ENTERTAINMENTS

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 150, 21 March 1931, Page 4

ENTERTAINMENTS

DE LUXE THEATRE. “Billy the Kid,” the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture shown at the De Luxe Theatre, is a throw-back of twenty years, a rip-roaring story of 'the Wild AVest, with lashings of gun-play, and a neat little romance. “Billy the Kid” is a crack shot who simply hates cruelty and injustice, and when ’he sees it harassing good folk he cannot resist clearing the way to a brighter future with his unerring sixshooter. AVay back in the middle of last century Tristan and McSween up-stake and go west in search of cleaner, greener land. They find a verdant valley in New Mexico, and resolve to dig in there, but Donovan, the sheriff, rules the country, and with his posse of roughs frightens off all would-be settlers. But the newcomers are hardy, stickers, and Donovan nt length becomes so rough on them that Billy takes a hand, and shoots a couple of his men. Then Donovan lays for the peaceful settler, and at length gets him with his gun. A feud is created. All the new settlers take a hand, and decide to Shoot it out. Penned in a b ° n^J l0 t l £ se ; tho settlers make a brave stand until they are burnt out, but Billy gets away, after killing Donovan. An appeal is made by a Federal Array officer to end the feud, but a coarse brute in one Ballinger simply “■ill not cease taunting BUly whenever an occasion arises, and when Billy is ar rested and imprisoned this mail goads him until Billy steals the sheriff s gun, shoots Ballinger, and clears to the mountains where he is at length starved out G^rd, e and e tiers is’an oup of comic characters o &et«|lME-” and ‘‘H I Had. a Girl Like You. MAJESTIC THEATRE. . written bv Katherine Brush, has been made a nlcture, which promises to meet with us? as much success Intheatredom as the novel did in the book world. It is a meiy, wiio takes tho part of Ann A aughan, is as beautiful as her portrayal is convincing. As Ann, she struggles for stories, in footbill '■■fi.mes prize lights, six-daj bicycle and 'mimy other typical newspaper locales. It is at the Dempsey-1 unney in Philadelphia that she meets loby McLean, another sports scribe. Not long afterwards they marry, but Ann is still a newspaper woman, and her successes arouse professional jealousy in her h"<l Tobv’s stories arc always m the air or at tiic ’bottom of a wineglass. Ann pays the bills In order to increase her earnings she cultivates the acquaintance of a publisher. Toby retaliates by readily responding to tlie .advances of Puff Randolf, a “gilded clilld.” That is the beginning o£ a tiff and Toby departs. Some time later, through an accident, Ann loses her eyesight Toby, realising Jiis responsibilities at" last, conies hot-foot from California to New York, and begins to work, after receiving liis wife’s forgiveness. There is an unexpectedly happy ending. Claudette Colbert makes a very live and fascinating Ann and Norman Foster’s work as the husband with a fondness for alcohol is equally well done. The programme also includes an entertaining variety of short subject features.

ST. JAMES THEATRE. “Just Imagine,” the Fox- movietone feature at the St. James Theatre, may be described ns a triumph of imaginative art on the film. Tlie audience is asked to “just imagine” what the world would be like in 19S0. and, it must be confessed, the producer lias depicted something that really beggars the imagination. First there is shown a glimpse of New York in .1880—no motor-cars, old-fashioned women and men strolling quietly along, crossing the streets witli till the assured confidence of the rights of tlie pedestrian, and a general air of peaceful sauntering through life. This is one of the best studies of the production, at least to the older generation. Then we are switched over to Fifth Avenue in 11)30. witli swiftmoving trnflie, and a luckless pedestrian attempting a jay-walking tour amid the lines of traffic. Thus prepared for the next phase, Hie audience is then projected into 1980. and a queer world it is. People no longer have names. They are numbered anil* catalogued, and tlieir marriages are ordered bv tribunals. Young men and women are told, not whom they would like to innrrv. but whom they must marry. Bootleg liquor is sold in patent capsules, table d'hote dinners are shot through slots in pill form, and television enables people to bring not only the voice but the living presence of people into contact by tlie mere switching of a dial. Then comes the rocket plane, and a trip to Mars and back. Into this phantasmagoria of prophecy Is woven a ic'-e story, a substantial ingredient of conic.<y, witli El Bendel as the Inughter-nuiker, and some really good song-hits from the creative genius of De Sylva. Brown and Henderson, the presiding musical gods of the famous “Sunny Side Up.” Tlie whole is n remarkable adventure in film fantasy, anil quite successful. The supporting items are worthy of tlie big feature. KING’S THEATRE. Until Chatterton was again seen in one of iiio roles fpr which she lias earned her fame at tlie King's Theatre last night, wlien her “’riie Lady of Scandal” opened its season. Tlie picture concerns a London actress who becomes engaged to the son of a peer and is taken Into high society to be "educated." Instead, she “educates” high society, in a series of hilarious eotnedv incidents, and then suddenly faces and intensely dramatic problem, when torn between love and duty. OUR THEATRE. NEWTOWN. “Tlie Sky Dawk” will lie screened at Our Theatre, Newtown, to-night.

“HELL HARBOUR." One of the first all-talking productions to be filmed on location entirely out of doors is “Hell Harbour,” the romantic drama starring Lupe Velez, which comes to the Grand Opera House on Friday next. The picture was suggested by Rita Johnson Young's novel, “Out of the Night,” and is tlie work of Henry King, director of “The White Sister” and “Stella Dallas." “Hell Harbour” is said to offer Lupe Velez the greatest opportunity of her screen career, presenting her in the part of a high-spirited young modern, a descendant of the great pirate chief, Sir Henry Morgan. Around this theme is developed a story rich in incident, local colour, and tense drama. There are the thrilling fight in a cafe between Morgan and Wade, tlie death battle between Morgan and Horngold, and the strange life that is to be found under the Caribbean moon. Filmed in Tampa, Florida, amid natural tropical settings. “Hell Harbour” is said to have one of the most beautiful backgrounds used for a picture. There is not a studio shot in the picture. The cast of “Hell Harbour” includes beside Lupe Velez and Jean Hersholt, John Holland, Gibson Gowiand, Al St. John, Henry Alien, Paul E. Burns, and George Book-Asta. REGENT THEATRE. Superbly successful, “Plunder,” which is the current attraction at the Regent Theatre, will bo continued until Wednesday. Aptly described as a talking farce, which keeps the whole audience rocking with laughter, it is mainly round Ralph Lynn as D’Arcy Tuck—an “Algy” type of character—that the fun is built. Mary Brough in the role of Mrs. Howlett, who really commits bigamy in marrying old man Hewlett for his money, also shows herself to be a clever comedienne, while Winifred Shottcr does justice to the part of the heiress and grand-daughter of Hewlett. D'Arcy Tuek falls in love with her on the way home from New Zealand, but on arrival they find the housekeeper has married the old man, whose death allowed her to succeed to his property. D’Arcy plots with bls pal Freddie Malone, played by Tom Walls, to get the woman’s jewels as some recompense for the loss his fiancee had sustained. How this was achieved, how Scotland Yard was called in, and how the experts were beaten by the coolness of Freddie, and the simple innocence of D’Arcy, enable the production of a story that is enjoyable from start to finish. The supports are excellent. “A Warm Corner.” Those who. relish a hearty laugh—or rather a whole crowd of laughs—have a rare opportunity to gratify their taste in the attraction, “A Warm Corner,” which will be at the Regent on Thursday. Based on the play of the same name which had a prolonged run at the Prince’s Theatre, London, and played by practically the same cast, it is one of those sparkling comedies which have recently lifted British pictures into the forefront of the “movies,” and definitely established the position of the British studios. “A H arm Corner” scintillates with mirthful situations and witty lines, handled by the greatest of British comedy players, Leslie Henson. PARAMOUNT THEATRE. A study of police work in New York, combined with an attractive story, forms the chief interest in “Officer O'Brien, which opened at the Paramount Theatre last evening. The general situation is an unusual one. Lieutenant O’Brien (William Boyd) of the New’ York police, secures a release on parole for his farher (Ernest Torrance), an old-timer in the criminal world, who is horrified when he discovers his son’s profession. The temptation to revert to his natural life is too great, but in going back he comes into unwilling relationship with Mike Patello (Ralf Harolde), a gang leader. Patello escaped tlie death sentence by shooting a chief witness for the prosecution, one Johnny Dale (Russell Gleeson), brother of Lieutenant O’Brien’s sweetheart (Dorothy Sebastian), and in trying to escape tlie police officer’s attempts to “get him' again discovers the relationship between the two O'Briens. Tlie final scene, when Lieutenant O’Brien arrives at Patello's house to bring off an arrest and discovers there before Mm his father, who in trying to escape, has accidentally shot an associate of Patello, is a gripping one, and its end is all the more sensational with a little more shooting. The supporting programme is an exceptionally good one, particularly a sound cartoon. “Midnight.” An “Audio" review, a splendid scenic picture, and a comedy entitled “Her Hired Husband,” completes the programme. KILBIRNIE KINEMA. Uproariously funny is tlie only way to describe “Canaries Sometimes Sing,” tlie latest comedy morsel from the acidulous pen of Mr. Frederick Lonsdale and commencing to-day at tho Kinema. This talkie does not rely on low-brow, thick ear comedy, but on the stuccoed pattern of its brilliant dialogue, irony of situation, and it counter play of character. In Tom Walls’s scheming to unload his "hindminded” wife on Ms old friend—“Eton and Oxford”—while he, himself, has ills heart set on his old friend’s young wife, there is comedy prospect as delicious as it is devastating. Excellent sound supports will also be presented. Reserve at theatre and Bristol. ' KING GEORGE THEATRE. Clara Bow starring in “True to tlie Navy” promises an enjoyable evening at the Hutt's popular talkie house. ORGAN RECITAL. Mr. Bernard F. Page, city organist, will give his weekly organ recital nt the Town Hall to-morrow evening, and the programme bus been arranged as under : — Concert Overture in F by Mendelssohn, Concerto in D Minor No. .10 by Handel, Romance Op. 118 (No. 5) by Brahtns, Prelude and Cortege of Air de Danse from “L’enfttnt Prodigue" by Debussy, Sonatina in A minor by Karg-Elert, and "Under tlie Starry Heaven,” Op. 108 (No. 2) by Karg-Elert.

PALACE THEATRE. PETONE. Described as a mighty drama, “The Big House” is now screening at the Palace Theatre, Petona.