CITY THEATRES

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22907, 2 January 1940, Page 2

CITY THEATRES

AVON "A CHRISTMAS CAROL" Charles Dickens' popular story of "A Christmas Carol" makes an excellent film, especially as it is presented exactly as it was written. Metro-Gold-wyn-Mayer has produced this favourite classic of Christmas with faithful regard for the touching drama in its original form, and the film has well earned the popular acclaim that has caused it to begin a second week at the Avon Theatre. Scrooge, Tiny Tim, the Cratchit family, and all'the other lovable characters come to life in "A Christmas Carol." An added attraction to New Zealand audiences is the appearance of Ronnie Sinclair, formerly of Dunedin, as the boy Scrooge,

MAYFAIR "GOLDEN BOY" Combining . emotional drama with colour and action of New York's metropolitan life, "Golden Boy," Clifford Odets' famous stage play, is brought to the screen by Columbia Pictures, and, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, it makes one of the most powerful films issued from American studios in recent years. It is now at the Mayfair Theatre and stars William Holden and Barbara Stanwyck. The delicate handling of intense emotional conflict among all the principal players calls for unbounded admiration, while the character acting equals the best brought to the screen. The supporting cast gives an outstanding performance. LIBERTY DOUBLE-FEATURE PROGRAMME The successful film version of A. E. W. Mason's famous romance, "The Four Feathers," has been transferred to the Liberty after an extended season at the State. The actor's who take the main parts are Ralph Richardson, John Clements, June Duprez (in her first and very successful screen part), and C. Aubrey Smith, well known for his numerous "colonel" roles. With this gifted team of players, thousands of native troops mounted on fast-rid-ing camels, and the genuine Egyptian scenes in natural technicolour, the film has much to recommend it to all tastes. STATE "BACHELOR MOTHER" When a really good comedy is made in Hollywood the whole film-going world very soon hears about it; when Garson Kanin made "Bachelor Mother" for RKO Radio this year the world very quickly learnt that this young .director had made his third successful film, this time a first-rate comedy. The stars are Ginger Rogers .—dancing only once and then in a jammed swing contest in a crowded and cheap dance-hall—and David Niven. They are assisted by a baby who proves himself a satisfactory actor, Charles Coburn whose dreajn is to have a grandson, Frank Albertson, and E. E. Clive. This comedy which is at the State is one of the funniest seen in Christchurch for many months; it is neatly constructed and well acted and can be fully recommended. In the supporting programme is "The Ugly Duck-, ling," Walt Disney's latest coloured cartoon, of the Hans Andersen story. PLAZA DOUBLE-FEATURE PROGRAMME

A dramatic story of a woman lawyer, "Disbarred," is coupled with a new Hopalong Cassidy picture, "Sunset Trail," in the new double-feature programme at the Plaza Theatre. The main film, which is second on the programme, is a revelation of the rackets conducted by America's crooked lawyers, who, behind a screen of apparent good intentions, make murder and destruction safe. It has an especially strong cast of favourite actors.

CHRISTCHURCH CINEMAS, LIMITED

"Lucky Night," with JRobert Taylor and Myrna Loy, is at the Regent. "Valley of the Giants," starring Wayne Morris and Claire Trevor, is showing at the Majsstic. Jeanette Mac Donald, with Clark Gabls and Spencer Tracy, in "San Francisco" is the current attraction at the Tivoli. The two features at the Grand this week ar "Polo Joe," with Joe E. Brown, and "It Hapepned Out West." At the St. James' Theatre are, "I Met Him ' in Paris," with Claudette Colbert and Melvyn Douglas, and "Hopalong Cassidy Returns," with William Boyd.

CRYSTAL PALACE

DOUBLE-FEATURE PROGRAMME

A spectacular romance and an adventurous Western film make up an interesting double-feature programme at the Crystal Palace. "Winter Carnival," in which Ann Sheridan and Richard Carlson are the chief players, is a scintillating spectacle with the famous winter snow sports of Dartmouth College for a background, and an engaging story, the adventures of a divorced duchess and a college professor. George O'Brien, the handsome horseman, in his distinguishing black clothes, rides again in "The Fighting Gringo," which is a thrilling film of action and drama, with its scene laid in the south-west Texas of 60 years ago. It is an unusual Western and removed from the ordinary run of such films, and therefpre is well worth going to see for its own sake, though "Winter Carnival," as the main feature, is the more important attraction.