CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 98, 22 October 1938, Page 7

CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

REGENT THEATRE. "Letter of Introduction," now in its second week at the Regent Theatre, continues to attract the attention it deserves. The plot, which allows for many dramatic situations and comedy undertones, makes "Letter of Introduction" a picture out of the ordinary. The letter of introduction which gives the title to the film leads to some amazing situations. When Andrea Leeds, as Kay Martin, takes it to John Mannering, screen and stage idol, whose powers are waning, and who is played to the life by Adolphe Menjou, Man•hering discovers that Kay is his daughter, whose existence he had never suspected. George Murphy, Kay's sweetheart, is not told of the relationship between Kay and Mannering, and misunderstands it, a lover's quarrel thus arising. The letter also serves to introduce Bergen and "Charlie McCarthy." a really amazing ventriloquial turn. Thanks to the yery fine directing by John M. Stahl, of "Magnificent Obsession" and other screen masterpieces, the story of how the letter of introduction brings tragedy into some| lives and happiness into others is worked out smoothly and in a very interesting manner. "Letter of Introduction" is splendid entertainment. ST. JAMES THEATRE. As full-blooded a tale as ever came out of the West is "The Texans," which is showing at St. James Theatre. Its story is of the days when men, and women, too, knew the full meaning of hardship, when they were laying the foundation of better things to come in America. The troublous days after the American Civil War make a good and convenient starting point for the film. Those were the days when "carpetbaggers" and land-grabbers were abroad and were out to extort all they could from the unfortunate people of the South. One family that fought back were the Prestons, grandmother and granddaughter. ■ When a tax of a dollar is demanded on each of the 10,000 head of cattle on the Prestons' ranch, it is decided to drive the stock to Kansas to avoid this tax. With the help of Kirk Jordan this is accomplished, and in the process the strong silent hero is able to break down the rebellious spirit of the granddaughter, who at first is bent on nothing else but continuing the feud between the men of the North and the South. The great stock drive on a journey of 1500 miles and the adventures which befall the party provide the fast-moving action of the film, and there is plenty of that. To add to their difficulties the brave little band of pioneers is beset by hostile Indians, who engage them in a fierce fight and afterwards set fire to the surrounding country. Randolph Scott as Kirk Jordan makes a splendid' job of his role, and the part of Ivy Preston, the granddaughter, is equally well handled by Joan Bennett. May Robson's portrayal of the hardy old grandmother is done with great vigour and with much success. The supporting programme includes a news reel, comedy, pictorial, and a Popeye cartoon. NEW OPERA HOUSE. Transferred to the New Opera House after a very successful season elsewhere, "Little Tough Guy" is as-, sured of a wide welcome. This mixture of tragedy and comedy features "The Dead End Kids." It is the story of a family which makes a descent in the social scale through the father becoming mixed up in a strike and being executed for murder; His son grows up with a hatred of law and •authority and becomes the leader of a youthful gang whose exploits;-range from, petty theft to much more serious crime. This boy, a part played by Jackie Searl, has a sister (played by Helen • Parrish), who works hard to save him from the fate of a "tough guy. 3' There is a dramatic ending when the gang is overtaken by a fate • more kindly than they anticipated or had the right to expect. The film provides an insight into one of America's most pressing social problems, but the tragedy of the story is reliever! by more uproarious humour. Included in the supporting programme is "Young Fugitives," a thriller which features Robert Wilcox, Dorothea Kent, and Harry Davenport. There will be special sessions on Labour Day. PARAMOUNT THEATRE. "The Perfect Specimen," which ran for several weeks in Wellington recently, is having a return season at the Paramount Theatre. It is a comedy of the kind which could only happen when stars like Errol Flynn and Joan Blondell team in a scenario either written for them or stolen by them because they wanted the chance to play it. There isn't an. atom of sense in it, except the moral, ; and it may be days before half the audience recognise just what that is, but.the nonsense clicks into place as aptly as sprocket teeth into a chain, and the whole thing is so well done that it is only occasionally that one shakes oneself into the realisation that the events are merely staged. Millionaires' sons are the butt of America, but this one is different, if only in his guardian angel, or rather angels, because he swaps them, if not in the middle of the ford, then in the rapids, and they only find they are working together, at the finish. The boy is the victim and pet of a dragon with an ideal, an aunt who decides that he shall be sequestered in a ten-mile park encumbered with a large mansion and taught everything an old woman thinks he ought to know in order to fit him for the charge of millions nobody has time to count. Included in the splendid supporting cast are May Robson, Edward Everett Horton, Dick Foran, and Hugh Herbert. "Wine, Woman, and Horses," the supporting feature, is a fast-moving drama of the race track, with Barton Maclane and Ann Sheridan in the principal parts. NEW PRINCESS THEATRE. A new challenge to the amusementseeking public's risibilities is now on the motion picture screen in "Bringing Up Baby," fast-paced modern comedyromance, which is showing at the New Princess Theatre, with Katharine Hepburn playing mad pranks as an heiress animated with mischief, and Cary Grant in an1 equally bizarre but contrasting role as the victim of her torments. The associate feature is R.K.O. Radio production, "The Rat," starring Anton Walbrook. The Paris underworld is the background for this new dramatic thriller. The central character is an elusive jewel crook who charms his feminine victims and is thus able to keep out of prison. REX THEATRE. A story as dramatic and thrilling as its background is sweeping, "The Texas Rangers," now at the Rex Theatre, outlines the work of the band of fearless men who brought order to the Lone Star State. Fred Mac Murray and Jack Oakie, cast in leading roles, appear as outlaws who join the rangers, taking part in the daily work of daring undertaken by America's first organisation of State peace officers. The plot of Universal's "State Police," the second feature, with John King and Constance Moore in the leads, was gleaned from a number of recent newspaper headlines. It is a story of the way a force of State police drive on racketeers who prey on working men. OUR THEATRE, NEWTOWN. "Kidnapped," the thrilling adventure romance co-starring Warner Baxter and Freddie Bartholomew, is the main attraction at Our Theatre. Arleen Whelan and C. Aubrey Smith head the featured cast. The story tells how Alan Breck leads the clans in revolt against the union of the north country with George Ill's domain. David Balfour is the lad with the unscrupulous uncle who tries to keep the boy's rightful estate by having him kidnapped and shipped to America. The lives of Alan Breck and David Balfour cross at the point where the girl, fiancee of a lesser rebel, falls in love with Breck. Claire Trevor and Michael Whalen are starred in "Walking Down Broadway," Ljtfee second gtirsictioa, _^

CITY AND SUBURBAN THEATRES

PLAZA THEATRE. Together again in what is probably the best film they have ever made, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers give a sparkling exhibition of their versatility in "Carefree," which is now showing at the Plaza Theatre. In every way the film is superb. A much better story is provided than usual and, while there are not as many dance scenes as there have been in some of their other productions, those which are shown are original and clever. A steady^ barrage of laughs is kept up throughout. Fred is cast as a psychiatrist, andinan effort to discover why Miss Rogers keeps putting off her wedding with his ■friend Ralph Bellamy he offers to psychoanalyse her. Complications set Si from the start, and the young lady soon finds that it is her doctor that she loves. Fred, always willing to help a friend, hypnotises Ginger and, while she is under the spell, forces her to imagine she is in love with Ralph tseilamy He goes further than that arid makes her understand that "men like ?he doctor should be shot down like dogs." He soon has cause to regret this. His duty nobly done, the doctor suddenly realises that he is, himself, ill love with the girl but it is too late for when she comes around (after a series of mad adventures while still under the hypnotic spell) she has only hatred for him. His job then is to get her away from her fiance, hypnotise her again, and dispel the, ideas he put into her head. It is good fun from beginning to end. Both the stars have better opportunity for real acting than they have had before. Miss Rogers, when under the anaesthetic and when hypnotised, is particularly good (and very dangerous). Irving Berlin introduces four catchy tunes. The supporting programme is of a very high standard. DE LUXE THEATRE. Two features are being shown in the change of programme at the De Luxe Theatre. The first, "The Invisible Menace," is a typical movie thriller. All the ingredients are present for mystery, crime, and hair-raising experiences. The action is located on a military island adjacent to a big city, and the first scenes, which are made in thick harbour fog, immediately produce an atmosphere of eeriness and prepare the audience for worse. And let it be said that the audience is not, disappointed. There are a gruesome murder in a high explosive experimental factory where military secrets are closely guarded, unexpected explosions which are aimed at destroying evidence, mysterious rifle shots through the fog, and other attempts at murdering witnesses, and lastly a blonde bride who is smuggled on to the island "and who is instrumental in solving the mystery. The climax is sensational, to say the least. The picture features Boris Karloff. The second attraction j is riotous comedy, "The . Gladiator," featuring Joe E. Brown. All Joe Brown has to do to raise a laugh at any time is to open and shut his mouth, i but in this picture he does a great deal i ,more. Miraculously transformed into a veritable giant of a man who has no idea of his own strength, Joe Brown, as the university athlete, performs feats of strength which make him the sensation of the age. STATE THEATRE. Although not renowned for their honesty or education, gipsies, according to most accounts, are usually possessed i of attractive personalities, and it is as one of these merry happy-go-lucky folk that Jane Withers, the popular juvenile star, is cast in "Rascals," which is now showing at the.State Theatre. Although Jane's antics and merry pranks in the role of matchmaker for two young lovers provide plenty of material, she has the welcome support of Borrah Minevitch and his harmonica gang, as much adept at comedy as they are at drawing melodious tunes from their instruments. There is, of course, a love team, comprising, in this instance, Rochelle Hudson and Robert Wilcox. Wilcox is a member of the gipsy band, and Rochelle, running away from what .promises to be an unhappy marriage to a fortune-hunter, stumbles into the camp one night. She falls, and loses her memory, but becomes a happy member of the gipsy band, although the romance which develops between her and the handsome young gipsy does not always run smoothly. At last Rochelle is snatched away to the world of society, and plans for her wedding go ahead, but the film comes to a climax when the gipsies invade the mansion on her wedding day, bringing with them the rightful bridegroom. Colourful scenes of gipsy encampments and plenty of comic episodes and musical items are to be found in the film. Supports include a "March of Time" and a cartoon. ROXY THEATRE. Mystery that will baffle the most ardent solvers of detective stories, provides the thrilling action and drama for Jack Holt's new picture, "Under Suspicion," which is showing at the Roxy Theatre. It is a stirring story of an assassination plot aimed at a wealthy motor-car magnate because he suddenly turns philanthropic. Edgar Rice Burroughs's thrilling adventure romance, "Tarzan Escapes," featuring Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan, is the second feature. TUDOR THEATRE. Gracie Fields rises to new heights in "We're Going to be Rich," the comedy' film of gold-rush days, which has been transferred to the Tudor Theatre. Still she has opportunity to sing her inimitable songs and giye her laughable character skits, as she is cast as the showgirl wife of a ne'er-do-well roisterer, and it is by her singing that! she keeps the home fires burning. Vie- ] tor McLaglen is splendidly cast as the tough, shiftless husband of Gracie. "Sweet Devil," with Bobby Howes and Jean Gillie, is the supporting film. GRAND THEATRE, PETONE. Bringing to the screen one of the gayest and most exciting romantic comedies of the year, "The Lone Wolf in Paris," with its colourful background of Continental intrigue, proves an ideal vehicle for the charm of | Francis Lederer and the beauty of Frances Drake. In this sophisticated adventure -story, which is showing at the Grand Theatre, Lederer is offered a role that fits him; like the proverbial glove, and he i brings to life Louis Joseph Vance's famed gentleman crook most successfully. "There's Always a Woman," starring Melvyn Douglas and Joan Blondell, is the supporting film. STATE THEATRE, PETONE. "Big City," which is showing at the State Theatre, with Spencer Tracy and Luise Rainer, is a pretentious picture in that it sets : out to paint a canvas of life as it is in the whirling maelstrom, of crowded places. It is a simple, beautiful thing because it accomplishes exactly that. Tracy becomes a taxi driver. Unshaved, laconic, and suspicious of everything that walks on two feet or rolls on four wheels, he typifies the species which flourishes in spite of hardship in every city. PALACE THEATRE, PETONE. Joan Fontaine and Allen Lane are co-starred in "Maid's Night Out," a comedy-drama with music, which is the feature -.ttraction at the Palace Theatre. The second attraction. 'Mountain Justice," is a dramatic film of the mountains. Josephine Hutchison and George Brent are starred. BROOKLYN THEATRE. Two fine features will be screened at the Brooklyn Theatre tonight. "Dangerous to Know," starring Akim Tamiroff, Gail Patrick, Anna May Wong, Lloyd Nolan, and Roscoe Karns, is the main attraction. "Hold 'Em Navy" will also be screened. Lew Ayres, Mary Carlisle, John Howard, I and, Benny Backer are in the cas& |

TIVOLI THEATRE. Presented against the glamorous Background of the gay city of Budapest and alternating between moments of sparkling romance and fast-moving comedy situations, Universal's "Prescription for Romance" is showing at the Tivoli Theatre. Wendy Barrie and Kent Taylor furnish the love interest, while the übiquitous Mischa Aver and Frank /enks provide the main comedy relief. Others in the cast who give notable performances are the seductive Dorothea Kent, Gregory Gaye, and Henry Hunter. A brilliant cast headed by one of the most popular and talented personalities on stage and screen today, Jack Buchanan, the sensational screen debut of a fascinating Russian singer, Mara Losseff, six lilting new musical j numbers, two intriguing new dances, j a gay story of love- and laughter.! abounding in sparkling repartee, uproarious situations, and novel dramatic twists —such are the pleasing ingredients of "The Sky's the Limit,' the second attraction. RIVOLI THEATRE. The daring exploits rf a hero who essays to wipe out the gangster over-1 lords of a great city after the police have proved helpless to punish them, forms the thrilling theme of "The Saint in New York," which is showing at j the Rivoli Theatre. With Louis Hayward in the top role, the film strikes a novel note in screen entertainment. Hayward plays "The Saint," a mysterious and resource- j ful Britisher who goes about the! world inflicting his own brand of justice on evildoers, and who is finally called in to rid a city of six racked teer barons whom the police cannot touch. The latest advepture tale from the pen of that master of mystery stories, H. C. (Sapper) McNeile, is the second attraction; It is "Bulldog Drummond's Peril," a picture of the war waged by a powerful diamond syndicate to prevent a chemist from manufacturing synthetic jewels in his laboratory. John Howard again plays the action-loving amateur detective. SEASIDE THEATRE, LYALL BAY. "Navy Blue and Gold," colourful and spirited story of life at the United States Naval Academy, with a timely emphasis on the football activities of the famous training school, is showing at the Seaside Theatre. Robert Young heads a cast sharing honours with James Lionel Barrymore, and Florence Rice. "Danger—Love at Work," Twentieth Century-Fox's new laugh-hit, is the second feature. Ann Sothern, Jack Haley, Mary Boland, and Edward Everett Hos£on are the stars. KILBIKNIE KINEMA. Dad's running for Mayor, Mother's running Dad, Roger's running a scandal sheet, and Jack's running after a blonde! In fact, the whole Jones Family runs wild in their most uproariously human hit, "Hot Water," Twentieth Century-Fox picture, which is showing at the Kilbirnie Kinema. "Somebody ought to clean up this town," shouts Dad Jones in a burst of ciyic-consc\ous indignation and the kids immediately hand him the broom by tossing his hat in the ring during the big race for Mayor of Maryville. "Navy Blue and Gold/ colourful and spirited story of life at the United States Naval Academy, with a timely emphasis on the football activities of the famous training school, is the second feature. Robert Young heads a cast sharing honours with James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore,1 and Florence Rice. CAPITOL THEATRE, MIRAMAR. "Big City," starring Spencer Tracy and Luise Rainer,' is showing at the Capitol Theatre. Here is no crude attempt to reveal the machinery of a metropolis as a whole; On the contrary, it is a cunning unique story of i a single slice of life in a great city, and the adventures of a taxi driver in a struggle to survive. When the college she attends tries to throw Gracie Allen out, she turns around, takes over the place, and runs it to suit her own taste, in Paramount's "College Swing, which is the supporting film. EMPIRE THEATRE, ISLAND BAY. "Dead End," Samuel Goldwyn's film production based on the Broadway stage hit by Sidney Kingsley, is showing at the Empire Theatre, with Sylvia Sidney and Joel McCrea in the starring roles. This powerful drama of a day in the lives of a handful of humans who inhabit a "dead end" city street, where fashionable .apartments rub elbows with the squalid tenements of the waterfront, which set records in its Broadway run, reaches even higher heights in the film "ersion. "Sally, Irene, and Mary," an uproarious musical film, is the second feature. REGAL THEATRE, KARORL Based on Baroness Orczy's bestselling novel, "The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel" is showing at the Regal Theatre. Barry K. Barnes, a newcomer to the screen, plays the title role. ' Barnes is seen as Sir Percy Blakeney, an intrepid young Englishman, whose main occupation is snatching French aristocrats from under the guillotine. His narrow escapes from the clutches of the tyrant Robespierre come to a brilliant, smashing climax that is both thrilling and spectacular. "Life Begins at College," starring the Ritz Brothers, is the supporting feature. REPERTORY SOCIETY. A play that holds the interest of its audience from beginning to end is "The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse," presented again at the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall by the Repertory Society last evening. To study the actions and reactions of criminals becomes an obsession with Dr. Clitterhouse, who eventually cannot resist joining a gang of thieves to obtain first-hand research information. He is amazingly successful in bringing off big coups, thus winning the admiration of his fellowgangsters, while still preserving his medical practice and reputation. This fact alone makes for situations that are full of suspense and excitement. Though not of the witty, modern variety, the humour of the piece is natural and is extremely well interpreted by the cast, especially by Mr. Harry Painter as the Cockney thief, Pal. Scenes are realistically mounted, particularly that which forms the setting for the climax, the room of a fur warehouse at night, and the luxurious drawing-room of the hide-out. Dr. Clitterhouse is played by George Cooper, Nurse Ann by Irene Spidy, DetectiveInspector Charles by Leonard Walker, Benny Kellerman by Evan Harrowell, and Daisy by Constance Scott. The cast also includes H. A. Painter, Robert Gilkison, Athol Lawson, J. W. Coysh, Eric Evan-Young, Arthur Ashley Jones, and W. F. C. Balham. The play will be presented again this evening. HUTT PARK TROTS. The Railway Department has made arrangements for a fast and frequent train service to run direct to the Hutt Park trotting course on Saturday, October 29. A popular fare has been provided for the occasion. TRENTHAM RACES. Particulars of the train service to and from Trentham races on Monday will be found in the advertising columns of this issue. SUNDAY PICTURES. Tomorrow night at the De Luxe Theatre there will be screened that delightful and entertaining comedy, "King of the Castle," a merry modern fairy tale of a poor young man who met a princess in disguise fell in love and, after trials anad tribulations of many kinds, lived happily ever afterwards. Monty King saves a beautiful maiden from a watery grave in three feet of water, incidentally falling desperately in love. She introduces him to her father and his friend who is now his rival. These two set about putting him back where he belongs, but fate takes a hand through the publication of a photograph which indicates that he is heir to a title, a castle, and a bride. The proceeds will go to the Mayor's Metropolitan: Relief Fund. . \ BAND PERFORMANCE. • The Caledonian Pipe Band will give a performance at the Basin Reserve tomorrow afternoon, commenced iat"3j o'clock, ! i