CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 59, 11 March 1939, Page 15

CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

• REGENT THEATRE. "Jezebel," a colourful and exciting romantic drama of the South of the U.S.A., shortly before the Civil War, is showing at the Regent Theatre. Bette Davis is co-starred with Henry Fonda, George Brent, and Margaret Lindsay. Miss Davis, who won the Academy Award for this film, declares that this is the best picture part she has ever had. She is wilful, spoiled, tempestuous, young Dixie belle who achieves the name of the wicked Biblical character Jezebel because she defies Southern tradition. She breaks hearts with dashing unconcern. She smokes, she prefers juleps to sherry— in short, she is a modern miss in an old-fashioned setting. She has two favourite suitors, one a conservative young banker, played by Mr. Fonda, and the other a handsome young rake, portrayed by Mr. Brent. The period is that of the great yellow fever scourge in New Orleans in the early 1850' Si Costumes, settings, dialogue, and all the other atmospheric conditions of the day are faithfully reproduced. MAJESTIC THEATRE. A new and unusually youthful comedy team is presented in the pleasing, light-hearted"Listen, Darling," now showMg;at the-Majestic Theatre. The picture is'remarkable for a number of things; irioi; the least of which, is the actingr.of iJudy Garland and Freddie Bartholomew. Judy Garland has for once: be^en \ allowed to forget the fact that-, she first entered the films as a "swing" and as a consequence has]repealed that she is a consummate actress* with all the poise of a veteran. She #oes sing, but her songs are of a typeVwhich fits neatly into the story. Her. role; is not purely that of an occa-sional-sihger; she is in the picture throughout its length and undoubtedly ste'alfe the show. As the girl's widowed mother r .Mary Astor also scores in this, for. her, rather, unusual role. Walter Pidgepn turns in one of his usual sound performances •as the happy-go-lucky young-lawyer-on vacation. The story is ..that, of a young widow with two children who has decided for her children's sake to marry again. The man chosenvfor the purpose does not please the .daughter (Judy Garland) or her friend (Freddie Bartholomew). A bold step is decided • upon,' following which the tnbther .is.enticed aboard a trailer, locked in, arid whisked aw^ay for a holiday^;in«th'e; country ■ This is the beginning, of a series 6f wild adventures which- fortunately have a very happy •ending;; 'Excellent supports include a Robert :Benchley comedy, a ■ Passing Parade, -feature, a technicolour traveltaik'on' Egypt, a "Crime Does Not Pay" film,., and the latest newsreels. ST. JAMES THEATRE. ; The ever-popular background of the racecourse is the setting for "Stablemates;" which is the main attraction in the new programme at the St. James Theatre. The picture is. noteworthy for at least the fact that throughout its length there is practically a cast of only three—a man, a boy, and a horse. Mickey Rooney is cast as the waif who is employed as aY stable, boy, and Wallace Beery as the tramp and racecourse hanger-on. Mickaty's owner has a horse which should be great if it did not have the habit of "fading out" at the critical point of a race. Disgusted with the animal's performance the owner decides to,,send it to the "glue factory," biut Mickey..takes the .horse in lieu of v^'ages rOveMtie?::: «TheA horse-vS life is saved, -'teiifilp.ck^yi^has^'t-problem on hjis hands liiTthe" tramp comes on the sfcene. The tramp was formerly .-a famous, "vet," who is wanted by the p!olice for having "doctored" a horse,; and he soon discovers why Mickey's ftorse is a failure. An operation carried out ■behind locked stable doors at dead of night by the aid of a small tprch restores the horse to its former condition arid the boy and the man decide to embark on a racing career. At this stage complications arise, but it is sufficient to state that the horse covers himself with glory, Mickey is justified,in his faith in the animal, and the "vet" gets his reward. There are excellent supports, including an interesting British Air Mail News. PARAMOUNT THEATRE. ;Luise Rainer, against whose name the seal of stardom was placed following her performance with Paul Muni in "The Good Earth," has artistry that is still a comparatively unknown quantity; but'lt would be difficult to find a more versatile role, giving such play to her excellent talents, than that of Frou-frou in "The Toy Wife," which is continuing its Wellington season at the Paramount Theatre. Heavily-laden with pathos though the production is, it is its poignancy, skilfully conveyed, that is its attractiori. Mesalliances, particularly in the land of "liberty," would appear to be amazingly frequent, more often than not because of "incompatibility"—that domestic, blanketing, cure-all. In "The Toy Wife" the tragedy of a marriage between a seriousminded young business man and a frivolous, irresponsible young girl is developed; domestic.incompetence, lack of reasoning power, and a dearth of understanding cai the part of the wife (Luise Raine^.taing about a broken home and disillusionment for the husband (Melvyn Douglas). A carefree gambler, .played by Robert Young, who believes he genuinely loves Frou-frou, is a factor in the wrecking of the home, but even he finds happiness with the girl short-lived. Sadness is not even given a respite with the climax: illness and sudden. death help the curtain down on a picture that is nevertheless an artistic production containing a sound moral. The firstclass supporting programme • includes an "Our Gang" comedy, travel talk, newsreels, and items on the Wurlitzer organ. • , REX THEATRE. Paramount's new comedy-romance, "True Confession," is showing at the Rex Theatre. John Barrymore, as the blackmailing eccentric; Carole Lombard, as the wife who would rather lie than eat ;and Fred McMurray, as her "I-cannot-tell-a-lie" husband, are co-starred in the lead of the picture. Jimmy Valentine, mythical hero of the underworld, makes his latest appearance in !?The Return of Jimmy valentine," the supporting film, and his brave deeds and daring exploits are more interesting than ever. ROXY THEATRE. "A Slight Case of Murder," a farce film that frankly and unreservedly makes fun of the whole business of gangsterism and racketeering," is the main feature at the Roxy Theatre. It is a Warner Bros, production with Edward G. Robinson as star. Laurel and Hardy as a pair of desperadoes in the-gay nineties are at their funniest in "Way Out West," the supporting feature; REGAL THEATRE, KARORI, AND EMPIRE THEATRE, ISLAND BAY. "Little Miss Broadway," Shirley Temple's latest starring picture, is showing at both the Regal and Empire Theatres. The grand group of troupers which aids and abets Shirley is headed by George Murphy, the irrepressible Jimmy Durante, gorgeous Phyllis Brooks, and Edna May Oliver, the popular, prim, and prudish grande dame of filmdom. To make this the go-kappy musical six new Bullock and Spina melodies radiate from the romance. Samuel Goldwyn's hilarious film comedy, is the second feature at the Regal Theatre. Miriam Hopkins, Joel McCrea, Charles Winninger are starred. "Back in Circulation," starring Pat O'Brien and Joan Blondell, which is the supporting film at the Empire Theatre, is an engrossing newspaper drama.

Cm AND SUBURBAN THEATRES

KING'S THEATRE. ; One of the most entertaining come- ! dies to be screened in Wellington for. 1 a long time is "The Young in Heart" • which brings together a very talented team of players. Now showing at the King's Theatre, the film, a screen ver!E? S\}' A- R- Wylie's 'The Gay Banditti, has as its featured players Douglas Fairbanks, jun., Paulette Goddard. Janet Gaynor, Billie Bur,ke, Roland Young, and Henry Stephenson. Roland Young, as is so often the case, will be considered by the majority of those who see the film as giving the most amusing performance, but the others all portray their parts well. The film deals with a family of very indolent people who prefer to chase around Europe in search of legacies and fortunes rather than work lor their living. They become very hardened—so they think—when they start out to work lor an old lady's fortune, but when they are faced with the possibilty of lv- « la. dy dying, they find that their affection for her outweighs their avanciousness. Roland Young finally does get a job, selling "Flying Wombats, super streamlined cars which flash across the countryside at a terrific speed, and the son gets a job as an office boy and meets Paulette Goddard—his boss. The film is full of humorous incidents in the lives of these lovable scoundrels, and is a firsts class entertainment throughout. The supports include a very fine colour feature dealing with Rome, topical newsreels, and a "March of TimeT" PLAZA THEATRE. A rollicking satirical skit on the two great national emotions of modern times, sport and politics, staggers its «£ a?i°m SuT aX ac?. oss the screen in •Hold That Co-ed" at the Plaza Theatre 1 -. i . J°hn Barrymore enters as the politician who will promise anything to get votes, but he finds that there is more in life than that, and that is sport. He threatens to bring in legislation banishing football, which, he^says, with its equipment, stadiums, and campuses, is making educaton far too expensive for the taxpayers. Well and good but when his decision threatens the job of a football coach the State College students mob his residence and succeed in giving him the, right idea, that the way to win his election is to vote stupendous sums for stadiums, etc., which he does. For a while he is the hero of the students, When his rival uses the same sort of ammunition the election becomes a sport contest, and colleges backed by the rivar politicians really fight out the issue, the votes of the nation being swayed either way as the score board dictates Unlike most college pictures, this One has been produced with a wicked genius that infuses just enough truth into the enthusiasm about the election and the way in which State College beats Yale and Louisiana to make the satire on mob mentality .sting.' Supports include a trout fishing scenic gem in a lake 6000 feet up in the mountains. DE LUXE THEATRE. . Good, exciting entertainment is provided by the double-feature programme showing at the De Luxe Theatre. A «?.Sino^. at «ea Sives the name to "Gambling Ship," which carries off the honours of the programme. One of the strange things about the gambling ship is that it is run on honest lines by Steve Riley (Selmar Jackson) and that a large share of the profits go to support an orphanage. However, the activities of the honest gambler do not suit "The Professor," secretly a gang leader, who runs another sort of gambling resort, and when Riley refuses to talk business the Professor resorts to other methods and Riley is murdered. His daughter, Mollie (Helen Mack), then learns for the first time the .real source of her father's wealth, but insists on carrying on his gambling ship. She quickly falls in love with Larry (Robert Wilcox), a stranger who has taken a job on the ship, but does not know that he is in the pay of the Professor. On the other hand neither does the Professor know that Larry is not all that he seems. The "gangster" atmosphere does not intrude unduly into the story. Action and excitement are well maintained. The other big picture is "The Daredevil Riders," in which Beverley Roberts heads the cast. . She plays the part of a business woman, proprietor of a motor passenger service. The plot is concerned principally with the violent methods adopted by a rival company in the hope of spoiling her business. STATE THEATRE. To those who like thrills in a picture, "The Lost Jungle," at the State Theatre, will be welcome as good entertainment, for, working somewhat along the lines of "The Lost World," the producers have fairly packed the film. Kamor is a lost island whereon roam in plenty the fauna of both Africa and Asia, lions and tigers, panthers and leopards, hyenas and bears galore. An expedition in search of the cradle of civilisation is wrecked on Kamor, and Clyde Beatty, hero of the big ring of mammoth circuses, leaves with the relief party. Their dirigible is wrecked, and they crash in the jungle. Beatty is acclaimed the world's, greatest animal trainer, and the whole story centres round his absolute fearlessness in handling animals in the ring or in ,the wilds. There is, of course, the essential love interest, provided by Cecilia Parker, and thoroughpaced villainy on the part of Beatty's ring rival. As an associate feature James Ellison (the original "Hopalong Cassidy") plays and sings and particularly bets with the rest of the American army in "Twenty-three and a Half Hours' Leave." There are interesting topical films. TUDOR THEATRE. Transferred to the Tudor Theatre, "Suez," starring Loretta Young, Annabella, and Tyrone Power, shows the supreme effort of the elements to prevent the joining of the Mediterranean with the Red Sea. In this film and in this incident is proof that earth, air, and water—once thought- to be the elements that constituted man and his environment—are among the basic elements of man's entertainment. The greatest trial of Ferdinand de Lesseps was the terrifying simoon, something he could not fight as he had fought political and financial discouragement, successfully withstood attacks by hostile Arabs, and overcome the hardships of landslides, lack of water, and tropical heat. June Lang, Lynn Bari. and Erik Rhodes appear in the second' feature, "Meet the Girls." ; NEW PRINCESS THEATRE. Kay Francis's gifts as a portrayer of highly-emotional scenes are displayed: to audiences at the Princess Theatre; where she appears in her newest starring vehicle, "Confession." This is the most powerful story in which the dark beauty has played during her nineyear career as a picture actress, outranking even her unforgettable "One Way Passage" and her recent triumph in "White Angel." Others in the cast are Basil Rathbone and lan Hunter. The associate feature is New Universal Films' action drama. "Exposed," starring Glenda Farrell and Otto Kruger. OUR THEATRE, NEWTOWN. All the fantastic characters of Lewis Carroll's beloved story cavort on the ice in Sonja Henie's dazzling "Alice in Wonderland" ballet, which high lights her newest triumph "My Lucky Star," showing at Our Theatre. Sharing honours with Sonja is Richard Greene. The supporting players include Joan David, Cesar Romero, Buddy Ebsen, and Arthur Treacher. The second attraction, "Time Out for Murder," has Michael Whalen and Gloria Stuart in the principal roles. Others in the cast are Jane Darwell, Douglas Fowley, and Robert Kellard.,

TIVOLI THEATRE. ] Can a man be so loyal to' a dog as to commit murder for it? This strange trick in human psychology is the crux of one of the most amazing human" documents ever to come to the screen, "The Voice of Bugle Ann," with Lionel Barrymore in the principal role, which is showing at the Tivoli Theatre. Based -on MacKinlay Kantor's novel, which in turn was based on an actual court case in Missouri, it tells the story of a veteran Missouri fox hunter and his favourite dog, to avenge which he kills a man and goes to prison. It 1 is held the greatest tribute to a dog '. since Senator Vest's famous speech> ' which figures in the trial scene. When [ more laughs can be packed into a film , than were crammed into "A Trip to ' Paris,' ' which is the supporting film, ' 20th Century-Fox's famous Jones ', Family will do it. ; For sheer funfrenzy, America's favourite folks I scramble off on the happiest' adventure ! they have concocted since some genius ; thought up this great group of actors. I RIVOM THEATRE, !' 1 , The uproarious antics of the absurd r Marx Brothers —Groucho, Harpo, and [ Chico —together with the admirable 1 supporting work of Maureen O'Sulli- • van, Allan Jones. Margaret Dumont, Esther Muir, and others, and the ex- ■ cellent direction of Sam Wood, com- ; bine to make "A Day at the Races," • latest Marx laugh extravaganza, which ■ is showing at the Biyoli Theatre, one of the most amusing photoplays of this year or any other year. It would be difficult to imagine any pic- • ture being funnier, than "A Night1 at the Opera," but their current vehicle with : its hilarious plot shifting between a ; sanatorium and a race track, with ; Groucho in the role of a horse doctor, Chico as a jockey, and Harpo as a race j track tout, undoubtedly tops even the former picture fof side-splitting situa* tions. St. Michael's School is the cen*j ' tral scene in "Good Morning Boys,'* j the new Gainsborough picture starring Will Hay, which is the supporting film. In addition there' are four selected j comedy shorts. ' .- j "GAIETIES" COMPANY. Stanley McKay's "Gaieties" company presented "Life Begins at Eight'! for the last time in Wellington at the Opera House last night to a delighted audience. A fresh production, "Let's Go Hunting," commenced at the matinee today. This revue gets its title from the colourful finale to the first part of the programme when Stella Collier, the "Gaieties" soprano, sings the famous "Tally Ho," assisted by the other principals and the chorus attired in the traditional' English hunting costumes, amid a typically English rural setting. Other song scenas include "If I'm Dreaming," "Old-fashion: ed Memories," and "The Lambeth Walk." Stan Foley's principal sketches include "The Wedding Breakfast," and "The Ostrich"; and Alex Mc-^ Kinnon appears in the sketch "Hiking,'! and with his partner "Dolly." presents an entirely new dance duo, "Auld Ireland." That popular personality girl, Stella Lamond, features the modern version of "The Seven Ages of Man," and "Ribbons, Silks, and Strings." Nellie Kolle's items include "Take Me Back to Piccadilly." Stan Foley's single number is one of his more popular numbers, "Ben Hur." George Hurdi the international Royal-command juggling star, again presents his re^ markable act. .'. The company will give a concert to-i morrow night after church hours in aid of the Warwick Humphrey Trust F.und. KILBIRNIE KINEMA. The most modern of heroes, aeroplane test pilots, are glorified in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's "Test Pilot," which stars Clark Gable,. Myrna. Loy, and Spencer Tracy, with Lionel Barrymore heading a major supporting cast. It is showing at the Kilbirnie Kinema. The picture is based'on an .original story by " Frank": Weaar^nd gives an, intimate insight into the lives of men who dare death to pave the heavens for future generations. "Murder Trail" is the associate attraction. CAPITOL THEATRE, MIRAMAR. A realistic human drama of the tragedy, laughter, and heartache found on a big city's streets, Universal's thrilling document ; of modern youth, "Little Tough Guy," is showing at the Capitol Theatre, with the famous "Dead End" kids Helen Fairish, Jackie Searl, and Robert Wilcox featured. Constance Bennett and Brian Aherne form the delightful co-starring team seen in "Merrily We Live," the second feature. BROOKLYN THEATRE. "Alexander's Ragtime Band" will be the main attraction at the Brooklyn Theatre tonight. The cast includes Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Ethel Merman, Jack Haley, and Jean Hersholt. "Passport Husband" will be the supporting feature. The stars include Stuart Erwin, Pauline Moore, Douglas Fowley, and Joan Woodbury. The supports will add to a very fine programme. - SUNDAY PICTURES. At the De Luxe Theatre tomorrow night Sandy Powell's latest and best picture, "Leave It to Me," will be shown. This wonderful laughter maker has with him an excellent cast, which includes Iris March, Franklyn ' Dyall, and Garry March. This production has been greeted by audiences everywhere ■as his greatest triumph, and patrons can look forward with confidence to splendid entertainment. It is sufficient to mention that Sandy, in the character of a policeman, gets mixed up with a crafty gang of Chinese, to . realise the possibilities afforded him. The film is packed with laughs, crammed with entertainment, and a new standard in film comedy. It is considered that this is the finest picture of its kind which has been available for Sunday screening. Proceeds are for the funds of the Band of the Ist Battalion,.the Wellington Regiment (City of Wellington's Own). Reservations may, be made .on the theatre telephone (53-080) after 6.30 p.m. tomorrow. PALACE THEATRE, PETONE. "Gambling Ship/ which is showing at the Palace Theatre, presents a fastmoving tale of a gambling syndicate's efforts to combat a girl who inherits a gambling ship. Helen Mack has the leading feminine role. Glenda Farrell in "Exposed," the associate attraction, is the candid camera girl whose photographic evidence is instrumental in capturing a ring of racketeers. Otto Kruger and Herbert Mundin are also featured. STATE THEATRE, PETONE. The idea that money and the accumulation of money are not the main purposes of life is,brilliantly expressed in a delightful. Comedy-romance at the State Theatre. "Holiday," the Columbia production of the Philip Barry Broadway stage hit is a blessed change from the bright, and scintillant whimsies of modern times. With Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant co-starred, the State Theatre attraction vibrates with life and humour. GRAND THEATRE, PETONE. A splendid double-feature programme is showing at the Grand Theatre. The main feature is "The Last Train From Madrid," a drama played against the background of the present Spanish war. Dorothy Lamour, Lew Ayres, Gilbert Roland, and Karen Morley head the cost. Martha Raye, Bob Hope, Betty Grable, and Jack Whiting have the leading roles in "Give Me a Sailor," the second film. ST. PATRICKS CONCERT. The St. Patrick's' concert will take place at the Town Hall on Friday next. A special national programme of choral, solo, instrumental, and dancing items has been arranged. Mr. Dan Foley, the well-known and popular Irish tenor, will make his last appearance. The massed boys' choir of 500 voices from the Marist Brothers' Schools will also render items. The best of local talent will support. The box plan is now open at the DJ.C.