ENTERTAINMENTS

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 178, 26 April 1939, Page 7

ENTERTAINMENTS

Victor Herbert Operetta Shows At Theatre Majestic TheaU’egoovH see a new Jeanette MaeDonald in “'Sweethearts,” which is showing for a third week at the Theatre Majestic. In this screen version of Victor Herbert’s operetta, Miss .MacDonald appears as Gwen Marlow, aud it, is <1 part in wlnicli she can express herself in action as well as in Song. Nelson Eddy, as Guven Marlow's husband, is heard with Miss MacDonald in several melodies. Because this .production has been filmed in colour, added charm has been given to the more spectacular scenes, and to the clothes worn by Miss MacDonald. “Boys Town.” “Bovs Town,” which will be tlie next change at film Theatre Majestic, has reason to appeal to the public of all countries, in that it is based ou the good and satisfactory work done and still being done by Father Flanagan, in Omaha, Nebraska. In building up Boys Town from an old and dingy brick building which he rented for 90 dollars, to the large and productive institution which it now is, Father Flanagan has seen the ambition which was born when Im was a young priest, on its way to realization. He was first allowed into his care three boys who were before the court for petty thieving; now he has boys eager to come under his care —he has 200. For his work in this film Spencer Tracy, who appears as Father Flanagan, was declared winner of the 1938 award for the best male acting performance, by the American Academy of -Motion Picture Arts aud Sciences. He forwarded the statuette to Father Flanagan because, were it not for the work of Father Flanagan, there would have been no part for him to have played. Mickey Rooney appears as AA'hitey Marsh, the boy who causes Father Flanagan trouble till tragedy suddenly awakens him to a sensible way of living. . . , . The supporting programme will include a Robert Beachlev comedy, “Any Hour For Lunch,” a Pete Smith specialty, an “Our Gang” feature, and “Heroes of Leisure.” Basil Rathbone Has Title Role Of Film At St. James Basil Rathbone lias the title role in “The Son of -Frankenstein,” which will show for two more days at the St. James Theatre. He appears as a scientist who takes up 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.” Boris Karloff re-creates the monster role, and Bela Lugosi of “Dracula” fame assumes an even more harrowing characterization as Ygor, the broken-necked, mad shepherd cut down from the gallows. “Ambush." Four ultra-modern bandits swoop down on a California bank, surprise spectators and guards with a smoke screen and flee with 98,000 dollars, leaving a truck as the only due to their identity, ifi “Ambush, which will begin a season at the ht. James Theatre on Friday. Io Gladys Swarthout, secretary in. the bank, recognition of the truck as one on which her younger brother, AVilliam Henry, worked 'implicates him as a member of the gang. Fleeing to lie l ' brother, she is trapped by the gang which is composed of Ernest Truex, master-mind. Hartley Tufts. gunman, Broderick Crawford, blackballed ex-pilot. Under threat of bodily harm to her brother, she lures Lloyd No.an, a truck-driver, to the bandits Hide-out. Nolan is forced to help them. . AA itb the bandits hiding in a hastily-improvised compartment in the truck, Miss bwaitnout, posing as injured, they set out for the county line. Another Double-Feature Change At State Theatre The romance which flowers between Ralph Bellamy and Fay AVray, amid the screaming action of au adventure ta second to none, is a worthy element ot “Smashing the Spy Ring, ’ which is the main feature on a double-feature programme which will 'begin at the State Theatre today. Here is a girl whose brother has been murdered while doing his duty; here is a man sworn to avenge that murder . . . confronted with the same sinister forces, and facing the same relentless death. Here is a romance which merits as much attention from the intelligent picturegoer as does the action of “Smashing the Spy Ring.” “Homicide Bureau,” the other feature, presents Bruce Cabot as a fighting police lieutenant whose zeal is curbed when he arrests a gangster-suspect on a charge of murder, only to have, his evidence destroyed by Miss Hayworth, who appears as the Police Department’s lovely new scientist.' AVorking sometimes with and sometimes against each other, Cabot and Miss Hayworth nevertheless manage to track down the gunmen responsible for the deaths of honest junk dealers who had refused to allow their scrap iron to be shipped abroad.

“If I Were King” Ends Season At Regent Theatre “If I Were King’’ will end its season at the Regent Theatre today. It concerns the adventures of France’s great mediaeval) hero Francois Villon (Roald Colman), who«e verse caused the proudest hearts in the realm to flutter and whose courage rallied tire I’aris populace into battle against the Duke of Burgundy. Villon, a romantic rogue from the Paris underworld, was, for a short time, Grand Constable of France. ‘‘Fools For Scandal.” A light and gay romance of Rondon and Paris, produced and directed by Hollywood’s ace comedy director, Mervyn Leßoy, “Fools For Scandal,’’ which will begin' at the Regent Theatre tomorrow is said to reach a new standard in entertainment. The stars are Carole Lombard and Fernana Gravat. No one needs to be told about MitsH Lombard, her recent comedy triumphs, "True Confession” and "Nothing Sacred.’’ speak for themselves. “Fools For Scandal'’ gives her the opportunity to further her success as a comedienne. Gravat is the handsome, appealing young Franco-Belgian actor whom Leßoy discovered in Parks and took to Hollywood under personal contract Io star with Joan Biondell in the delightful comedy-romance, “The King and the Chorus Girl. In “Fools For Scandal” he is said to be even more winsome, for he displays Ji talent that was not shown in the 1937 films he sings and dances. The famed songwriting team of Rodgers and Hart composed the lunes, "How Can You Forget.' and “There's a Boy in Harlem." Hie Le w Hite Orchestra contributes its grand brand of music, and there ns a lavish dance sequences) set in an elaborate Paris nigut club, to add to the general gaiety ot ll.c film. Tudor Bills “Kentucky” And “Paid To Dance” Loretta Young and Richard Greene are seen in the leading rules in “Kentucky,” which is showing at the Tudor Theatre, and it is their love which brings peace to two great families who have bated each other bitterly since the American Civil War. "Paid to Dance,” the associate al t raid ion. exposes a racket known overseas as "the taxi-girl" racket. The cast is headed by Don Terry and Jacqueline Wells. Policy Of Freedom Theme Of Picture At King’s Screening at the King's Theatre, "You Can’t Take It With You,'' deals with tile lovable and perfectly delightful Vander hof family which believes in doing whatever it wants, whenever it wants. In their old New York home presided over by Grandpa Vanderhof, this family reveals a heart-warming attitude toward life in a .merry melange of comedy, flavoured with romance and tinged with pathos). “You

Can’t Take It AVith You” is concerned in part, with the proud aristocratic Kirbys, as well as with the carefree A’anderhofs. Plaza Theatre Screens Comedy By Bernard ShaAV As the Cockney flowergirl who ie “60 deliciously low, so horribly dirty,” and therefore a fit subject for Professor Higgins’s (Leslie Howard) great experiment in Bernard Shaw’s comedy, “Pygmalion,” which is screening at the Plaza Theatre, AVendy Hiller gives a performance which is thrillingly auspicious. Eliza merely wanted “to be taught to epeak like a lady in a florist’s shop”; but Professor I'f gina did more. For a bet he turned 1/ into a great lady, who passed with Toyalty, aud then, having satisfied his inordinate ego, he tried to throw her back into the gutter. Managenisnt Of De Luxe Offers “Lily Of Laguna” That immortal melody of Leslie Stuart, "Lily of Laguna” iun.de the basis for the film of the same name which, together witji “Last AA’arniug,” a Crime Club thriller, is offered by the management of the De Luxe Theatre. “Lily of Laguna ’ features Talbot O'Farrell; “Last AVarning,” Preston Foster. "Paris Honeymoon.” AVith Bing Crosby, Akim Tamiroff, Shirley Ross, Edward Everett Horton and Ben Blue, “Paris Moneymoon,” a Paramount production, will begin at the De Luxe Theatre on Friday.