CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 95, 24 April 1939, Page 6

CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

REGENT THEATRE. ] "If I Were Kong" is continuing to draw large audiences at the Regent Theatre. Francois Villon is played by Eonald Colman and one could not imagine a better man in the role Basil Bathbone portrays the crafty King Louis. When the king in disguise visits a disreputable cafe in the "Court ol Miracles,"' famous centre of the slums of Paris, he hears the vagabond poet boast what he would do is he were king, and a royal whim gives Villon a chance to make good his boast. He is made Grand Constable of France for one week at the end of which he is instructed to hang the villain, Francois Villon. Meantime a beautiful woman, the Lady Katherine (Frances Dee), has captured Villon's heart. The temporarily ennobled poet gains a royal pardon by successfully leading the rabble of Paris against the Burgundians who have long besieged the | city. MAJESTIC THEATRE. The inseparable pair, Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, better their previous triumphs in "Sweethearts," which is now in its third .week at the Majestic Theatre. Starred as the two leading players in a musical comedy hit, which has run for six years and gives every indication of running for another six, the pair are lovers on and off the stage. The equanimity of the producer, Frank Moifean, is rudely disturbed with, the entrance of a Hollywood agent, and visions of the goldmine suddenly ceasing to yield such good returns cause him. in collaboration with others concerned, to take steps to keep, the pair on Broadway. The method of separating them by means of a lovers' quarrel so they will not sign the joint contract Hollywood offers is effective, and the pair, each taking new partners, head two different companies on tour. Love cannot be so easily denied, however, and both gradually learn of the plot to separate them. ST. JAMES THEATRE. The monster (initial capital for those living near it) created by Baron Frankenstein, which, with its warped mind, terrorised the neighbourhood, murdering and destroying, walks again in "Son of Frankenstein," which is showing at St James Theatre. A terrorridden populace sees the new baron (Basil Rathbone) arrive at the castle, he has inherited and resume the experiments carried on by his father in his eerie laboratory. He finds the monster sick but not dead, as was supposed, and equipped with superhuman organs. He tries to revive it with electricity and feels that he has failed; but while he is absent the monster walks, under the direction of a crazed shepherd; The shepherd is legally dead: he was hanged and pronounced dead, but lived to wipe out, with the aid of the monster, the eight men who ■ sentenced him to death. Bela Lugosi. takes the part of the shepherd, and Boris Karloff that of the monster. DE LUXE THEATRE. Written by Leslie Stuart for the late Eugene Stratton, the noted coloured coon, in 1899, and first performed at the Old Oxford Music Hall, the song "The Lily of Laguna" has been made the musical background for-the film of the same name, which is showing at the De Luxe Theatre. The song was an instantaneous success, the lazy lilt of the melody suiting the methods of the black-faced performer to perfection. The stars in, the film are Nora Swinburne and Talbot O'Farrell. The supporting attraction, "Last Warning," is based on a Crime Club thriller. Prominent roles are played by Preston Foster, Frank Jenks, Kay Linaker, and E. E. Clive. PARAMOUNT THEATRE. <fMr. Chedworth St_ps Out" is showing for a return season at the Paramount Theatre. This popular production is one of Australia's best talides. The hero of the story, George Chedworth (Cecil Kellaway), is an ordinary clerk. Just when he is retrenched »he nets a cool £1000 by betting and, in addition, picks up a bag containing a fortune, but in counterfeit money. The apparently worthless goldminirig shares which he is persuaded to purchase turn out to be very valuable owing to the discovery of a new reef, and Mr. Chedworth becomes a wealthy man. His stridently-voiced wife is thus enabled to indulge in her desire to climb the social ladder, but there is a skeleton ih the family cupboard owing to the counterfeit money. The associate feature -on the programme is "I Am a Criminal," with John Carroll heading a large cast. This provides plenty of excitement of the gangster type with shootings every few minutes. A gazette and a very interesting travelogue are arriong the supports. REX THEATRE. All the resources of the United States Navy were loaned to Warner Bros, for the production of "Submarine D-l," which is showing at the Bex Theatre. Pat O'Brien and George Brent are co-starred, and in one of the leading supporting roles is the sensational newcomer, Wayne ("Kid Galahad") Morris. "The Lady Objects," with its thrilling and dramatic story of a woman who pitted a career as a lady lawyer against love, and found it only after she had nearly wrecked her home, is the associate film. Lanny Ross and Gloria Stuart are featured. ROXY THEATRE. Telling an emotional story of adventure and thrills in the lives of wireless operators on American merchant ships, "The Storm," is showing at the Boxy Theatre. Charles Bickford, Barton Mac Lane, Preston Foster, Tom Brown, and Nan Grey head the cast. Teaming Bobert . Montgomery and Rosalind Russell for the third time, the romantic comedy, "hive, Love, and Learn," is the associate film. PALACE THEATRE, PETONE. Presenting a warm and vibrant love story into which are woven the romance, laughter, and restless desires of youth, "Youth Takes a Fling," is showing at the Palace Theatre. Joel McCrea and Andrea Leeds are starred. "Speed to Bum," a thrilling racetrack drama, with Michael Whalen and Lynn Ban, is the associate film. STATE THEATRE, JPETONE. Walt Disney's first full-length Technicolour feature, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," is showing at the State Theatre The picture millions have been waiting for, a milestone in screen history, arrives for its local debut as one of the most amazing entertainments to come to the screen. Ranking m importance with the advent of colour anl sound, it is decidedly new. under Ihe cinematic sun and a thrill for every man, woman, and child.; GRAND THEATRE, PETONE. fontaining all requisites that make memorable entertainment, "The Scrapper" which is screening at the Grand Theatre, is the year's greatest human dralna. The cast is studded with outstanding screen names headed by the talented and popular Mickey Rooney. Superimposing a fast-moving, actionnacked story on a background of social Condition and principle, Republic's "I Stand Accused" is the second feature. Robert Cummings heads a strong cast.

CITY AND SUBURBAN THEATRES

KING'S THEATRE. One of the most pleasing and thoroughly entertaining pictures in the "crazy" tradition yet to be released in New Zealand is "You Can't Take it With You," now showing a* the King's Theatre. It is more than a story ofgay irresponsibility; ■it has a message, the old but always true one "-->t money is not everything, and that its purchasing power is, after all, very limited. Lionel Barrymore dominates aa extremely good cast with his portrayal of Grandpa Vanderhof, the old man whose creed forms the title of the picture. Indeed, it is interesting to observe that the burden of the acting is carried by -two men on the wrong side of the sixty mark, Lionel Barrymore and Edward Arnold. Arnold is splendid as the wealthy business tycoon Kirby, whose lust • for money and power has rather dimmed his eyesight in other directions. James Stewart and Jean Arthur make a new and appealing team in the leading juvenile roies, 3S the young couple who venture against the storm of class prejudice. PLAZA THEATRE. - Bernard Shaw's brilliant. comedy "Pygmalion" is now in its sixth week at the Plaza Theatre.. As -the eccentric Professor Higgins, a phonetic, expert who wagers that he can educate a Covent Gorden flower-girl sufficently to have her accepted as a society debutante at a duchess's reception within three months, Leslie Howard has never had a role more subtly suited to his , personality, and never one which he lives with greater relish. A Lancashireborn actress, Wendy Hiller, personally selected for the role by Bernard Shaw, plays the part of the cockney girl with rare abi-ityand understanding. She is: One of the greatest acquisitions to the screen in the past few years. Wilfred Lawson as the girl's father, who accepts £5 for his daughter, but refuses £10 "because it would be against his principles," gives what many consider the finest supporting performance in a character role seen in any film for a considerable period. STATE THEATRE. "Up the River" is one of the two pictures on the State Theatre's new programme. The story opens on board a New York-bound liner with Arthur Treacher seemingly cast in his normal part of a wealthy English aristocrat complete with Oxford accent. Upon arrival in America the Englishman and a fellow-passenger are arrested, and turn but to be notorious confidence men, who are quickly returned to prison, where they are welcomed as wellknown characters and former members* of the prison football team. It is here that the story really starts. The second feature is "Bank Holiday," starring Margaret Lockwood, John Lodge, and ..Wilfred Lawson. . The story is a clever psychological study of a husband's bereavement and how a hospital nurse's sympathy for him prevents her from committing a folly and saves his life. TUDOR THEATRE. "Kentucky," which has been transferred to the Tudor, has a Civil War prologue to show how a southerner, Mr. Goodwin, is shot by a Confederate officer, John Dillon, while trying to prevent his horses from being command§_red by the army. ; From this old quarrel'rises the bar;which separates the preserit-day families and complicates the romance of young Jack Dillon and Sally Goodwin. Loretta Young and Richard Greene are starred. The associate attraction, "Paid to Dance," has not been shown before in Wellington, and it exposes a racket known overseas as "the taxi-girl racket." The cast is headed by Don Terry and Jacqueline Wells. NEW PRINCESS THEATRE. One of the great sea stories of modern literature, Rudyard Kipling's thrilling saga of the Gloucester fishermen, comes to the New Princess Theatre with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's picturisation of "Captains Courageous," with Freddie Bartholomew, Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore, arid Melvyn Douglas in the leading roles. The associate film, featuring a spectacular parade of film personalities, :s You Can't Have Everything." j ■ ■ ______ KILBIRNIE KINEMA. "The Adventures of Robin Hood," which is showing at the Kilbirnie Kinema, gives Errol Flynn a role which is tailored to his measure. As the daring, adventurous leader of a band of outlaws who rob the rich to care for the poor, the handsome young Irishman gives a grand performance. Cast opposite Flynn is Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marian. "Rich Man, Poor Girl," the second feature, tells the hilarious story of a millionaire who m an attempt to woo his secretary, moyes in on her family, who regard him with suspicion because of his wealth. CAPITOL THEATRE, MIRAMAR. Moviegoers who like their adventure spiced with comedy, thrills, and romance will be drawn to "Fast Company," new romantic mystery which is showing at the Capitol Theatre. The plot concerns the efforts of a married couple, played by Melvyn Douglas and Florence Rice, to break up the activities of an international stolen rare book gang. The world's most colourful seaport, Marseilles, is seen in "Port of Seven Seas," the second feature, starring Wallace Beery, Frank Morgan, and Maureen O'Sullivan. REGAL THEATRE, KARORI. "The Cowboy and the Lady," starring Gary Cooper, is showing at the Regal Theatre. Merle Oberon, cast as a gay and witty modern society girl, enriches her role with fine timing and a beautiful sense of comedy. The second leads are capably played by Patsy Kelly and Walter Brennan, who appear in excellent comedy scenes. "Miss Fixit, starring Jane Withers, is the associate film. .■. . ■ EMPIRE THEATRE, ISLAND BAT. A vivid story of an English governess's mysterious disappearance from a Continental'train and its dramatic denouement is told in "The Lady Vanishes," which is showing at the Empire Theatre. Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave make a brilliant new love team. The supporting cast includes Paul Lukas, Dame May Whitty, and Cecil Parker. The second feature is "Command Performance," starring Arthur Tracey. KING GEORGE THEATRE, LOWER HUTT. Hilarity reaches a new standard in "Block-Heads," which is showing at the King George Theatre. Chief reason for the merriment is that it stars Laurel and Hardy. "Block^Heads" starts with a breeze of mirth arid ends with a whirlwind of insanity, one of the most ludicrous finales that has ever graced a Laurel and Hardy product. Gags are fresh and frequent. Action moves along with a freshening spontaneity. DE LUXE THEATRE, LOWER HUTT. From glamorous city lights to the wide open spaces, from, grand opera to cowboy choruses, from romance to the divorce courts, and back again—all those* things and lots more happen on "The Road to Reno," Universal's gay romantic comedy, starring Randolph Scott, Hope Hampton, and Glenda FarreU, which is showing at the De Luxe Theatre. The associate feature is "Pirates of the Skies," featuring Kent Taylor and Rochelle Hudson.

' TIVOLI THEATRE. The most fascinating family that ever menaced a heart —or a bankroll -—is to be seen at the Tivoli Theatre. They are the charming Carletons in David O. Selznick's comedy romance "The Young in Heart," starring Janet Gaynor, Douglas Fairbanks, jun., and Paulette Goddard. Janet Gaynor has a new type ot role in "The Young in Heart" as the daughter who helps her adventurous family chisel their way from the fun-loving Riviera to London, and whose loyalty to them almost costs her the love of her highly-principled young millionaire fiance (Richard Carlson). "Swing Your Lady," a comedy starring Humphrey Bogart, Frank McHugh, Allen Jenkins, Louise Fazenda, and Nat Pendleton, is the associate film. » OUR THEATRE, NEWTOWN. The realisation of one of the greatest dreams of man, the building of the Suez Canal, is picturised in "Suez,' the spectacular film which is showing at .Our Theatre. Dug through the shifting desert sands, constructed despite heart-breaking delays, hostile tribesmen, and, worst of all, base political scheming. the,canal was and.still is a great memorial to the foresight and genius of one of tho world's greatest engineers. Tyrone Power, Loretta Young, and Annabella head the cast. In the associate feature, 'Sharp shooters," Brian Donlevy and Lynn (Bari are starred.