ENTERTAINMENTS

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 43, 14 November 1941, Page 10

ENTERTAINMENTS

Paramount Theatre.—Frank Capra can fairly claim distinction -as the most versatile director in Hollywood. One must take ones hat).off to a man who can bring to the screen such diverse pictures as "The Lost Horizon,” "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,” and "Il Happened One Night.” The last two are both comedies, but they are as far apart as'the'poles in treatment and mood, and form an interesting comparison when screened on the same programme.

Plaza Theatre. — Ilona Massey is tin already proven star. She can act, she can dance, and, above all, she can sing. With a wealth of stage experience behind her, she comes to the screen quite free from the little gaueheries which often mark a new actress on the way to the top of her career. This is amply shown in “New Wine,” her latest picture. For the first time she is in undisputed possession of the top of the billing. “New Wine” is a gay picture. It has none of the grim realism which is almost unavoidable in pictures set in Europe today, but floats lightly along in the sparkling atmosphere of what we like to imagine Europe was like in the days of the emperors. Miss Massey sings several of Schubert’s great melodies, including “Serenade,” “Ave Maria,” and “Marche Militaire.” •

State Theatre.— “Under Age” is meant to point a moral, and it does so well, though, as is the case in most films of this nature, continuity and smoothness of dialogue suffer a lit Ge. The story tells of young girls—“under age”—who are forced - through circumstances to accept jobs in roadside resorts operated by tourist eamp racketeers who, onee. they have the girls in their clutches, prevent them through fear and force from complaining to the authorities. Jack Holt, never known to let down a film in which he is starred, plays the lead in “The Great Swindle,” the second film on the programme.

St. James Theatre.— “Aloma of the South Seas” is notable for two reasons—the eruption and the fact that it puts Dorothy Lamour back into a gaily coloured sarong. There is no 40-hour week in this star’s schedule. Today she is-at this theatre in a light comedy role; tomorrow she is at the cinema across the road' in an eighteenth century drama; next week she is wafting and willowiug ■to a South Sea Islands guitar. But whatever Dorothy Lamour does, she does well. And her part in “Aloma of the South Seas” gives ample evidence of her skill and. versatility.

Regent Theatre. —In “Flight Command” Robert Taylor’s romantic activities are mbre curtailed than they have been in some of his earlier films. There are two acting performances in the film which stand out. Ruth Hussey’s, as the woman who tried to be the cool-headed wife of an air commander, and Walter; Fidgeon’s as the commander who asked his men to do nothing that he would not do himself.

Majestic Theatre. —The work to which Father Flanagan has devoted his life, has been woven into another powerful motion picture, “Men of Boys Town.” The picture deals with Father Flanagan's fight against brutality in corrective treatment of youth. The good priest goes to the assistance of a boy murderer, victim of social injustice, who becomes his greatest problem. The heart in the story is Father Flanagan’s battle to renew the boy’s faith.

Opera House— Starring Leslie Howard, perhaps the most versatile if not the most accomplished Englishman on stage or screen today, “Intermezzo” opens a return Wellington season at the Opera House today. Supporting Leslie Howard is Ingrid Bergman, who rises well to the high standard of performance Howard sets. The tempo of “Intermezzo” is sustained, rather than working up to one high point. It is a simple love story, and for this simplicity the picture is the more attractive.

De Luxe Theatre. — Gene Autry, now in practically undisputed possession of the field of musical Westerns, is the star of “Back iti the Saddle,” which opens at the De Luxe Theatre today. With him are Smiley Burnette and Mary Lee in their usual roles. The additional feature is “A Man Betrayed,” a story of political corruption in the United States, featuring John Wayne and Frances Dee. King’s Theatre. —One of his best and most popular books, Zane Grey’s “Western Union” has been made into a picture. Filmed in technicolour by Twentieth Cen-tury-Fox it has a cast headed by Robert Young, Randolph Scott, Dean Jagger, and Virginia Gilmore. The film depicts the building of the telegraph in the West by Edward Creighton. Dean Jagger p'layes the engineer who leads a wagon train out of Omaha with distant Salt Lake City as the goal. Across prairie and plain where death strikes as silently as an Indian arrow, Creighton _ aud his men fight onward against the Sioux. All ■the excitement that was the frontier West 'has been woven into “Western

elude John Carradme, blim buinmerviue, Chill Wills, and Barton Mac Lane. .

Tudor Theatre. — Actually, though the plot of “Missing Ten Days” is serious, the handling of the situation is humorous. The director has cleverly built up the atmosphere by keeping the audience as much in the dark as the amnesia victim. None of the events of the missing 10 days.are shown— only the. effects of the adventures in which Rex Harrison had been embroiled. His air of. bewilderment as sinister gentlemen whisper in his ear and lovely ladies treat him with amorous familiarity .is only equalled by the audience’s growing suspicions that he certainly had not let the grass grow under his feet during his missing 10 days. The additional feature is “The Richest Man in Town.” '

SUBURBAN THEATRES

Empire (Island Bay);— The and Miss Jones,” Jean Arthur, Robert Cummings; “Adam Had 5 our Sons, Ingrid Bergman, Warner Baxter.. . S Rivoli (Newtown). — 1 irgtnia, Madeleine Carroll, Fred Mac Murray; Im Still Alive,” Kent Taylor, Linda Hayee. Capitol (Miramar)^— ‘■'Sailor s 'Three, Tommy Trinder; “Go West, Marx Bl Vogue’ (Brooklyn). —“On Your. Toes,” Zorina', Eddie Albert; „"East of the River,” Brenda Marsnad, John Garfield. Regal (Karori).—“Freedom Clive Brook, Diana Wynyard; ‘Her I irst Beau’’ Jane Withers, Jackie Cooper,, . Asiot (Newtown).— “Great .American Broadcast,” Alice Faye, John' Rayne; “Dead Men Tell.” . . ~ Tivoli (Thorndon). — City of Conquest,” James Cagney, ‘ Ann Sheridan “Wyoming,” Wallace Beery, Leo CarT 1 Prince Edward (Woburn).— "Money and the Woman,” Jeffrey Lynn, Brenda Marshall: “Wildcat Bus,” Jay Wray, Omrles. Hutt ) _“I Wanted Wings,” Ray Milland Holden, Wayne Morns, Brian Donlevy De Luxe (Lower Hutt) —‘Hotel for Women,” Ann Sothern, Linda Darnell, “The Indian. Nation?’ Richard Dix. Kiuema (Kilbirnie) - “Waterloo Bridge,” Vivien Leigh, Robert. Taylor, “Moon Over Burma,” Dorothy ■ Lamour, Robert Preston,