ENTERTAINMENTS

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 260, 30 July 1937, Page 7

ENTERTAINMENTS

“A Star is Born” Begins To-day at Regent A real gala Hollywood premiere, complete with pressing thr °" ss .’ radio announcer and celebrities is oneof he many highlights of "A Star is Bo in, David O. Selzniek’s technicolour production co-starring Janet Gayuor aud w 1 March, which will b «= ln ? ts '2,n!v w season at the Regent Iheatre to-day. Mll liain A. Wellman directed this ous story of Hollywood s which casts Miss Gayuor as a little < ' oun “? who came to Hollywood in on e p ’ faced the crushing odds of IdU.UUV to on. and made good. Adolphe Menjo , - ■ y Robson, Andy Devine, and Lionel Slander are prominently leatured in thi ~ t . first up-to-the-minute story to be filmed in technicolour, and others playnio important roles are Owen *' Ioor ?l Wood, Elizabeth Jenus, Edgar Kennedy, J. C. Nugent, and Guiun Williams. Such world-famous Hollywood landmarks as the Trocadero, Grauman s Chinese Ihcatre, the Brown Derby, and the Biltmoic Bowl as it looks during the annual banquet of the Academy of Motion 1 icture Arts and Sciences, are shown in natural colour for the first time, .^ 1 r , onl lv ei ii on the supporting programme will be wait Disney's newest coloured cartoon, Mickey’s Circus.” “The Man in Possession” at Majestic To-day Jean Harlow will be seen in the last film she completed before death put an untimely end to her career, “Man in Possession,” in which she is co-starred with Robert Taylor, at the Majestic Theatre to-day. Miss Harlow, hailed by critics and public alike for her talents as a comedienne, plays the role of Crystal Wetherby, au American harassed by debts. In an endeavour to keep up a "front” she runs herself even more deeply in debt, with the result that her creditors make use of the English custom of assigning a sheriff’s assistant to take up his post in her house and to watch her personal property to make certain that she does not sell anything. In desperation, Crystal resolves to marry Claude Dabney (Reginald Owen), an elderly, pompous Englishman whom she does not love but whom she believes to be rich. Taylor, who plays the part of Raymond Dabney, the sheriff's assistant assigned to watch over Crystal’s belongings, and when she implores him not to "give her away” before the man she wants to marry he agrees to pose as her butler. The fun begins when Crystal's fiance turns out to be Raymond Dabney’s brother. Jessie Matthews in “Head Over Heels” at Plaza The reigning favourite of .the English musical comedy stage and screen, Jessie Matthews, will be seen at die Plaza Theatre to-day in "Head Over Heels,” which was directed by her husband, Sonnie Hale. "Head Over Heels” introduces four new faces to the screen, and between Jessie and these people occur some of the most amusing scenes in the film. There are her two leading men, Robert Flemyng from Dublin and Louis Borrell, who >s Dutch. Then there is Romney Brent, a little better known, his last appearance being with George Arliss in “East Meets West,” and Edward Cooper, who is very well known on the English music halls. Jessie siugs no fewer than six song hits in “Head Over Heels.” “Head Over Heels” is a zestful comedy romance st in th Parisian cabaret world of three young people and an actress who has home-wrecking tendencies. A notable item on the supporting programme will be a film of the second Test match between the Springbzls and Australia. Intrigue and Comedy in De Luxe Programme Edmund Lowe and Madge Evans are the leading players in “Espionage,” which will begin at the De Luxe Theatre to-day. The story combines the blend of international intrigue aud romance that is making headlines throughout the world today. “Annie, Leave the Room,” concerns a film company that goes on location to Spendlove Hall, owned by Lord Spendlove, an impecunious peer with film aspirations. _ Lord Spuendlove and tlie maid, Annie Ramsbottom, receive ta filin' test. The noble peer is a “flop,” but Annie is a success. “Laughing Irish Eyes” at St. James Theatre Supported by an 1800-foot film of the Dionue quintuplets celebrating their third .birthday, Phil Regan, the Irish tenor, will be seen in his first starring role in “Laughing, Irish Eyes,” at the St. James Theatre to-day. Singing is not only Regan’s artistic vocation, but his hobby as well. He began it when he was a boy. He was the leading tenor of his high school glee club. When hardly out of his ’teens his public singing in New York city launched him on a national broadcasting career, which made his voice known and loved by millions. He was still a young man when Hollywood snatched him from the air channels to put his voice into singing screen roles. He is still such a musicminded young Irishman that he recently terminated a long-term screen contract because he felt he could obtain more and better singing roles free-lancing. In the idyllic setting of Ireland’s green hills and country lanes, Regan is presented as an athletic young blacksmith who sings as he pounds his anvil. Walter Kelly, American prize-fight promoter, and his daughter, pick Regan for their choice—but for different reasons. Old Irish favourites, seldom heard on the screen, are sung by Regan, and poured into the heart of the spirited Irish lass. State Theatre to Screen “Wake Up and Live” There was a time when the film studio, in making a comedy, built all the funny situations around one personality, or, at most, one team of comedians. - To-day that is no longer true. This is especially noticeable in the productions of Darryl ZanuckJ whose “Wake Up and Live,” featuring Walter Winchell, Ben Bernie, and Alice Faye, opens at the State Theatre to-day. Zanuck does not believe that one comedian takes away from the laugh-provoking qualities of another funster. In “Wake Up and Live,” for instance, the players are cast “against” each other. That is, comedians of con trusting types are given scenes together in order 'to accentuate each other’s work. Walter Winchell’s fast-clipped, wisecracking voice and high-tension mannerisms have twice the value when placed against the slow, easy-gotug witticisms of Ben Bernie. The shy, soft-spoken Jack Haley plays most of his comedy scenes in the film with the loud and hoydenish Patsy Kelly, while “dead-pan” Ned Sparks does many of his scenes with the irrepressible Walter Catlett. The drag-out antics of Joan Davis follow closely upon the gently insane drolleries of little Etienne Girardot. “When Thief Meets Thief” at New Paramount There are many exciting incidents in the melodrama “When Thief Meets Thief,” which will begin at the New Bnramount Theatre to-day. The' story, with Douglas Fairbanks, .inn., in the leading role, opens with the life of a college boy in New Orleans who involuntarily becomes linked up with a gangster iu a bootlegging ventures aud under suspicion of murder he becomes the crook’s ally. The leader of the gang (Alan Hale) quarrels with a confederate and blackmails Ricky Morgan (Fairbanks) to force him to remain in the gang. 'The scene then changes to London and the Continent, where Ricky becomes an expert cat burglar. Into the story comes Gloria, a young woman, a part played by Valerie Hobsou. a heartless young person whose extravagance and fondness for high life drives a number of her fiances to ruin. Ricky meets her in the midst of a burgling expedition and falls in love with her. The crook also turns up aud both men

compete for her hand. Ricky visits the home of the crook, climbing to the top in the approved cat burglar fashion and then leaping to a terrace below. He enters a window with a revolver drawn to face the crook and his old companion in crime. In a .struggle the crook is killed. Gloria faces her trial and Ricky comes to the rescue to prove that she is innocent and convinces the police by visiting with them the crook’s home and repeating hie climb and leap. Bret Harte Story Heads New King’s Programme Adventure, romance and a man’s supreme sacrifice for the woman he loves, set against the picturesque background of the California iu the days of the FortyNiners, are to be found in “The Autcasts of Poker Flat,’’ which will begin to-day at the Plaza Theatre. Based on the Bret Harte story, the picture recreates tlie era when red-shirted miners struggled and died on the slopes of the Sierras in their frantic quest for gold, as a permanent civilisation grew above their rude camps and settlements. “The Outcasts of Poker Flat’.’ tells the story of a gambler who resents the intervention of the “better element” in his affairs, despite his interest in a pretty school teacher who comes to the can>p and who endeavours to change his attitude. The romantic theme is involved with the gambler’s feminine partner’s jealousy of the school teacher and with the rivalry of a fighting clergyman who becomes a leader of the reform group. A theme equally interest’ng is the conflict in the camp over the welfare of li little orphan girl. ’Hhe associate feature, “Border Cafe,” is the story of a ne’er-do-well son of a senator who makes good in the open spaces.