CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 75, 30 March 1939, Page 7

CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

REGENT THEATRE. "Housemaster," the screen version of lan Hay's very successful stage play of the same name, is in its secpndiweek at the Regent Theatre. There is much delightful comedy in "Housemaster,"' but its real purpose is to throw into relief by contrast the serious drama of character that unfolds .as the action proceeds. The action takes place at an English public school, and is mainly concerned with the nature and works of two vastly different men—the Rev. Edmund Ovington, newly-appointed headmaster, and Charles Donkin, head of the school's senior house. Otto Kruger, Phillips Holmes, and Diana Churchill head the cast. The good supporting programme includes a Robert Benchley comedy, a budget of news items, and an unusually interesting feature showing the great American photographer Steichen at work in his studio. MAJESTIC THEATRE. "Mr. Chedworth Steps Out" will be shown finally tonight at the Majestic Theatre. "Dead Men Tell No Tales." starring Emlyn Williams, opens tomorrow. 3 ST. JAMES THEATRE. "The Storm" will be shown for the last time tonight at the St. James Theatre. "Escape From Yesterday," starring Akim Tamiroff, commences tomorrow. PARAMOUNT THEATRE. "Little Miss Thoroughbred," a Warner Bros, comedy drama that tells how big race track betting coups are sometimes engineered, concludes tonight at the Paramount Theatre. The public are introduced to a six-year-old miss who is confidently expected to become the next great child film star. The little girl, Janet Chapman, plays the title role in the picture. In support of "Little Miss Thoroughbred" is an equally brilliant film in "Tenth Avenue Kid." It tells the highly dramatic story of how a boy, raised in the tenement districts of a big city, headed for a life of crime, is straightened out and headed on the path to becoming a good American citizen by a hard-boiled detective and a punch-drunk prizefighter. Young Tommy Ryan scores as the boy who has strayed from the straight and narrow. Bruce Cabot handles the starring role very nicely and Beverly Roberts, as the aggravating young reporter, furnishes much of the film's comedy. ROXY THEATRE. "Crime School" and "She Loved a Fireman" conclude tonight at the Roxy Theatre. A thrill-packed story written around an amazing racket —the transportation of fugitives from justice across State and national borders for exorbitant sums —is told in Paramount's "Illegal Traffic," which opens tomorrow. Paramount's first "Hopalong Cassidy" story to continue the action of a former "Cassidy" picture is "In Old Mexico," the associate film. The popular outdoor hero, William Boyd, rides again with his two traditional companions, George Hayes and Russell Hayden. TUDOR THEATRE. The rollicking comedy with a diverting plot and an ideal cast, "The Young in Heart," has been transferred to the Tudor Theatre. The film has. as its featured players Douglas Fairbanks, jun., Paulette Goddard, Janet Gaynor, Billie Burke, Roland (Topper) Young, and Hendy Stephenson. 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 for their living. They become very hardened — so they think—when they start out to work for an old lady's fortune, but when they are faced with the possibility of the old lady dying, they find that their affection for her outweighs their avariciousness. The associate film is "Road Demon," a thrilling story oi the speedway. NEW PRINCESS THEATRE. "Arrest Bulldog Drummond" and "Gambling Ship" will be presented finally tonight at the New Princess Theatre. Edward G. Robinson, who played the first gangster in motion pictures, now plays the last. He comes tomorrow to the Princess Theatre in "The Last Gangster," a dramatic story of a man's term in a penitentiary, with James Stewart, Rose Stradner, glamorous new actress from Vienna, and a notable cast. "The Last Gangster" tells of the imprisonment of a "public enemy" and the struggle of his wife, who did not know his calling, to lose her identity and save their child from the disgrace attached to his name. The associate feature is Warner Bros.' comedy-romance, "Love Is On the Air," starring Ronald Reagan and June Travis. YOUNG AUSTRALIANS REVUE. Only four more nights remain before the closing of the Young Australians Revue and Stage Band season at the Grand Opera House. The season will definitely close on Saturday next. The opinion of those who have seen the show is that it is one of the most novel and entertaining revues seen in Wellington for many years. It is astonishing that lads so young can present such a polished and artistic programme with all the assurance of high-class professional performers. Lovers of bright entertainment should take this opportunity to see the Young Australians, as it is a performance well worth while. There will be a matinee on Saturday at 2.15 p.m. EMPIRE THEATRE, ISLAND BAY. The saga-of a woman who battled a whole nation by the side of the man she loved is depicted in a series of sharp, telling strokes in "You Only Live Once." Walter Wanger's first production for release through United Artists, which stars Sylvia Sidney and Henry Fonda and is s showing at the Empire Theatre. "Adventurous Blonde," the Warnei Bros. comedy-drama, which is the second feature, is the third in the series of "Torchy Blanc" newspaper- mystery - comedy - dramas, featuring Glenda Farrell and Barton Mac Lane. STATE THEATRE, PETONE. "The Toy Wife," starring Luise Rainer, is showing at the State Theatre. As "Frou-frou" Brigard. Miss Rainer gives a remarkable performance. By turn the frivolous, . light-hearted girl, the equally irresponsible wife, and the broken, tragic iigure which her own folly makes ,her, she draws a masterful and truly moving picture which any other actress of the year will be hard pressed to match. Melvyn Douglas and Robert Youn^ have the male leads. GRAND THEATRE, PETONE. An outstanding double-feature programme is showing at the Grand Theatre. The main attraction is "Mr. Deeds Goes To Town," starring .Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur. Peter, B. Kyne's smashing drama of the.' old West, "Dodge City Trail," featuring Charles Starrett, is the second feature. PALACE THEATRE, PETONE. Beverly Roberts plays an/ actress whose star is in the descendant, so she goes after publicity in a big way in "Expensive Husbands," which is showing at the Palace Theatre; The capable and good-looking Patric Knowles is the leading man. "The Live Wire, starring Jean Gillie,* is /the associate feature,

CITY AND SUBURBAN THEATRES

KING'S THEATRE. "Trade Winds," thrilling and romantic tale of a detective's chase through the Orient for a murderess, now showing at the King's Theatre, stars Fredric March and Joan Bennett. Kay Kerrigan (Joan Bennett), whose sister commits suicide, shoots the man responsible for her sister's tragic step. She leaves America for Japan, then China, and on and on, avoiding detectives. When she first meets Sam Wye (March) she does not realise who he is, but she eventually finds out. She thinks he is only trying to win the rewards for her capture, but he convinces her that he loves her, and they leave for i bunch of islands off the coast of Ceylon. But the law extends even to this unknown spot, and she is finally arrested and taken back to New York, where, in a sensational climax, she is found not guilty. PLAZA THEATRE. Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" is now in its second week at the Plaza Theatre. The story of "Pygmalion" is the story of a modern Cinderella, Eliza Doolittle, daughter of a none-too-re-putable dustman, ah uneducated girl of the slums with the world against her, who sells flowers in Covent Garden Market. Eliza Doolittle's chance comes through her accidental meeting with Professor Higgins, a teacher of phonetics, and his admirer, Colonel Pickering. Higgins boasts that he could by tuition remove all trace of her Cockney accent, teach her manners and deportment, dress her properly, and pass her off as an out-and-out lady at a high social function without the deception being detected. Colonel Pickering dares him to take Eliza m hand and make good his boast. He accepts the challenge and starts in on his great experiment, with an amazing result. Leslie Howard is credited with presenting the finest work of his career, while Wendy Hiller, as the flower-girl, is excellent. STATE THEATRE. ' "Next Time I Marry" and "The Law West of Tombstone" conclude tonight at the State Theatre. With the theatre and race tracks as its colourful backgrounds, Edith Fellows's newest Columbia vehicle. "The Little Adventuress," opens tomorrow. Cliff Edwards, banjo-strumming comedian, is the child's star funmate in the new film, which is packed with entertainment, thrills, and excitement. "The Little Adventuress" describes the efforts of a young orphan who, upon inheriting a trick horse, attempts to make an asset of the animal. She finally turns him into a racing horse, and thus initiates a series of scenes unexcelled for their thrill-thundering effects. These sequences were filmed at the world-famous Santa Anita race track,. with many famous horses and jockeys taking part. Intimate and human back-stage episodes were also filmed in the historic Philharmonic Theatre in Los Angeles, where a sensational "slide-for-life," by two acrobatic stars, furnishes a tense and dramatic scene. Richard Fiske plays the leading male role and Jacqueline Wells is charming as the leading lady. "Flight to Fame," the associate film, also stars Jacqueline Wells, with Charles Farrell playing opposite her, REX THEATRE. "Crack Up" and "Big Business" conclude tonight at the Rex Theatre. Combining the poignancy of a "Stella Dallas" with the dramatic sweep of a "Great Mouthpiece," Columbia's "Counsel for Crime" opens tomorrow. The strong cast is headed by Otto Kruger and Douglass Montgomery, I with lovely young Jacquelin-e Wells as j leading lady. Introducing a new costarring comedy team, Dorothea Kent and Frank Jenks, Universal's "Strange Faces" is the associate feature. OUR THEATRE, NEWTOWN. "Convict '99," starring Will Hay, heads the double-feature programme at Our Theatre. Hay is a doctor who has applied for a position at a prison and is welcomed as. the new governor. After getting mixed up with various intrigues he is thrown into prison. When he comes out he begins to reform the entire policy of the prison and starts by fitting every cell up as "exclusive apartments." Clapham and Dwyer, the famous comedians, are starred in "Variety Hour," the second attraction, j CAPITOL THEATRE, MIRAMAR. Shirley Temple is simply surrounded by singing, dancing, romancing, and fun making in "Little Miss Broadway," which is showing at the Capitol Theatre. "Trapped by G-men," Columbia's newest Jack Holt melodrama, is the associate film. Dealing with the relentless G-man war on crime, "Trapped by G-men" introduces for the first time on the screen the part played by the gallant women in the Secret Service. - REGAL THEATRE, KARORI. "Strange Boarders," starring Tom Walls, is showing at the Regal Theatre. Walls, after many exciting adventures which take him from a Bayswater boarding-house to a notorious night club, from the Air Ministry to an art photographer's shop and back again to the boarding-house, there to unearth a clue which eventually solves the riddle, appears in a most unusual role. The hectic problem of a mystery writer who has run out of story ideas is brought to the screen in "She Asked for It," the second feature. This fastmoving photoplay stars William Gargan and Orien Heyward. REPERTORY THEATRE. The second performance of lan Hay's play •'Housemaster" by the Wellington Repertory Theatre attracted a large audience to the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall last evening, and the efforts of the highly efficient cast were greatly appreciated. Mr. Vivian Rhind was at home in the exacting role of Charles Donkin, the housemaster, around whose troubles the action of the play centred, and other excellent performances were those of Mr. Algernon Deuber as the Rev. Edmund Ovington, the headmaster, Dr. P. B. Benham as Sir Berkley Nightingale, a typical English politician, and Miss Eileen Teward, as the matron. Mention should also be made of the sterling performance of Mr. Lawrence Gardiner in the part of "Old Crump." •The play moved very smoothly last ;night and reflected great credit on the producer, Mr. Leo dv Chateau. "Housemaster" will be repeated every night this week. It should not be missed by all lovers of the legitimate stage. ' KING GEORGE THEATRE, LOWER HUTT. When a girl is in love with a millionaire and her family is imbued with an overbearing consciousness of the importance of the great middle class, there is bound to be comedy galore, and that is what there is at the King George Theatre, where the new laugh hit, "Rich Man, Poor Girl," is showing. Robert Young, Lew Ay res, Ruth Lindsay, Guy Kibbee are starred. DE LUXE THEATRE, LOWER HUTT. With Beverley Roberts once again enacting the part of the business woman, "The Daredevil Drivers," dealing with the warfare between her outfit and a rival concern, is showing at the De Luxe Theatre. The amateur and professional sleuths will be well entertained with "Personal Secretary," the associate film.

TIVOLI THEATRE. Reuniting four who contributed so largely to the success of "Topper," a few months ago, "Merrily We Live," which is showing at the Tivoli Theatre, has Constance Bennett as one of its stars and Billie Burke and Alan Mowbray heading the supporting cast. Sharing stellar honours with Miss Bennett is Brian Aherne. In the guise of a tramp who is in reality a novelist, he is admitted to the Kil-' bourne mansion and given the post of chauffeur. He stays on to gain material for a novel, and because he has fallen in love with the debutante daughter, Jerry, played by Miss Bennett. Miss Bennett plays the part with zest and apparent delight in its many sidedness. In "Strange Boarders," the associate film, Tom Walls, in his role of Secret Service agent, hopes to discover the identity of an international spy who has been clever enough to obtain copies of new aeronautical plans from the stronghold of a Government office. RIVOLI THEATRE. Reuniting four who contributed so largely to the success of "Topper," a few months ago, "Merrily We Live," which is showing at the Rivoli Theatre, has Constance Bennett as one of its stars and Billie Burke and Alan Mowbray heading the supporting cast. Sharing stellar honours with Miss Bennett is Brian Aherne. In the guise of a tramp who is in reality a novelist, he is admitted to the Kilbourne mansion and given the post of chauffeur. He stays on to gain material for a novel and because he has fallen in love with the debutante daughter, Jerry, played by Miss Bennett. "Four Men and a Prayer," the famous "Cosmopolitan Magazine" story by David Garth, is the associate feature. Loretta Young is featured, with Richard Green, the new star discovery, as her leading man. George Sanders, David Niven.. and C. Aubrey Smith are also featured in the story of four gallant brothers pledged to a quest that mocks at death. DE LUXE THEATRE. "The Scrapper" and "Men of Yesterday" conclude tonight at the De Luxe Theatre. "Manhattan Melodrama" and "Spring Madness" open tomorrow. 1-iSRRY'S CIRCUS. Acts from all parts of the world, acts which are sensations, novelties, fun, and excitement are presented in Perry Brothers' Circus, which is at the Winter Show Building, Wellington. Acrobatics, tumbling, ladder and perch pole balancers, trapeze artists, head balancers, jugglers, rope spinners, wirewalkers, springboard and risley artists, women and men riders, contortionists, performing dogs, sheep, horses, lions, tigers, and elephants, are shown. This entertainment the public can see again and again, so full is it of that joyous j modernistic merriment and originality i Eighteen cages of wild jungle animals ; and a herd of elephants are on view between 4 and 5 p.m. every day. , SKATING SEASON. Roller skating enthusiasts will be interested to learn that the Golden Gate Skating Rink, the Winter Show Buildings, will be reopened on Saturday evening. The rink is now under entirely new management and the session on Saturday will be from 7.45 [to 11 p.m.