ENTERTAINMENTS

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 172, 18 April 1939, Page 5

ENTERTAINMENTS

St. James Shows “Litile Tough Guys In Society”

Satisfactory screen fare is produced by the eavortiug, dancing, and clowning of the "little tough guys” in "Little Tough Guys In Society,” which io showing at the St. Janies Theatre. Smartly paced by three brilliant comedy stars, Mischa Auer, Mary Boland and Edward Everett Horton, this comedy affords hilarious situations as the boys ride rough-shod through the realm of frosty socialities ou a Long Island estate. The story concerns .Mary Boland, a socialite mother who is worried because her spoilt son, Jackie Searl, wants to spend his whole life in bed. "Son Of Frankenstein.” Basil Rathbone has the tile role as a scientist who takes tip the work snapped short by his father’s death 25 years before and brings back to a life of human devastation the monster who made flesh creep in the original production of "Frankenstein” and its successor, “Bride of Frankenstein,” in "Son of Frankenstein, which will be the next change at the St. James Theatre. Boris Karloff recreates the monster role, and Bela Lugosi ot “Dracula” fame assumes an even more harrowing characterization ag Ygor, the broken-necked, mad shepherd cut down from the gallows. Adventures Of Francois Villon Theme Of Film At Regent The adventures of France’s great media eval hero Francois Villon (Ronald Colman), whose verse caused the proudest hearts in the realm to flutter and whose courage rallied the Paris populace into battle against the Duke of Burgundy, form the theme of “If I Were King, which is at the Regent Theatre. Villon, a romantic rogue from the Paris underworld, became Grand Constable of France. This picture shows how he kills one of the king’s enemies in a tavern brawl, makes love to a haughty princess in defiance of royal authority, rallies the haifstarved people of Paris to the defence of a king who has all but forgotten them, and drives a powerful enemy from the very gates of Paris. “Sunset Trail” And “Disbarred” Screen At De Luxe “Sunset Trail,” the main attraction at the De Luxe Theatre, is the story of a notorious gambler and outlaw who terrorizes the trail to Sacramento, finally committing a robbery and murder which drives “Hopalong Cassidy” (William Boyd) into action. With Robert Preston cast as the young assistant and Gail Patrick as the sensational Portia, “Disbarred” tells an exciting story of a more than clever “mouthpiece” who tries to transfer his technique to a young girl when he himself is barred from practising the law. » "Lily of Laguna.” Beginning a season at the De Luxe Theatre next Friday will be “Lily of Laguna.” Victor Herbert Melodies Heard In Picture At Majestic Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy are heard in eight numbers in Victor Herbert’s “Sweethearts,” which is at the Theatre Majestic. These numbers are "Mademoiselle,” "On Parade,” "Wooden Shoes,” ‘‘Every’ Lover Must Meet His Fate,” "Summer Serenade,” ‘‘Pretty as a Picture,” “Sweethearts,” and “Little Grey Home in the West.” In modern dress for the first time on the screen, the story shows Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy a e being happpily married and playing in a successful stage musical show which has been run ning for six years. The only rift in their domestic life is that they are overworked, appearing at the theatre, singing before the microphone, and at benefits, and making recordings. Wendy Hiller Acts Well In “Pygmalion” At Plaza Through every stage of Eliza Doolittle s change from a Cockney flower-girl to a great lady who passed with royalty, Wendy Hiller’s performance in the screen play of George Bernard Shaw’s “Pyg" ma'lion,” which is in its fifth week at the Plaza Theatre, is perfect, and she remains human, which is not an easy task in a Shaw play. Merely wanting to be taught "to speak like a lady in a florist’s shop,” Eliza is the main character. Professor Higgins (Leslie Howard), a professor of phonetics, however, did more than teach her to speak like a lady m a florist’s shop, and then having satisfied his inordinate ego, he tried to throw her back into the gutter. Producer’s Love Of Horses Seen In “Kentucky” At King’s Darryl Zanuck, the producer of “Kentucky,” which is at the King’s Theatre, is obviously a man with a deep love of horses. He is by no means tlie first producer to have made a picture purporting to show that Kentuckians love horses just a shade less dearly than their own lives, but he is probably the first to have proved it—if such a thing can be proved. The love interest in the story, the theme of which is a feud between the families of Goodwin and Dillon, is maintained by Loretta Young and Richard Greene. "You Can’t Take It With You.”

“You Can’t Take It With You,” whwa will begin a season at the Kings Theatre on Friday, is the heart-warming story of two families whose philosophies of life are poles apart. One familv, presided over by happy-go-lucky Grandpa Vanderhof, lives _ merrily and somewhat madly in a sutlicient-uuto-thv-day atmosphere of untroubled fun. Jhe other'family, the social-conscious, moneygrubbing, power-mad Kirbys, are the ptiiest of wealth worshippers. These two families clash when the Kirby non and t“e Vanderliot grand-daughter fall in Tony Kirby, not bo dollar-bound a« his father, nor so class-conscious as ai> mother, believes bin parents are genuine at. heart. He hopes that contact with the Vanderhofs will change their attitude toward his marriage to Alice. State Theatre Programme Has Two Features In "Pacific Liner,” the main feature which will end at the Stale Theatre today, Victor McLaglen is a swaggering two-fisted chief engineer, dictator of mi ocean liner’s murky stokehold, and ClU'std Morris is a rugged ship’s surgeon. There is conflict between them. lhe ofhei feature, “Arizona Legian, concerns the formation of the Arizona Rangers, a seeiet group of 14 men commissioned by Teiritorial Governor Oakes Murphy to rid the State of disreputable element. “Up The River” and “Bank Holiday.” Opening a seas'on at the State Theatre tomorrow as the main feature on a double feature programme, will be ’Up .me River,” a 20th Century-1 1 ox comedy, featuring Preston Foster, Tony Martin, Phvllis Brooks, Slim Summerville, Arthur Treacher and Bill Robinson. Said to be a hilarious combination, ol music, broad comedy situations, and prison football, the film is a happy departure from the cycle of grim prison melodramas with their loftv but solemn messages oi social reform and is, in the opinion of the director, Alfred Worker, a refreshing xploration into a novel backgrounrd - C °The y story of “Bank Holiday,” the other feature concerns Stephen Hon aid, who. wife has died in childbirth on the morning of the bank holiday. His wife s nurse, Catherine, offers to accompany the dazea man home, fearful that in his grief some harm may befall him, but he refuses, leaving her free to join the happy throng of holiday-makers and her fiance.

Two Romantic Comedies Billed At Tudor Theatre

"The Cowboy and the Lady” and “■Woman Chases Man” are the two romantic comedies billed at the Tudor Theatre. Merle Oberou is cast as a gay and witty girl of modern society and the romance between her and Gary Cooper is spiced with farce, and passes on to an unexpected climax. "Woman Chases Man” has Miriam Hopkins, Joel McCrea and Charles Winninger at'the head of the cast. Screen Version Of “The Golem” At New Opera House “The Legend Of Prague,” which is at the New Opera House, is an unusual film in many ways. Produced in Prague, from the famous stage play, "The Golem,” the dialogue has been translated into English for distribution in English speaking countries. The legend is an old one, dealing with the persecution of Jews by a despotic monarch in the sixteenth century, and though the conditions are rattier different the situation is said to par.'ijlel in some respects that which exists in Germany today.