CITY THEATRES

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23016, 10 May 1940, Page 3

CITY THEATRES

LIBERTY « U-BOAT 29 ” Few ships interest the public so much as the submarine and no better picture dealing with submarine warfare has ever been made than “U-Boat 29,” which begins to-day at the Liberty. All the drama of the espionage behind great naval actions, and the breathtaking excitement of encounters between powerful ships and submarines, have been brought to the screen. Although the names of Conrad Veidt and Valerie Hobson at the head of the

CONRAD VEIDT cast will be sufficient to attract large audiences, there can be no greater recommendation for “U-Boat' 29” than that it is the second war drama presented by the makers of “Clouds Over Europe.” Conrad Veidt plays the part of the commanding officer of an enemy submarine who is sent on a secret mission with sealed orders. Conrad Veidt has given the screen no finer performance than his characterisation of a U-boat commander. He has played dramatic parts for years, and has built up a glowing reputation, but in no picture has he eclipsed his latest performance. “Scandal Sheet,” an exciting newspaper story, is the supporting attraction. AVON “ZAZA” BEGINS TO-DAY “Zaza,” the play that scandalised Paris, London, and Broadway at the turn of the century, has been made into a motion picture by Paramount, with Claudette Colbert in the title role. The film begins to-day at the Avon. The story of a music-hall charmer whose romance with a man of the upper classes proves the tragedy of her life, “Zaza” stars Miss Colbert in one of the most unusual parts of her brilliant screen career, and_ the first since her successful role in “Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife.” . She now heads an all-star cast, including Herbert Marshall, who plays her lover; Helen Westley, who is cast as her eccentric foster-mother; Bert Lahr, Constance Collier, Genevieve Tobin, and Walter Catlett. The picture was directed for Paramount by George Cukor, who directed such productions as “Little Women,” “David Copperfleld,” “Camille.” and, most recently, “Holiday.” In the supporting role is Herbert Marshall, to whom this role is something of a departure. Nevertheless, as the infatuated, but irresolute Dufresne, who has to choose between his love for Zaza and his place in society, he is ideally cast. MAYFAIR « SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON ” COMING The essence of romantic adventure, as exemplified in the lives of a family of six persons cast away on a South Sea island during a storm, is the basis of “Swiss Family Robinson.” which will come to the Mayfair to-day, with Thomas Mitchell, Edna Best, Freddie Bartholomew, Terry Kilburn, Tim Holt, and Baby Bobby Quillan heading the brilliant cast. This Gene Towne-Grahame Baker production for RKO Radio of the century-old classic deals with the thrilling exploits of the Robinsons, who, en route to Australia, are cast away on an uninhabited tropic islandFew tales have captured the imagination of all the peoples of the world so completely as has this 130-year-old story of adventure and peril on a South Sea island, and the film version faithfully visualises its spirit and action. Supporting roles are filled by some of the screen’s most competent players, and throughout there is an exceptionally high standard of performance. PLAZA “ TWO BRIGHT BOYS ” AND « ONE HOUR TO LIVE >» Jac -ic Cooper and Freddie Bartholomew are cast as friendly enemies in their dramatic new Universal picture, “Two Bright Boys,” which starts at the Plaza to-day, with Alan Dinehart, Dorothy Peterson, Melville Cooper, and J. M. Kurrigan. Unfolding as an unusually entertaining detective mystery story. Universal’s “One Hour to Live” will be the associate feature in this programme. Charles Bickford, Doris Nolan, John Litel, and Samuel S. Hinds play featured roles.

CRYSTAL PALACE “A CHUMP AT OXFORD” COMING A new film by two, of the most popular film comedians begins at the Crystal Palace to-day. It is “A Chump at Oxford,” starring Laurel and Hardy, who achieve new heights of comedy in numerous awkward situations. With heaps of rollicking, good oldfashioned complications in the plot, “A Chump at Oxford” tells the story of two street cleaners who inadvertently capture a bank robber. When the bank president offers them a reward, they ask instead that they be sent to the lofty spires of Oxford .for an education, which during their mis-spent youth they happened to miss. From there on, the story moves with walloping humour. The comics .become wonderful targets for the rest of the boys at college, and what happens to the austere dean when he gets mixed up in the frolic provides one of the most side-splitting episodes in the story. Harry Baur, the great French actor, makes one of his rare appearances in a British picture in “The Rebel Son,” a powerful drama of Cossack Russia, which will be the supporting attraction.

STATE « THE REAL GLORY ” BEGINS TO-DAY Starring Gary Cooper, and with Anfdrea Leeds and David Niven heading an unusually important cast, Samuel Goldwyn’s new adventure drama, “The Real Glory,” which will have its first showing at the State Theatre to-mor-row unfolds a thrilling and exciting tale of the Philippine Scouts and their heroic bravery at the conclusion of the Spanish-American war, when the Philippines were overrun by insurrectionists and religious fanatics. The central theme of “The Real Glory” revolves around the exploits of the scouts, who became a constabulary on the island, and rallied to their support loyal natives and peaceful Moros. The Moros, a tribe of unorthodox Mohammedans, had retreated to the hills and jungles of the Sulu kingdom to wage a fierce religious war against the remaining American troops. The Philippines are a realistic and exciting background to a fine story, well acted and produced. There are many spectacular scenes, and the film is full of action. CHRISTCHURCH CINEMAS, LIMITED “Tarzan Finds a Son,” starring Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O’Sullivan, starts to-day at the Majestic. , “Dodge City,” starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, continues at the Regent. Gary Cooper, in “The Lives of .a Bengal Lancer,” and Peter Lorre in “Mr Moto Takes a Chan-begin today at the St. James. “Hot Water,” starring the Jones family, and Buck Jones in “The Overland Express,” begin to-day at the Grand. “When To-morrow Comes,” starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer, begins to-day at the Tivoli. CENTURY “KENTUCKY” The brilliant colour film "Kentucky,” one of the most spectacular films of recent years, with a background of thoroughbred horse racing and breeding, begins to-day at the Century Theatre, St. Albans.