ENTERTAINMENTS.

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 16, 13 October 1933, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS.

MAJESTIC THEATRE.

Those two kings of merriment, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, appear as a couple of carefree vagabonds in “Fra Diavolo,” the delicious Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer comedy, which will head the new bill at the Majestic Theatre to-day. They have saved their money, and decide to take life easy. At which moment a couple of bandits hold them up and take away their savings. It then Occurs to Laurel that it is easier to steal than to make money honestly. Underfahing the career of highway robbers, they eventually confront Diavolo, known throughout the countryside as the notorious bandit chief. Pretending to be the great chief himself, Hardy soon discovers his mistake, but it is too late to make a getaway. The chief’s band surround the comedians and make them prisoners. Hardy is sentenced to be hanged. And Laurel is given the job of hangman. The comedians are saved temporarily when they consent to be the personal aides of the bandit chief who is in quest of a beautiful lady's jewels. In addition to the comedy team and Dennis King, the supporting cast includes Thelma Todd, James Finlayson, Lucille Brown, Arthur I’ierson and Henry Armetta. ST. JAMES THEATRE. “The Keyhole.” the big Warner Bros.' production, which will be introduced to the Wellington public at. St. James Theatre to-night, features those two great screen stars, Kay Francis and George Brent. It is an enthralling story of a beautiful dancer who marries,an elderly man of wealth, who. of course, is extremely jealous of her. His suspicions ore particularly aroused by her occasional'meetings witii her'former dancing partner, to whom she had been married.,The ! heroine’s first husband attempts black: mail, and the jealous second husband employs a private detective to watch his wife. After a series of the most exciting adventures, the heroine falls in love with the private detective, and the blackmailer breaks his worthless neck. The man of wealth is left lamenting betause the divorce from the first busband had never been completed. The picture presents the gaiety and luxury of Park Avenue houses and the glamour of balmy i nights under a Cuban moon. Among the i inpporting films will be the screening of a pictorial record of the funeral of the | late Mr. 11. E. Holland,

PARAMO L’NT THEATRE. Brook-like, Ben Travers brightens British Dominions’ screen farce, “Thark,” runs merrily on its second week of promounced success at the Paramount Theatre. It sets a new standard in British fitn production, for it excels all Travers’ previous successes, including “Rookery Nook” and “On -Approval,” the two outstanding comic screen plays of their time, which first put British talking films on ’the map. The two great comedians — Ralph Lynn and Tom Walls—stars of the two productions mentioned, are again . the leads in “Thark.” and these accomplished fools are funnier than ever as an uncle and nephew who pooh I pooh 1 an old lady’s assertion that the house the uncle has sold her is haunted.. They untlerfake to spend a night in one big bed in the haunted room and lay the supposed ghost. The happenings which follow, aided by Travers’ very smart dialogue, are funny beyond words, and the laughs raised are of the loudest, possible kind. Popular Mary Brough, as the old lady who owns “Thark,” where spooks abound, and Robertson Hare, as a baronet’s man-servant with shattered nerves, are seen at their best, and so also are the seven other members of the original members of the Aldwich Theatre stage cast. “"With Cobham to Kivu” is another especially good picture on this programme, which is loudly applauded nightly. r ' DE LUXE THEATRE. Adapted from the Rachel Brothers Stage play. “When Ladies Meet,” the Metro-Goldwyn-M.ayer feature, which will head the new programme at De Luxe Theatre to-day, presents a novel angle on the old romantic triangle tangle. It concerns a wife who knows her busband philanders and a young man who is worried because he finds his sweetheart playing n dangerous game with the married man. He engineers the two women into a meeting that brings a result he has hopefully and gleefully anticipated. Misrt Harding plays the part of the wife and Mortgomery is the young man who is behind the scenes in the domestic, turmoil. Myrna Loy is the girl of his interest and Alice Brady returns to the screen to triumph in a grand comedy role. FrankMorgan is the husband, and the cast is completed by Martin Burton and Luis Alberni. There is an exceptional supporting programme, including “Hollywood Premiere.” a colourtone musical revue, “Alley Oop,” Pete Smith's sport I champions series, and two news reels. 1

REGENT THEATRE. “She Done Him Wrong,” the Paramount feature subject, which will head the new programme at the Regent Theatre to-day, is a picture that teams with action, drama, suspense, glamour, and romance. It has the glittering scintillating Bowery as its background, and the swaggering gay nineties as its period. Mae - West, one of the most spectacular figures in the current Broadway theatrical world, makes her debut in this stirring niefj«rama, which she herself 1 wrote. It is a gripping story of the Bowery, a notorious section of New York, during the gaq ’nineties, with its colleetoin of wideopen saloons, “tough men,” and frivolous women,' It centres around a singer known ns "Lady Lou,” who has a way with men, and who'accepts their attentions in retqru for diamonds. Her collection of gems is ransom for half a dozen kings. Miss. West appears in that roJe. Noah Beery is the saloon-keeper who is furnishing the jewels at the moment. Cary Grant is ostensibly the head of a nearby mission, who turns out to be as susceptible to her charms as any of the natives of the district. A

startling, dramatic climax follows their mutual discovery of this fact. A senes of climaxes begins when the cabaret is raided by The Hawk, an unknown detective, who single-handed smashes a counterfeit ring. During the raid, Lady Lou’s life is threatened by Owen Moore, an escaped convict enamoured of Lou, who believes she has double-crossed him. The film reaches its dramatic ending as the identity of The Hawk is revealed as he rushes into Lou’s room in a desperate endeavour to save her. Miss West, who wrote both the storv and the dialogue, gives her role a brilliant and vivid treatment. She sings two songs during the course of the picture—the famous old ballad, ‘'Frankie and Johnny,” and “Haven’t Got No Peace of Mind, which was written specially for her bv Ralph Rainger, composer of'“Moanin’ Low.” “Please,” and other popular successes.