ENTERTAINMENTS

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 81, 30 December 1931, Page 2

ENTERTAINMENTS

REGENT THEATRE. ■ “Palmy Days,” starting Eddie Cantor, and Charlotte Greenwood, is about the wildest and funniest ' strip of celluloid that has ever found its way through the Regent Theatre projector. Mr. Cantor, Miss Greenwood, and an irrepressible gang of laugh merchants are responsible in “Palmy Days” for an uproarious film. Cantor is seen first as the man behind the scenes in the premises of n crooked fortund-tellcr. The mistakes he makes in the trumpet and tablc-roctag game are responsible for tons of gusty laughter. By a curious mix-up, accomplished after a hectic scene with Charlotte Greenwood,; Cantor steps out of the ectoplasm racket into the role of efficiency specialist in a baking concern, the chief object of which is the glorification of the American doughnut. “Palmy Days” can be recommended to Cvcryoilc as a full-blooded comedy that quickens the pulse and weakens the muscles. DE LUXE THEATRE. No more delightful holiday feature could have been chosen than “Mother’s Millions,” at the De Luxe Theatre. May Robson, a noted American actress. fills the role of the grumpy old mother, the mistress of millions, but with a warm heart under a hard exterior, to perfection. She has a son and a daughter, and sho adopts her own ways of bringing them up to realise the value of wealth. Her husband was nearly broken by a financial ring, but the Way in which she brings the ring to book When trying to corner wheat is a thrilling story. The supports include a Universal Movietone news, and “Oswald the Rabbit” cartoon/ and a cOnitdy, “Models and Wives.” ST. JAMES THEATRE, Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, the delightful artists of “Seventh Heaven,” are reunited in ‘‘Merely Mary Ann,” a picture brimful of the naive and sentimyital appeal that these two have made peculiarly their own, now enjoying a holiday season at the St. James Theatre. The film is true to type in its simplicity and sentiment, which are enhanced by the settings and musical background. Full of prettiness and charm, the pleasant little romance makes Ito demands upon the onlooker, as it weaves its unpretentious coils about the two, who are the mos: popular, youthful lovers of the screen. There is. an excellent supporting programme.' I

MAJESTIC THEATRE. The last two days are announced of “Sporting Blood.” the romantic love story also the biography of a thoroughbred racing horse, which continues to please large audiences at the Majestic Theatre. Undoubtedly the most important character in the piece is "Tommy Boy,” a wonderful horse around whom the story revolves. The human characters are portrayed by Clark Gable, Madge Evans, Ernest Tor'reiice; Lew Cody, and Marie Prevost, who all give convincing performances. “Get-Rich-Quick-Wallingford.”

On Friday next, the management of the Majestic Theatre will have much pleasure in presenting the Metro-Gold-wyn-Mayer fun riot, “Get-Rich-Quick-Wallingford,” which is said to provide plenty of laughter and excitement’.' It will arrive in Wellington fresh from a triumphant season in Auckland, writing of which the “Auckland Star” comments : “The comedy was an instantaneous success, and presents William Haines at his best as the irascible but always likeable Wallingford, who runs the gamut of crook adventures.” Equally effective are Jimmy Durante, a celebrated New York stage comedian, and Ernest Torrence. The feminine interest is supplied by Leila Hyams.

KING’S THEATRE. A dramatisation of the world’s most absorbing espionage trial. “The Dreyfus Case,” is now showing nt the King’s Theatre. Only a few glimpses are afforded of Dreyfus in captivity, but each time the scene is memorable. Gene Gerrard. in “My Wife's Family,” comes to the King’s Theatre on New Year's Day.

> GRAND OPERA HOUSE, ; ' “Huckleberry Finn,” Mark Twain'S immortal story of boyhood days, iszat the Grand Opera House. The juvenile portion of the cast is an outstanding one, comprising Jackie Coogan, Junior Durkin/ Mitzi Green and Jackie Searle, and the same standard is maintained by the adults. Eugene Pallette and, Oscar Apfel prove themselves a pair of capital comedians, and Clara Blandick arid June Darwell both give excellent performances. The humour of ‘ “Huckleberry Finn” is spontaneous. A “Micky Mouse Fantasy,” written by Mr. A. S. Paterson, the cartoonist, is precepted. The “Fantasy” hak been produced by- Eileen Wilson, late of J. 0. Williamson, Ltd. (Aust.). Tut Coltman’s Royal Melodious have control of the musical numbers. PARAMOUNT THEATRE. Dramatic acting of a particularly high order is displayed in “The Homicide Squad,” now at the Paramount Theatre, It has a substantial plot, the acting is fine, and the dialogue, especially that of Air. Carillo, is good. “Riders of the Purple Sage.” “Riders of the Purple Sage,” Zane Grey’s great story, which opens on Friday at the Paramount Theatre, is one of Zane Grey’s few real romances, a love story spiced with thrills and spectacle. One important scene shows the stampede of five hundred fear-crazed. cattle being turned, single handed, by George O’Brien, who outraces the herd down a narrow gorge. Another thrilling moment is provided by a mighty avalanche.

KILBIRNIE KINEMA. One of the strangest stories ever told forms the plot of “The Magnificent Lie,” starring Ruth Chatterton, in the greatest characterisation of her career, to be screened at the Kilbirnie Kinema this evening.