is quiet and restrained and consequently very effective. The supporting programme is a very good one. It includes an amusing “Pop-Eye the Sailor” cartoon, and a sports feature in which a sheep-dog trial at Napier is shown. This is easily the best film of such a trial that has yet been made, and the audience cannot help showing its appreciation by applause when it is over.

the throne: and Madeleine Carroll makes an excellent Princess Flavia. C. Aubrey Smith, the “grand old man” of the screen, plays the role of the king’s adviser in his own unexcelled manner, and David Niven and Mary Astor lend promising support to this faultless and wonderful screen masterpiece.

The inclusion of such names in the cast, coupled with one of the most romantic love stories ever, screened, and the talented direction of Selznick, make this United Artists’ presentation an entertainment of high merit.