ENTERTAINMENTS

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 287, 31 August 1931, Page 2

ENTERTAINMENTS

REGENT THEATRE. Perhaps the greatest variety of entertainment presented for many, months is incorporated in the bill at the Regent Theatre. In addition to an especially fine supporting programme, including a Vagabond Director film, Joy and Lazzerino, the amazing roller-skaters, present a new and even more thrilling act than they did last week. These two skaters, ajiparently devoid of bones and nerves, perform the most astounding aerbbatieal feats in a very confined space. As a finale to th6ir act, Joy, clinging by her teeth to a leather thong fastened around her companion’s neck, is whirled round and round in mid-air until the audience .wonders whether she can be conscious. The star film is “Beau Ideal,’ r Radio’s gloriously directed adaptation of the famous P. C. Wren novel. "Beau Ideal” is a remarkable film in every way. The cast is perfect, the direction equally so, the scenery outstanding, and the photography probably the finest ever seen here. It is a story of life in tl;e Foreign Legion and in the penal battalion of that strangely assorted body of soldiers. So vivid are the scenes in the African desert that one forgets that one is looking ,at a picture. One is transported there. Ralph Forbes and Lester '- Vail as two legionnaires deserve the highest praise for their realistic performances. Their voices are a feature of the production. Irene Rich and Loretta Young also give splendid performances, “Beau Ideal” should certainly not be missed’ by any lover of Foreign Legion stories.

GRAND OPERA HOUSE. “The Sleeping Cardinal” is screening at the Grand Opera House. Adapted from two of Sir Conan Doyle’s most popular short stories, "The Empty House” and "The Final Problem,” this picture contains mystery and thrills. The photography is excellent. In the role of the well-known detective Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Wontner plays his difficult part with all the concentration and subtlety employed by the famous criminologist himself. lan Flemming as Dr. Watson is a refreshing character and his expressions of astonishment at Sherlock Holmes’s deductions are excellently portrayed. The other, popular characters in the Sherlock Holmes stories, Lestrade of Scotland Yard, and Mrs., Hudson, Holmes’s housekeeper, are played with credit by Phillip Newland and Minnie Rayner respectively. Commencing to-day, at matinees only, 30 pupils of Miss Kathleen O’Brien will be seen in a fascinating dancing sccna. KING’S THEATRE. “Stolen Heaven,” which is at the King's Theatre, is a film with two locales, New York’s back streets and Florida’s Bunny beaches. Nancy Carroll is'the star of this Paramount production. Breath-taking climaxes are a feature of the film, which has a splendid theme.

DE LUXE THEATRE. How to make love in all languages is the. theme of “Women. of All Nations,” showing at the De Luxe Theatre, in which the seagoing Don Juan, Victor McLaglen, and Edmund Lowe, take the lead. The supports are three good news films and a comedy. The orchestra, under the direction of Sir. L. D. Austin, is heard to advantage in the overture “Zampa,” and the entr-acte. “Turkey in the Straw." Mr. Paul T. Cullen’s solos on the Wurlitzer organ are “All the King’s Horses” and “Somewhere in Old 1 Wyoming.” 1 PARAMOUNT THEATRE. Joan Bennett,- the fascinating “star" playing with. George Arliss in “Disraeli, takes the leading role in “Hush Money,' at the Paramount Theatre. Her latest picture is far different from the one that really, made her famous, but again she gives a fine portrayal of her part, and it is she who makes the , whole picture one that is bound to appeal to theatregoers. ST. JAMES THEATRE. By merit and consequent magnetic appeal the colossal double-feature entertainment at'the St. .James Theatre packed the house to overflowing on Saturday afternoon and night, with large numbers turned away from the evening session. Ramon Novarro in his latest success, “Daybreak,” an elaborately dressed, lavishly mounted sparkling comedy-drama, capitally acted by the popular star and Helen Chandler, Jean Hershoß, C. Aubrey Smith and others, kept the Show Week audience in a state of rippling laughter. Yet it remained for Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy to send the audience into fits of glee in their first giant comedy—six reels of mirth —“Pardon Us.” MAJESTIC THEATRE. Virtually the bulk of the Jleating secommodation at the Majestic Theatre was booked out on Saturday evening and very few seats remained to be sold at the payboxes. The magnetic attraction is Columbia’s great sensation drama of the ?ir, "Dirigible.” It boasts a fine'dramatic story, wonderful scenic investiture, is replete with sensational episodes of thrilling character and discloses many fine air spectacles that are startling. No. better production of its class could be wished for. Such a drama only needs vigorous acting to achieve unquestioned success, and that is supplied by Ralph Graves, Jack Holt, charming Fay Wray and a solid bunch of supporting players. KILBIRNIE KINEMA. The British triumph “Tons of Money.” with Ralph Lyon leading a cast which includes Mary Brough and Yvonne Arnaud, is at the Kilbirnie Kinema.