CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 99, 24 October 1938, Page 4

CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

.REGENT THEATRE.

"Letter of Introduction," now in its second week ■at the Regent Theatre, j continues to attract the attention it de- ] serves. 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, Mannering 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 very fine directing W 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 Introductiqn" is splendid entertainment. MAJESTIC THEATRE. Jeanette Mac Donald and Nelson Eddy are co-starred in singing roles in "The Girl of the Golden West," which is showing at the Majestic Theatre. In the adaptation of the famous Belasco play, the picture has been enhanced by one of the loveliest musical scores heard on the screen in some time. Miss Mac Donald plays Mary, the orphaned owner of the Polka Saloon. Jack Ranee, gambling sheriff, is in love with lier, but Mary falls in love with Ramerez, romantic bandit whom she believes is a young army officer. A jilted sweetheart betrays Ramerez to Hance, but the bandit escapes, wounded, to Mary's cabin, where he is captured. Mary promises to marry Ranee if he frees Ramerez, and a very ingenious climax reunites the lovers. Contributing outstanding performances in a distinguished supporting cast are Walter Pidgeon, Leo Carrillo, Buddy Ibsen, Leonard Perm, Priscilla Lawson, Bob Murphy, and Olin Howland. NEW OPERA HOUSE. Transferred to the New Opera House after a very successful season elsewhere, "Little Tough Guy" is assured jof a wide welcome. This mixture df,'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 crimsj. v 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." There is a dramatic ' ending when the gang is overtaken by a, fate more kindly than they anticipated or had the right to expect. Included in the supporting programme is "Young Fugitives," a thriller, which features Robert Wilcox, Dorothea Kent, and Harry Davenport ■.-.. 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 «f: the ipncL only happen •when; stars :??iki£J^ri!pl Flynn>and Joan : Bl6nde^.'tea^*'iri a scenario either Wifitt&n "fog Mem:' or •'■ stolen by them because-they wanted the chance to play sit.-. Therefisri^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 j 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. "Wine, Woman, and Horses,'f the supporting feature, is . & fast-moving drama of the race trade, •with Barton' Maclane and Ann Sheriflan in the principal parts* • ".) - -NEW PRINCESS .THEATRE. A new challenge to the amusementseeking public's risibilities is now on thei 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 an equally bizarre but contrasting role as the victim of her tormeats. The associate 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. BEX THEATRE. A story as dramatic and thrilling as its background is sweeping, "The Texas Hangers," 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. CAPITOL THEATRE, MIRAMAR. Q«prge Wallace, Australia's popular comedian, plays the title role in "Let George Dp It," the main attraction at the Capitol Theatre. Undoubtedly this as one of the biggest comedy successes of the year. A murder mystery set in a college background, "Exs tortiph," which is the supporting feature, oners a representative assortment of campus characters involved in as absorbing a mystery as anything the •creen has yet revealed. A 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 v a role that fits him like the proverbial glove, and he 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 attraction at the Palace Theatre. The second attraction. "Mountain Justice," is a dramatic film of the mountains. Josephine Hutchison »nd George Brent are starred.

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 I showing at the Plaza Theatre. i Fred is cast, as a psychiatrist, and in an effort to discover, why Miss Rogers keeps putting off her wedding with his friend Ralph Bellamy he offers to psychoanalyse her. Complications set in 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 Bellamy. He goes further than that and makes her understand that "men like the 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, in love with the girl but it is too late j for when she comes around (after a series of mad adventures while still under the hypnotic spell) she has only hatred for him. BE LUXE THEATRE. Two features are being shown at the! De Luxe Theatre. The first, "The Invisible Menace,' is a typical movie thriller. 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. There are a grusome 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 picture features Boris Karloff. The second attraction is riotous comedy, "The Gladiator," featuring Joe Brown. All Joe Brown has to do to raise a laugh at any time is to open and shut his mouth, but in this picture he does a great deal more. STATE THEATRE. Although not renowned for their honesty or education, gipsies, according to most accounts, are usually possessed 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. 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 bri&egroom. ' ST. JAMES THEATRE. The first motion picture epic to deal with the reconstruction in the soutn since D. W,Griffithsniade motion pici ture history with "The Birth of a Nation" back in-a&ls; paramount's "The Texans, 1-?-is sha^ungTat-the: St. James Theatre: In ttacing the fortunes .of a typical Texas family, beginning with the return of the men from battle m\ 11865, "The Texans" symbolises the tragic and moving story of the entire South during the post-war years. At the head of the cast, Joan Bennett is a tempestuous Dixie belle, who refuses to submit to, Northern rule and insists that the "great cause is not lost while Randolph Scott is a homecoming Confederate soldier, who devotes everything to the building up of a new Texas on the ruins of the old. Although Miss Bennett is all for starting a new uprising, Scott convinces her that she should devote her energies to constructive work, and together they lead a great .cattle cavalcade hrough the wilds of Texas and Oklaloma into thriving Kansas, where the new railroad provides ■ them with.- a ready market for their steers* JtOXY THEATRE. Mystery that will baffle the most ardent solvers of detective stones, provides the thrilling action and drama for Jack Holt's new picture, "Under Suspicion," which is showing .at the Boxy 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 sthrdl- f ing adventure romance, "Tarzan I Eslapes," featuring Johnny Wexssmul-j ler 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 give her laughable character skits, as she is cast as the showgirl wife of a ne'er : dc~well roisterer, and it is by her singing that she keeps the home fires burning. Victor McLaglen is splendidly cast as the tough, shiftless husband of Gracie. "Sweet Devil," with Bobby Howes and Jean Gillie, is the supporting film. BROOKLYN THEATRE. "Happy Landing" will be the mam attraction at the Brooklyn Theatre tonight. The stars include Sonja Henie, Don Ameche, Jean Hersholt, Ethel Merman, Cesar Romero, and Billy Gilbert. The Jones Family, starring Jed Prouty, will be seen in the comedy "Borrowing Trouble." SEASIDE THEATRE, LYALL BAY. "Sparkles," which is showing at the Seaside Theatre, presents Jessie Matthews in a story and a role that are absolutely different from anything seen before. She plays the part of a social writer on a newspaper, whose travels take her to New York, where she becomes involved with a band of gangsters. The supporting feature is "Heart of Arizona," the latest of the popular "Hopalong Cassidy series. OUR THEATRE, NEWTOWN. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's screen version of "Madame X" heads the doublefeature programme at Our Theatre. Gladys George, who appears in the title role, is superb throughout. She is seen in the early sequences as a beautiful woman of the world, later to become broken on the relentless wheel of circumstance. John Beal is excellent as the son who defends his mother from a murder charge, not knowing her identity, and Warren William scores as .the husband, ihe second attraction is, "Flight Into Nowhere," starring Jack Holt. REGAL THEATRE, KARORI. "Kidnapped," the story which Robert Louis Stevenson is said to have considered his best, is showing at the Regal Theatre. Unlike several other Stevenson stories, "Kidnapped" never before has appeared in either silent or sound films. Every person conversant with so much as high school English has thrilled to the adventure in "Kidnapped," so the picture is destined to meet a host of familiar friends. It will be these "friends" who will remember that the story had little or no "feminine interest" —being chiefly the tale of the escapades of Alan Breck and David Balfour (portrayed on the screen by Warner Baxter and Freddie Bartholomew).

TWOLI THEATRE. The gay, dignified swish of peerage and its collapse in a middle-European New Deal offers a delightfully exciting theme for "The Baroness and the Butler," which is showing at the Tiyoli Theatre. This Darryl F. Zanuck production for 20th Century-Fox col stars William Powell- and Annabella in a blithe screen version of ,the stage hit that had half of Europe agog. Annabella, in her first Ameri-can-made picture, believes butlers are born to obey .- . . but debonair Bill obeys such un-butler-like impulses! She's so proud; he's so proper. This film has caught the tone and flavour of an old regime—years of tradition and generations of escutcheon worship—suddenly confronted with a blue blood's dilemma in which the self-ef-facing butler emerges from his cocoon to assume social equality with his noble employers. Gangdom leaves the underworld, invades the home, and casts its sinister shadow over an average family household in the new Paramount picture, "Hunted Men, the second film. Lloyd Nolan and Mary Carlisle are starred. RIVOLI THEATRE. Storming in epic sweep over half the world, as the last slaver sails on its last desperate voyage 'Slave Ship is showing at the Rivoli Theatre. "Se Ship" cottars Warner Baxter and Wallace Beery in a tale of the slave-trading era, with Elizabeth Allan and Mickey Rooney among those on fee b&at as, with decks reddened by mutiny, it roams the seas on its final •fnfv ranked voyage. In the most Srful role of a colourful career, WarSer Baxter plays Captair.Jim Lovett, romantic scourge of two seas, who defies the navies of the world Viptraved by a shipmate, and ngnts ai fast for love in the greatest sea adventhe Paramount film, Hunted "itu, which is the second attraction Lloyd Nolan, portraying the racketeer is surrounded by an able cast.that. m eludes Mary Carlisle, J. Carrol JNaisn, and Lynne Overman.

'THE FLYING DUTCHMAN." ' Vnr the first time in New Zealand Hal! on Thursday evening, by the T?Xval Wellington Choral Union, me ChSal sS§B£has incurred colderable expense in performing sucn a work fn the' existing conditions, as after a lengthy preparation, they find fhat only one performancfe can be given &e^presentation has been conducted by M? : Stanley Oliver <md -i, i| largely to his credit that tne Dig chSus and orchestra havej, been, exhibiting especially good form at recent rfhearkls. The solo roles^will sell J. Laurenson (baritone) The tonight in St. John's Schoolroom, Dixon Street.

EMPIRE THEATRE, ISLAND BAY. Louis Hayward has the most unusual role of his career in the exciting melodrama, "The Saint in New York," now at the Empire Theatre. .He portrays a debonair killer brought in to rid New York City of its leading racketeers after the police prove unable to punish them. Kay Sutton has the feminine lead. The world's most famous night club is brought to the screen for the first time in "Cocoanut Grove, the second feature. The cast is headed by Fred Mac Murray and Harriet Hilliard, aided and abetted by the antics of the Yacht Club Boys.