STAGE AND SCREEN

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 126, 30 May 1935, Page 21

STAGE AND SCREEN

'Xondon Speaks." London-Wwhat. visions that name conjures up. What and where would you visit were the opportunity presented for you to make the trip to the great metropolis? You' are bewildered at the thought. of seeing those places of which you have only dreamed—surely all this is not possible, but it is; and what is more, it is .not necessary for you- to ; leavev Wellington to-make the trip. All of the above is possible by paying a visit to the New Opera House on Friday, when "London- Speaks," the Greater Australian Films' produc- . tion, which critics have advanced as being as good as a trip to London, will be: screened. "London Speaks" is one of'the most glorious entertainments of this or'any other year, and isa story of a traveller in London. We accompany him-.through all his'adventures, humorous experiences, and all the absorbing .trials and tribulations that beset such a wonderful trip as the one we make. All those landmarks that have existed only in our dreams pass before our eyes, and a distinctive commentary is supplied by one of England's foremost radio announcers. There is also a musical background to 'London Speaks," composed "of all those old and'modern English melodies we love, together with a theme num- , ber -that was specially written for the film titled "Dear Old London." Violinist, in Australia. Never'before has a visiting musical celebrity captured the. imagination of : Australian music lovers as has Yehudi .Menuhin, the. young violinist, ;who is coming to' New Zealand in July, commencing his tour at Auckland on July 2. Crowds have assembled to hear:the lad play, and critics have reported his performances with ■ pens;: dipped in superlatives. His; •.accompanist, M. Marcel Gazelle, too, has made a host of admirers: he is more than an accompanist—he is., an associate, and as such shares with Menuhin in the applause that always follows- their -performances. Young Menuhin's ■ art. is such that he has become ;the:'friehd of men older than himself,-who admit they cherish friendship,-with; the young genius because he'is?a!-flame at,which they gain warmth and: stimulus. The late Sir Edward Elgaf. was a great personal friend "of the youth; and Toscanini, the famous conductor, is in the habit, when both are in New York, of foregathering^-a' meeting which us^ ually means poring over Bach or some other composer and- gaining some, new insight -into compositions -because of their collaboration. . Sydney has been paying tribute to the. youngster, and he is to return there next month to play with orchestra,,concertos by-Lalo and Bach: -Then comes the New Zealand tour, which, Messrs. J. and N. Tait will direct, allowing, as many centres as possible to hear the virtuoso play. "Sweet Adeline." "Sweet Adeline," Warner Bros.' new musical spectacle and said to be the ; mostt pretentious of all their gigantic specials, with Irene Dunne, famous stage and screen singing star, ■: in the title role, opens at the De Luxe Theatre tomorrow. The picture is taken from the sensational : '"'Broadway hit-by Jerome Kern and Os>X'car^Hammerstein II and is crammed ■ With '''.hilarious comedy, delightful romance,1 and ; sjirring drama in addition to its gigantic: specialty numbers. .■Uiyiiue daiicing numbers' are staged by' Bob Connolly on novel and mammoth: sets'-with scores of Hollywood's mpsfebeautifuL girls taking: part. =.The •music of this operetta, written bySthif authors of the musical comedy, cor£ tains; some otthe most popular songs Jofrthe day. M >addition*to the'eight.in the original show, two new songs were written specially for the screen version. Five of these songs are sung by Irene Dunne alone.: She sings two others ' with Phil Regan, the singing cop of radio fame, who also sings one song solo. Dorothy Dare, Broadway musical comedy star, sings in a popular ballad,1 while Hugh Herbert and' Nydia Westman will be heard in a 1 comedy duet. The picture is laid in the glamorous period of the gay nineties -'-with the Broadway theatrical . world as its'setting. Irene Dunne has .the-role of a. singer in her father's famous Hoboken beer garden which is the rendezvous-of theatrical folk and New York's young bloods and men about town. Donald Woods plays opposite her in the romantic role with Louis*Calhern as his rival. Four of the film colony's most talented comedians are said to give the picture a hilarious comedy touch that is unequalled. They include Hugh Herbert, Nydia Westman, Ned Sparks, and Joseph Cawthorn. Winifred Shaw .also' has an important part. •. ;■ ■ ,'. '-. Together Again.! With their last-comedy, "Fighting Stock," as an established success,i±he old farcical firm of Walls and' Lynn, are again plunging' into production. Their new film, entitled "Get Out of it," is to start at the! Gainsborough Studios and with Walls starring and directing the cast, will include RalDh Lynn, RoT)ertson Hare, Yvofine Arnaud, and many other well-known rartists. • ;

. "The Radio i ' Pirates." I A sparkling'com- < edy treated with :, joyous abandon ,is • the latest product 'of Sound City Stu--1 dios, "The Radio "Pirates,"' "concern- - ' ing. itself .with.the, lot of a young composer, desperate with lack of opportunity and appro- ! ciation until, with the aid of a friend, . a "pirate" 'broad- ■ castings Statiorr. v 3s' i started in order to . introduce the com* ■ poser's songs to the public. Harassed by ! Scotland* Yard arid i the 8.8.C. they cmi ploy many desperate methods in. or-i der'.,to ■ broadcast,■ •the culminating point being reached iin utilising Big Ben i itself. 'Big Ben's : mechanism becoming interfered with,' • the- ..-famous time-'* . piece sets,'up 'deaf-' ■ ening ;peals, .to the . horrorj of^scandalised London below. "The' R>a d i-o [ Pirates" ■' abounds ! J.with' witty original \ lines ..,'..''. . . ' "The Casino Murder Case." | Motion picture, producers are' n'oi \ turnings to- the most recent discoverie ' in the scientific world for their newes murder .mysteries to give . anothe I added thrill to.the theatre public. Th latest ; of : these, scientific, revelation r provides the inspiration for. the bafflin plot in.the new S. S. Van Dine my; tery, "The Casino Murder, Case," pr< duced^by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer wit Paul ,Lukas portraying, the scientifi detective, PhiloyVance. The picture i coming to Wellington shortly. The di; coyery was—heavy water. The stor involves a perplexing murder plot, i which three: persons collapse and on dies after drinking a mysterious,wate: "Roberta." Fr!,d^staire, of the winged feet an the delightful gaiety,' contributes ai other of his talents to RKO-Radio Roberta," in-which he is-starred wil Irene Dunne and Ginger Rogers. Th is piano playing. o He dashes off on th piano one of .Jerome Kern's liveliei numbers. As! might; be expected, th dancmg of Astaire:and Miss Rogers one of the picture's delights. The dr; matic story involving Irene Dunne an Randolph Scott, much incidental con edy,-and-the lavish display of femink fashions ,is from the Jerome Ken Otto iHarbach musical hit. The stor deals with Scott, an ex-All-America athlete, and Astaire, his pal, who wei forced -into -the dressmaking businei in Paris. . . , , ' New; Part for Oskar Denes. It is the:.intention .of J. C. Willian soa, Ltd., to. present the famous Coi tinental star, Oskar Denes, who is i present appearing in "Viktoria and He Hussar" at His' Majesty's Theatre, Me bourne, m another role \yhich he en ated in Europe-and-'in London. 'R. •hearsals are; being .'commenced' fc Ball at the Savoy," which1 was-stage in London at Drury Lane Theatre an ran,for-nearly a year. ,In this-luxuriou lavish, and gay, musical' play, the mus; of which is by'Paul'Abraham, the con poser of "Viktoria and Her Hussar Oskar.Dene's will be seen as Mustaph Bei, an attache of the Turkish Embass —his. original r,ole: According to pr< sent arrangements, the first productio in Australia of "Ball at the Savoy" wi be given in Sydney. ; • '.- ' Thespians Next Month...-. , Next month the Thespians, whos recent production of "Third "Tirr Lucky" was. so. outstandingly succes ful, are to present in their own Litt] Theatre, Lower Cuba Street, an origin; revue. Members'of the society are a ready at, work on sketches and song and the attractive ballet is in actrv rehearsal. The large and -talente membership which the committee r sponsible for 'the arrangements' has 1 'drawiupon makes-the success of the vei ture almost certain, for previous pr, ductiotis"by this- "society • have show that .the .work .of'its members is alwa? to be relied, on-for, excellent entertai ment. ..The. sketches to be performe will' include '.the; work of Redmon Phillips, ■ Ben O'Brien, Bertram' Pott and Frank Goodey, all of whom ha\ had experience of the type of wor required, and those in charge of tt arrangements are very pleased jvit Jhe-progress-already-made. >

"Mo" and Disguise. For many years Roy Rene, the popular comedian,, imag- : ined - that the public laughed at his ■grotesque . make-up as . much as at his •comedy work as "Mo." Mr. Ernest Rolls, the energetic entrepreneur of Australia, told Mr. Rene that the public would still laugh at;his comedy -even' in dress clothes, .and, by' a trick, he confirmed this opinion ,to -the -. comedian. At the final • rehearsal of a 'new revue in which "Mo" was appearing, ' instructions were given to the rest of the company to laugh heartily at every line uttered by him, and on.the night previous to " the opening night, I Mr. Rene informed [ the producer that .he was right and " -that he' could .'■ get ' his laughs without • . • - , = : ~ disguise. : "After Office Hours." ' ' t Newspaper reporting jand acting— s these are the \tworprofessions -about t which the 'public are most' curious. r Little boys who'want to grow up to 5 become; firemen 'or engineers usually 3 turn out doing ;one or the other.;: At i least Clark Gable thinks so, and he is -in the position'to know. > One of ;the J screen's leading ..actors,, he. .has also j worked oh. a metropolitan newspaper, s not"as a reporter but hear enough to ■ it to study thVcraft closely.' And now - he is-utilisin'g^information gathered -as » an. ad-taker and writer on "The Ore- . gonian," Portland-newspaper,, in playing the part of .a managing = editor- in i ?ft c'lew Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture . After Office Hours,"..co-starring Con- ■ stance Bennett. • This- -film *wfll' be j screening. at Wellington shortly. "The s two professions represent drama to the „ public more than any others-I've ever 1 encountered," Gable remarked. . 2 G. and S. Revival. . s The new J. C. Williamson, Ltd., Gil- ; bert and Sullivan Opera Company 'will open its season in Melbourne at His -. Majesty's Theatre on.Saturday, June 8. - ?he new stage facilities and up-to-date t Mating;, system, .which will be used in ' Gilbert and Sullivan.opera for. the first a time,, will-enable each-of .the operas to -be presented oh a.scale not .hitherto 3 attainable. The dpenihg opera-will be •The Gondoliers," in which-Ivan Menzies will appear: as the Duke of. Plaza- .- %°E9> Godfrey,,Stirling,-;the new EngV iish tenor, as.Marco;.WinifredrLawson, t as Casilda;' Stroud,;as.' Guir sf PP?; Evelyn Gardiner as ;the Duchess . of Plaza-Tprb; Richard Watson as, Don . Alhambra. Each, of the operas will be ~ produced by.Minnie-Everett; the"musicc cal director will be-William. QuihtrelL J About People. ' " , _ Sheila Agar/ whose' father, Dan Agar, g is well known through New Zealand as . a comedian with J.CiW.-companies, is :. Playing Juno in "The Tempest" at , oydney 'Savoy, the producer, being Dr. * Cardamatis. r .- Hilda Tansey, a Sydney business girl, 1 has formed a Sydhey. Ladies' Brass i. Band, with an: attractive, uniform, to • induce female players to join. : Yehudi Menuhin, the violinist, is returning to Sydney next month to play =. concertos with orchestra. Bach's Cha--2 conne; Lalb's Symphonic Espagnole, ;. and others will be performed. j Miss Nellie Bramley,: who arrived in i; Wellington from Sydney this week en :-■ route for Christchurch,- is; to play the j, Dominion-as^therresult of negotiations a with Sir Benjamin Fuller. J B. C. Sherriff,vthe authors has: been i- commissioned to write an original story 3 for .Irene Dunne, star of stage . and i- screen, one.of the few.celebrities who '- really can'sing ana act. 1 Ruth Scott, a'Hamilton singer, has s been engaged for the leading role in a play based on "The Pursuit of Pamela," X at Sydney Conservatorium in July, ;, the producer being Howard Carr. Mr. s Carr was part composer of "The.Lilac s Domino," and he considers Miss Scott 6 an admirable soprano for • his '' new 1 musical'romance.

"The Wedding Night." A stirring and romantic. drama, the love story of a sophisticated New York author and a New England farm girl, will be seen in Samuel Goldwyn's "The Wedding Night," in which Gary Cooper and Anna Sten appear for the first time as a romantic team, and which comes to the Regent tomorrow. Cooper, proves that he can be just as convincing and thrilling a lover as he is. a soldier and fighter, and the fair Anna Sten sheds all trace of her Russian birth and training, emerging as a full-fledged American star. The film provides another cinema triumph for the directional genius of King Vidor, who made such famous pictures as "The Big Parade" and "Street Scene," and whose "Our Daily Bread" recently won the League of Nations gold medal for the world's best motion picture of the year. Cooper is the author and Helent Vinson his wife. Together they return to his country home in Connecticut because his finances are low and he vainly is seeking an idea -and background for a new book. He finds, unexpectedly, the colour, and theme for his manuscript in the lives and customs of the ..neighbouring tobacco ' farmers. Against this background of the ageless conflict of the old and the new, the constant struggle of ■ the younger generation to live in conformity with the more liberal order of America, is told the dramatic love story. Ralph Bellamy is perfect as a sturdy young tiller of the soil selected to marry the girl,, and Helen Vinson plays the role of the fashionable, luxury-loving wife. " ' Conrad Veidt. Conrad Veidt has just commenced his latest film for Gaumont-British, "The Passing of the Third Floor Back,", in which he portrays one of the most unusual roles he has ever played. Others m the cast are Anna: Lee, Mary Clare, Kathleen Nesbitt, Rene Ray,: Frank Cellier, and John Turnball. •■■ Miss Iris Mason. Tonight Will mark the farewell appearance at the De. Luxe Theatre of Miss Iris Mason, .the New Zealand girl organist, who has enjoyed . considerable success in her seasons in the principal cities of the Dominion. Miss Mason, :whose bright medleys,and clever arrangements, ot. popular songs are well known to WelUngtoniahs, first appeared here four years ago when she Vas booked for a twelve months' season at the De Luxe. She visited: Australia for several months to study the grand organ and returned- to New -Zealand two years ago, .playing at Wellington for five months; ahd^ she has also appeared in Christchurch and Duhedin. Last year she spent seven months in the latter city^ Her; latestvWellington season was ■to have been, for eight months, but was. extended ■by three months. In Christchurch she will go to the Civic Theatre and open on June 3. For the last "year, she has been singing as well- as playing her'neat arrangement of songs.

Julie Haydon. ; - After one of the most careful test ever made, Julie Haydon was awardei the coveted feminine lead opposit Noel Coward in his.forthcoming pic ture, "Miracle in.49th Street," whicl will be produced by Ben Hecht ani Charles Mac Arthur for Paramount re lease.. The screen test of Miss Hay don, made by Lee Garmes, include! virtually all of,her scenes with Cowan in "Miracle of 49th Street." The roll awarded Miss Haydon was.sought b; most of the young actresses on Broad way. Miss Haydon appeared as Titanii in Max Reinhardt's "Midsumme Night's Dream" in ' Hollywood, when she previously had won acclaim ii "Autumn Crocus" with Francis Lederei She has appeared in numerous fQn roles, her most recent being in "Ag< of Innocence." '. _

"Night Life of the Gods." its When Hollywood was making tha id movie .of "Night Life of the Gods" from te Thorne Smith's funny novel, they wers io faced with the problem >ot finding a :h Venus. Lowell Sherman took.' it for id granted that all he would have to do c- to solve the problem would be to find y- a girl as like the Venus de Milo as ;d possible. Sherman got his first shock rd when the studio staff made a replica le of the famous statue. Venus -was a >y giantess. Her chest measured' 40 d- inches, her waist 38, and her hips the ia total of 51 inches. Sherman decided er to look for a Venuus more in line wita re modern taste. He finally chose Marda in Deering who resembles Venus only in t. her straight Grecian profile. Her mea« m surements are: Chest 36, waist 27, and je hips 36. She is five feet four and weighs 110 pounds..