CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 115, 11 November 1935, Page 5

CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

CITY AND SUBURBAN THEATRES

KEGENT THEATRE.

"Legion' of Valour," which is. now showing.at the Regent Theatre, gives a vivid picture of the unending strife between the Federal agents and: an. organised crime group that by its sensational raids institutes a reign of terror that spreads throughout an entire State. The .plot deals with the efforts of three young agents, played by Richard Arlen, Harvey Stephens, and Eric Linden, who combine -in an endeavour to track ttowna-.daring criminal .who; was .implicated ■ in; an attempt to kidnap Linden's sister, played by Virginia Bruce'. The film , has additional interest as it -gives ! a- very clear insight into the modern., methods of tracking down: criminals as. practiced in the up^to-date American Inquiry Bureau and. the significance which often attaches to seemingly trivial clues. The supporting .-programme is excellent, and .'includes a Walt Disney silly symphony "Cookies Carnival," "Pardon My Grip," an amusing film, dealing with-wrestling in all parts of the glolje, and" some interesting newsreels.

DE LUXE THEATRE,

The eerie- ;,notion that a modern scientist: of great mental powers and unbalanced mind might choose to reconstruct some of the more startling of.the.stories of Edgar Allen Poe is the basis-.of. "The: Raven," which is the main; feature' on the hew and attractive : bill at the De Luxe Theatre. Bela. Lugosi,-"'-Boris Karloff (a remarkable pair to have in one film), Irene Ware, and Lester Matthews are the principals in this horror picture, which begins when the doctor is called in to save the, life of a beautiful young girl and ends with a weird and horrifying house party at the homeoi' the surgeon. The final scenes in the torture chambers are breathless in their rapidity and strangeness. Bela Lu'gosi has never been better cast than in this film; and as the instrument of his hbrrible. plans Boris Karloff has a moving role to. play. In the supporting programme, there are some excellent newsreels, another of the series of "Go.ing Places with Lowell Thomas," and a^ revival of the popular coloured cartoon classics.

PARAMOUNT THEATRE.

•Taking advantage of the vogues for crime pictures and musical pictures, the-Paramount Corporation has produced.an interesting hybrid of both, called "Stolen Harmony," which is now at the Paramount Theatre. From the opening scenes of a jazz band playing, inspiringly behind prison bars to the final ones of as hectic a gunfight as lias ever reached the screen, the picture: never has a dull moment and is never without its flavour of the unexpected. George Raft is ideally cast as ah ex-convict turned song-and-dance man. The other full-length picture.on the programme is "Mama Loves Papa," featuring Mary Boland and Charlie Ruggles.. It is a diverting tale of the esiapades of a man in a groove and the disastrous -results of his wife's misguided efforts to shift him from that groove.

KING'S THEATRE,

"The Thirty-nine Steps," showing at the King's Theatre, commences with panic in a. London music-hall and the accidental meeting of a beautiful, mysterious woman, and Hannay, a younij Canadian, on- holiday in England, and grows more intriguing as the plot progresses. -In answer to the stranger's request for temporary rrotectiort, Hannay takes her to his home, butcher adversaries are too clever, and the young man is horrified to find her dying after, being stabbed in the back.' However, before her death Hannay- Himself;, is in possession of her secret,': and -the importance of his linowledge^itttfolyes him in a series of adverituresv^'Robert Donat'arid Made-; Jeirie •Carroll are -the stars.

PRINCESS .THEATRE.

.Heading- the double-feature programme. now showing at the Princess ■Theatre ■ is' R, D. Blackmore's "Lorna Doone," starring John Loder and-the beautiful English star, Victoria Hopper. "One Exciting Adventure," gay story' of ■■ Europe's most' glamorous people and-resorts, starring the brilliant Binnie Barnes, is the additional attraction.- In. the featured, roles are Neil Hamilton, Paul Cavanagh. Edna Searl, Grant Mitchell, and Eugene PalletteJ Prominent among the featurettes is the technicolour classic, "Hey, Hey," Westerner."

ROXY THEATRE.

■'G Men," First National's sensational picture written about the heroic deeds of the secret service men in the United States Government Department of Justice, is showing at the Roxy Theatre. The production is enacted by. an all-star, cast headed by James Cagney as the leading "G Man," and Margaret Lindsay. "The Informer," the second feature, RKO-Radio's picturisation of Liam O'Flaherty's novel of'the same name, stars Victor MeLaglen, aided by a strong cast that ihclude.s Heather Angel. Margot Grahame, Wallace Ford. Preston Foster,' and Una O'Connor.

SHORTT'S THEATRE.

Two big attractions are now showing .at . Shortt's Theatre. The late Marie: Dressier ; and Wallace Beery, stars of "Mm and Bill," head the cast in "Tugboat Annie." There are hilarious: quarrels between the redoubtable feminine tugboat, captain and her shiftless, 'good-natured husband: motherlove furnishes a poignant heart interest, and there is a tremendous dramatic climax in. the amazing episode in the engine-room. "Fra Diavolo," the second feature, is an ideal vehicle for the famous comedians Laurel and Hardy, who are supported by Dennis King and Thelma Todd.

KILBIRNIE KINEMA.

Victor Herbert's glorious operetta, "Naughty Marietta," recognised as the greatest musical that the world has even known, will be screened at the Kilbirnie Kinema tonight. It is produced on a. spectacular scale by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with Jeanette McDonald, acknowledged one of the greatest singing- stars of the screen, and Nelson Eddy, operatic baritone, hailed as the sensational new find of the screen. Superlatives arc unnecessary to de-scribe-this gorgeous production, as its record-breaking runs all over New Zealand, are proof positive of its greatness.

EMPIRE THEATRE. PETONE.

At the Empire Theatre, Pelone. tonight the main feature will be "The Man With Two Faces," a thrilling mystery drama played by Edward G. Robinson, Mary Astor, Mac Clarke Arthur Byron, John Eldredge, and Henry O'Neill.' Archie Mayo directed. "The Church Mouse."- featuring Laura La Planteand lan Hunter, will be the second attraction.

PALACE THEATRE, PETOXE,

"Anne of Green Gables." a worthy successor to "Little Women" in charm and heart appeal, will be shown at the Palace Theatre tonight. This simple, wholly delightful tale dt childhood and early ■ youth stars Anne Shirley supported by Tom Brown, Helen Westley, O. P. Heggie, and Sara Haden.

GRAND THEATRE, PETOXE.

Wallace Beery comes to the Grand Theatre's screen in the most startling aviation -spectacle of the year, "West Point of the- Air." which will be shown tonight. •. Heading the supporting cast are Robert Young, Maureen O'SulHvan, Lewis Stone, and James Gleasbn. Excellent supports will be shown.

DE LUXE THEATRE, LOWER HUTT

' "Ruggles of Red Gap" concludes tonight at'the De Luxe Theatre, Lower Hutt. The main feature tomorrow evening will be "Folies Bergere." a gay screen play presented by a 'notable cast-headed, by the celebrated and popular. Maurice Chevalier, who plays 3 dual role. Merle Oberon makes her Hollywood'debut, looking lovelier than ever, and-Ann Sothern sings and dances effectively.

MAJESTIC THEATEE.

Perfect photography, faultless acting, and a human story make of "The Keeper of the Bees," showing at the Majestic Theatre, a picture of universal appeal. Gene Stratton-Porter's novels | make absorbing reading, but the Mono- ■ gram version of one of her best-read I stories offers entertainment seldom rivalled. The spirit of the story has been, caught perfectly by a superb cast, headed by Noil .Hamilton as the war veteran who fights his way back to health and happiness through the accident, of meeting a charming girl. Under-sentence of death Jamie leaves the hospital where he is being treated I for gas poisoning and sets, out to walk Ito Chicago for, a final fling with journalistic pals. A charming school teacher'"'give's'the hiker a lift, and so romance „ enters the heart and j life of the doomed man. The ! simple little tale of human beings [ caught by circumstances is delightfully told against a background of lover ly scenery • and glorious vistas, with the Pacific slumbering in the distance. Seldom'has Neil Hamilton been seen to' better advantage. Belly Furness, Edith Fellowes, and Hobart Bosworth interpret this delilightful tole with . its noive twists. The . supporting programmed features a British newsreel, topical events, a Pathe pictorial, and a coloured Sinbad cartoon.

ST. JAMES THEATRE.

Those who find enjoyment in tuneful songs, a light-hearted theme, and spontaneous humour will appreciate "Broadway Gondolier," the Warner Bros, film, showing at the St. James Theatre. Dick Powell and Joan Blondell, the popular stars of "Gold Diggers of 1933," play the leading roles, Dick Powell as a New York taxicab driver with- a voice that is capable of causing a traffic hold-up at any time he chooses to break into opera, and Joan Blondell as the chief-of-staff at the U.B.C. broadcasting studios. Adolfe Menjou [plays the part of a broken-down Italian I opera star who takes the taxicab drivers interest to heart and struggles to (get him an entry. There are many obstacles and misunderstandings in the path to fame, however, and Powell is banished from the U.B.C. studios without a real audition. How he succeeds in his ambition makes a humorous story. This collection of musical stars includes the four Mills brothers. Ted Fio Rita arid his famous orchestra, and the Canova Family.

STATE THEATRE.

The fact that it is in its third week of screening at the State Theatre is perhaps the best advertisement for Shirley Temple's latest picture, "Curly Top:" In it she plays the part of a mischievous little girl who is adopted by a millionaire, and leaves the orphanage accompanied by her elder sister .(the beautiful Rochelle Hudson), her trained pony, and her performing duck. John Boles plays the part of the handsome young millionaire. Shirley's new-found happiness blossoms forth into.laughter, "song, and dance. Her talents. are given. full sway and audiences will come under her enchanting spell when she sings "Animal Crackers in My ' Soup" and "When I Grow Up." John Boles sings' two of' the hit numbers in the. film. They are "It's All So New to' Me"■ and the theme numbec, "Curly Top." Rochelle Hudson, who makes her singing debut in this picture, sings "The Simple Things in Life." There is ah up-to-the-minute supporting programme.

PLAZA THEATRE.

Tom, Walls: and -Ralph Lynn are in their, happiest vein in "Stormy *We'ather,"».<at^the;-Plaza.. Theatre,..and 'then*—*-1 fellow-conspirator, Robertson Hare, ■is''-'also-"-raf-'."-his best, but hardly •, at his happiest. He reveals . himself "in the hovel role of a___sleuth-hound, whose courage, however, deserts him at the critical moment. Yvonne Arnaud plays the part of the wife of Sir Duncan Craggs (Tom Walls}.. She. is blackmailed by her former, husband, Polotski, who was supposed to have been killed in the Russian Revolution, but Tom Walls, ably hampered in his efforts by Ralph Lynn, deals, with the matter in his characteristic manner. A Chinese girl' brought back by Ralph Lynn from the, opium den introduces difficulties for Tom Walls, who finds his duties as a husband conflicting with his own wishes. ■ • ■

REX THEATRE.

In "Wonder Bar," the leading feature now screening at the Rex Theatre, Al Jolson has his old stage role. Kay Francis, Dolores Del Rio. Ricardo ..Cottez, Dick Powell, and Hal le Roy are some of the principals. Three hundred o£ Hollywood's most beautiful girls romp through numbers amid a riot of dazzling light effects. The additional attraction, "The Blue Squadron," is a stirring romance woven around Italian aviation. Esmond Knight, John Stuart, and Greta Hansen head the cast. There are good supporting featurettes.

OUR THEATRE, NEWTOWN.

Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allan, and Bela Lugosi have the principal roles in the sensational detectiv.e myotery "Mark, of the Vampire."' whicn heads the double-feature programme it Our Theatre. The thrills include a mysterious murder blamed on; vampires, the appearance of the vampire horde, the reincarnation of the heroine's father, and the bat that turns into a woman. In "Ladies Should Listen," Frances Drake plays the role of a switchboard attendant who ]istens-i:i to the telephone calls of a wealthy jman-aTsout-town, saves him from unIscrupulous "go-getters/ and wins his heart. ;

REGAL THEATRE, KARORI.

Tonight at the Regal Theatre, Katherine Hepburn will appear in "Break of Hearts," a dramatic romance in modern settings, assisted by Charles Boyer, Jean Hersholt, and John Beal. Newsreels and short subjects will also be screened.

EMPIRE THEATRE, ISLAND BAY

Maurice. Chevalier, star of many spectacular musical comedies, excels himself in "Folies Bergere," showing tonight at the Empire Theatre. Ann Sothern heads a large, cast of supporting players. An excellent programme of short subjects - precedes the main attraction.

PIANOFORTE RECITAL.

A pianoforte recital by Miss France* Revere is annbunccd for tomorrow evening at Nimmo's Hall. Miss Revere is a gifted young pianist why has achieved high academic honour?, including a fellowship at the Trinity College, London. Her outstanding musical ability has impressed visiting artists and critics. Miss Revere has chosen a very interesting and ambitious programme, including Sonata in B flat minor (Glazounov), Liszt's brilliant etude -"Mazeppa." the intricate Toccata by Ravel, and works by Chopin, Bach. Rachmaninoff, and Toch. Seats may be reserved at Nimmo's.

J.C.W. SEASON CLOSES,

The J. C. Williamson musical comedy company headed by Madge Elliott and Cyril .Ritchard concluded its Wellington season on Saturday night in the presence of an audience that completely filled the Grand Opera House. The performance of "High Jinks" went with a merry swing, and at the final curtain there were scenes of enthusiasm. Many floral tributes were handed to the ladies ot the company, and Mr. Ritchard made a neat little farewell speech, his thanks to the Wellington audiences that had patronised the comedies being tinged with a sincere regret that the season had closed; however, he expressed the hope that he and Mrs. Ritchard would be returning to New Zealand at some future | date. The company left later for the [south by Ihe express steamer that had been delayed till after the performance. The company opens in Chrisl- ! church tonight.

TIVOLI THEATRE.

Starring William Powell and Ginger Rogers, "Star of Midnight," an R.K.0.-Radio picture woven around New York's society and night life, is screening finally at the Tivoli Theatre tonight. A sinister mystery adds the thrills of suspense to romance and subtle comedy, with Powell and Miss Rogers joining forces to track down the clues to a strange disappearance and a weird murder. In ithe supporting cast are such wellI known players as Ralph Morgan, Paul Kelly, Leslie Fenton, Vivian Oakland, Gene Lockhart, Russell Hopton, and J. Farrell Mac Donald. In Para,mount's "Wharf Angel," which is the 'second feature. Victor McLaglen and Preston Foster, as two contrasting, fearless men of action, give excellent performances, as does Alison Skipworth as the proprietress of the waterfront saloon. Perhaps the outstanding performance is that of Dorothy Dell, former' Ziegfeld Follies singing star, who. makes her first screen appearance in the title role.

"Ruggles of Red Gap" and "Charlie Chan in London," will be shown at the Tivoli Theatre tomorrow.

RIVOLI THEATRE

The most popular co-starring (cam on th» screen today, Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell, .make their fifth appearance together in "Flirtation Walk." the new First National musical romance, now showing at the Rivoli Theatre. There are several magnificent dance sequences, directed by Bobby Connolly, and featuring hundreds of Hollywood's most beautiful girls. Charles Ruggles and Mary Boland are teamed as the grand old married couple of the screen for the ninth time in "People Will Talk," the new Paramount comedy which is the second feature.

"Eight Bells," Columbia Pictures" gripping nautical drama, will begin a three-day run at the Rivqli Theatre tomorrow. Ann Sothern is starred and Ralph Bellamy and John Buckler have featured roles. Dealing with the primitive loves and hates inspired by the presence of a beautiful girl aboard a freighter bound for Shanghai, "Eight Bells" is said to present some of the finest sea photography ever presented in films. . In addition it provides Ann Sothern with a starring role of great dramatic importance. The photography of the storm sequences, when towering waves sweep the vessel from stem to stern, killing members of the crew, smashing the heavy steel plates, and flooding the boiler room, are said to be among the most impressive "shots" made. Mutiny takes place aboard the ship, and once again the photographic angles aid in showing the ferocity of the crew under such conditions. "Kid Millions," with Eddie Cantor, will be the second feature.

THE THESPIANS

The new Walter Hackett play— "Afterward" —which The Thespians are to present in the Town Hall Concert Chamber for a season starting on Wednesday next, does not, as the London critics noted when it was produced there, come into any watertight category of plays; it is not "just another Hackett farce," but for sheer entertainment value it takes a very high place. Those who have been able to see preliminary rehearsals of the show speak very highly of it, and are confident that it will be even more popular than the recent record-breaking production of "Hobson's Choice." The box plans are now open at Begg's for every night of the four-night season, and there is a heavy demand for seats. The cast includes Warren Toogood, Zenocrate Mountjoy, Harry Painter, Nancy William's, Norman Hsinnah, Gay Dean, G. H. Bassant, Alcoa Priestley, Hugh Herd, Sylvia McLaren, Eric EvanYoung, Hilary Henderson, Bill Bain, Mary Marshall. Ev.in Tarrowell, and C. T. Phipps-William;. The play is produced by Victor £.. Lloyd, assisted by Winnie Cooley, tie stage manager is Myles F. E. Wright, the property master and mistress E. R. Render and Florence L. Render respectively, and the wardrobe mistresses Maie Webster and Ruby Colledge.