ENTERTAINMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 144, 15 December 1933, Page 4

ENTERTAINMENTS

REGENT THEATRE. Mary Boland and Charlie Ruggles are costarred In Paramount's "Mama Loves Papa," a comedy, written especially for them. It opened today at the Regent Theatre. Norman McLeotl, director of the Four Marx Brothers in most of their screen appearances, directed the production, "Mama Loves Papa" is a story which permits both Miss Boland and Ruggles to display their particular types of comedy to the best advantage They are cast as a middleaged couple who live outside, a bis city and come to town eacli day, Rusgles to tease fellow office-workers with his puns, and Miss Boland to absorb ideas of "culture" at popular lectures. After one of these lectures Miss Roland decides that her husband must dress in formal clothes on every possible occasion. The next day lie goes to work In frock coat and bowler. His boss, spotting the clothes, immediately concludes there was a death in the family, and gives him the day off. Charlie wanders Into the park, where he Is mistaken for a city official, and forced to participate In a dedicatory exercise. The city's political boss, dissatisfied with the. park commissioner, decides Charlio would do as well as anyone else, and appoints him to the job, and a series of hilarious events follows. GRAND OPERA HOUSE. "Tho Girl in 419," a romantic drama set against the background of a police emergency hospital, is now showing at the Grand Opera House. James Dunn and Gloria Stuart have the leading roles, and the supporting cast is headed by David Manners, Jack Laßue, Shirley Grey, Johnny Hines, and William Harrigan.- "The Girl In 419" centres around a young physician who heads the police division of an emergency hospital in a large city, and around a girl who Is picked up half-dead from a beating and brought back to life by the formers skilled care. Miss Stuart Is brought Into the hospital shortly after the mysterious killing of a gangster. When Bhe regains consciousness she refuses to tell anything of the Incidents leading tip to her beating, or oven to identify herself. Dunn's contacts with a gangster at first reveal nothing else about her, but, when an attempt on her life is made as she is recuperating, he suddenly discovers what Is going on. The breathless events follow. DE LUXE THEATRE. The all-star cast of "The Desert Song," now being presented at the De Luxe Theatre, contains artists who have had experience in reading dramatic lines in correct character as well as training and ability in singing. They are John Boles, Louise Fazenda, Carlotta King, Myrna Loy, John Miljan, Johnny Arthur, Marie nells, Jack Pratt, Edward Martindel, Robert Guzman, Otto Hoffman, and many others. Slgmund Romberg's scoro Is played in its entirety by a symphony orchestra. Although "The Desert Song", closely follows the stage production in that the songs, plot, and characters are practically identical, the adaptation contains far greater entertainment value than the stage version. A chorus of over a hundred trained voices is heard in "The Desert Song." PARAMOUNT THEATRE. The first presentation In New Zealand of British Lion's big music-comedy success "Cleaning Up," which the London "Sportsman" asserts "cleans up and. blots out 99 per cent, of the screen comedies that have preceded It," opened today at the • Paramount Theatre. It Is a, comedy told amidst luxurious surroundings and interpreted by an unusually competent cast of reputable players. The star performer is George Gee, comodlan, well known and esteemed as a splendid funster in all countries where English Is spoken. George Gee's - last visit here was as a comic star with. J. C. Williamson. companies. He Is credited with being even funnier on the screen than he was on the stage. In "Cleaning Up" he appears as the hard-up son of an English Lord who is forced to become a traveller for vacuum cleaners, and while giving his demonstrations he succeeds In cleaning up. a great deal more than carpets with laughter-raising results, KING'S THEATRE. As a play,' "Peg o' My Heart/ now at the King's Theatre, Is some twenty years old, and yet on-the talking screen it Is brand-new. The reason for this is In the apparent' agelessness of the charming story. Marlon Da vies breathes new life Into tho captivating little Irish character "Peg." In her deft hands, Peg seems to have a new personality, and yet with it loses none of the crystal romance of the Irish gamin wo knew so well on. the stage. Miss Davies's performance is assuredly tho best of many recent appearances. She has endowed her Peg with a fine, understanding and sympathy that might be traceable to her own Irish ancestry. The comedy moments of the story abound in richness of dialogue and situations, arid the love theme, with Onslow Stevens as Sir Gerald, adds a poetic gentleness. Box plans are at tho D.I.C. and theatre. ftUE"EN'S THEATRE. A "Western drama with only ons cowboy briefly describes Zane Grey's "The Last Trail," with George O'Brien playing the leading role, now showing at the Queen's Theatre. The storydeals with a band o£ crooks and racketeers ,who attempt to steal a ranch. Most of the action takes place aboard a luxurious passenger train. In a courtroom, and in a pretentious ranch house and its environs. Clairo Trevor appears in the leading feminine role. El Brendel enacts a featured part, and others are .T. Carrol Nalsh, Lucille la Verne, Matt MeHugh. George Reed. Ruth Warren, Luis Alberni, and Edward le Saint. The second attraction will be'the big mystery thriller "Chandu the Magician," starring Edmund Lowe, with ii big supporting- cast. ARTCRAFT THEATRE. "When Ladies Meet," a sparkling new film, opens this evening at the Artcraft Theatre., Ann Harding and Robert Montgomery are costarred in one of the most unusual stories that has been seen on tho screen in manymonths. Adapted from a play by Rachel Crbthers, it is crammed full of compelling situations and dialogue. Miss Harding appears as the wife of a philandering husband, and Montgomery scores anew as a newspaper reporter who finds his girl having a dangerous interest in the married man. Myrna Lay is magnificent as the girl in the case, and Alice Brady scores a triumph in a comedy; role. Frank Morgan is the husband. PRINCESS THEATRE.. "A Farewell to Arms," with Helen Hayes, Gary Cooper, and Adolplfe Me'njou in the leading roles, opened at the Princess Theatre today. 'It tells the story of a man and a woman who loved greatly against a background of war. Gary Cooper has the role of Frederic Henry, an American lieutenant in the Italian ambulance corps, who had been a typical soldier, rough and devoted to hard liquor, until the day he met Catherine Barkley, a brave and beautiful nurse, whose role Is played by Helen Hayes. The two meet through a surgeon, who has annexed Frederic as his "best friend and war brother." They fall in love and play out their stolen moments of loving with death ever waiting to catch 'up with them. SHORTT'9 THEATRE. "Forbidden," starring Barbara Stanwyck, with Adolphe Kenjou and Ralph Bellamy playing leading roles, opened to day at Shortt's Theatre. ,Thi3 picture Is said to otter Miss Stanwyck her most dramatic role. A drab little librarian, one bright spring morning decides to invest her savings in a grand adventure. On the boat far Havana she ami Bob Grover fall madly in love, but know each other only by tho numbers of their staterooms. Back in New York she finds he is married, and a divorce would be a caddish thing to do, for his wife is crippled and loves him devotedly. The girl then becomes' a woman, planuing her life and that of her lover and .reaching the goal.she has set for him. Tim McCoy is also seen in "Rusty Rides Alone." BRITANNIA THEATRE. ■ "Best of Enemies," a new romantic comedy, came to the Britannia Theatre today. Buddy Rogers and Marian Nixon have the. featured roles. In theme and treatment, It. is a film: that has as timely a significance as any recently seen. Against a background that depicts the changes of time, the story details a romance between two youngsters whose personal lives aro inextricably bound up .with passing events. Their bringing up, their daily lives, belonging, as they do, to a familiar class of Americans, gives rise to a number of barriers that must be overcome. KILBIRNIE KINEMA. "Cavalcade," the Fox picturisatiou of Noel Coward's great play, comes to the Kilbirnie Klnema tonight for an engagement of two days. It has achieved the highest praise ever accorded to a film by critics throughout the country, and the greatest enthusiasm ever evinced by motion picture audienres. Diana Wynyard and Clive Brook have the leading roles. REGAL THEATRE, KARORI. The programme at tho Regal Theatre Is headed by "Fra Diavolo," starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Tho fun begins when the pair are robbed of their savings by a bandit, and, seeking revenge, hit upon the bright Idea of becoming bandits themselves. Hardy pretends he is Diavolo, a notorious bandit chief Laurel becomes liis trusted henchman. The hilarious situations ithat arise are extremely humorous.. On Monday and Tuesday "Cavalcade" will be screened. EMPIRE THEATRE, ISLAND BAY. The weekend programme at the Empire Theatre.ls "When Ladies Meet," starring Robert Montgomery. The story concerns a wife who knows her husband philanders, and a young jnan who is worried because he finds his sweetlieart playing a dangerous game with the married man. He engineers the two women into a meeting that brings a result he has hopefully and gleefully anticipated. A. M.G.M. Colourtone Revue, a Pete Smith Sporting Special, and two excellent newsreels precede.the principal attraction. CAPITOL THEATRE, MIRAMAR. "Tho Secret of the Blue Room," at the Capitol Theatre tonight, features an exceptionally strong cast—Lionel Atwell, Paul Lukas. Gloria Stuart. Edward Arnold, and Muriel Kirkland. This Is a thriljing mystery drama concerning a guest chamber In which three murders have been committed. One night things begin to happen which make one of the weirdest tales ever put on the screen. At the matinee George O'Brien, in -"Life in the Raw," and Episode 3 of f'The Lost Special" win be screened.

MAJESTIC THEATRE. "Shanghai' Madness," with Spencer Tracy In -the leading role, opened today at the.Majestic Theatre. It Is a romance of. white people against mi ever-changing background of modern China. The story revolves around the exploits of an American naval officer who becomes involved in an affair that forces him to resign his command. Ho becomes a wanderer in the poorer sections of the seaport town, avoiding all his acquaintances of the past, and seeking to cull his livelihood as best he can. In this new phase of his life he again becomes Involved in trouble when ho sees a mob of natives attacking a. white girl. He rescues the girl from the mob, and a tender attachment between them begins. But sue is a girl of high social standing, and a discharged naval officer Is not. the most appropriate of companions for her. ST. JAMES THEATRE. Discarding ail conventional methods of plot development, "Blind Adventure," which "Is now at the Si. James Theatre, and which features Roland Young, Helen Mack, and .Robert Armstrong, oifers an unusual treatment of the • mystery theme. A young American blunders into an old English mansion and becomes involved in an extraordinary intrigue. Amazing complications ensue, and the hero is compelled to escape across London rooftops with a beautiful girl whom lie has met under peculiar circumstances. A timid burglar makes a hilarious entrance Into the plot, ana his professional experience is enlisted by the fleeing pair. They fall into blackmailers' hands who hold them as hostages to force fhe delivery of important military secrets. OUR THEATRE, NEWTOWN. Diehard Dlx and Ann Harding are co-starred In the R.K.O. attraction "The Conquerors," to be shown at Our Theatre tonight. It is an epic story of a nation's progress through successive periods of political and financial growth and reversal, a dramatic panorama spanning the era from 1573 up to today. Excellent supports complete the programme.