CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 16, 19 July 1939, Page 6

CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

REGENT THEATRE. '"St. Martin's Lane", will be shown finally tonight at the Regent Theatre. "Midnight," starring Claudette Colbert and Done Ameche, opens tomorrow. MAJESTIC THEATRE. A gem of a comedy, with Mickey Rooney giving an outstanding performance, makes the latest of the Hardy family series, "Out West With tha Hardys," a grand attraction at the Majestic Theatre. The story chronicles the adventures of the family who visit a Western ranch. Judge Hardy tries j to assist a couple of old friends to i circumvent the racketeering tricks of! a neighboui'ing rancher, and while he delves into the law of, water righfs and so on, the rest of the family goes "haywire" in the Western fashion. It is fine, simple humour throughout and some of the scenes are uproarious. A fine supporting programme, including an interesting and remarkably funny Pete Smith oddity, gives "Out West With the Hardys" even greater appeal. DE LUXE THEATRE. Kay Francis makes one of her all too infrequent appearances on the screen in "Women Are Like That," a romance of modern business, now showing at the De Luxe Theatre. Starred opposite Pat O'Brien, Kay gives a fine perform--ance as a beautiful' and accomplished young wjtfe whose efforts to assist her husband m his crippled business are the cause of the breakdown of their marriage, notwithstanding the fact that they ' are entirely successful. Pat O'Brien, as1 the husband, is a brilliant advertising man who drinks a bit too much liquor on occasions, and whose foolish pride will not let him accept his wife's help in his work. Finally they part, and after a year or so find themselves running competitive advertising businesses in the same town. The second feature, "Society Smugglers, starring Preston Foster and Irene Hervey, deals with the tracing of a clever gang of jewel smugglers who use innocent .travellers to bring gems into the country, from abroad. 'PARAMOUNT THEATRE. "The; Great Waltz." which gives every indication of being the musical success-of-the year, has been transferred to the Paramount Theatre. The film is meant, to convey more of the spirit in which Strauss lived than the actual facts of. his life, and against the always romantic background of old Vienna and its bohemian atmosphere Fernand Gravet's portrayal of the "King of Three-quarter time" is a colourful piece of acting. Miliza Korjus, as Carla Dormer, the opera singer with whom Strauss falls in love, makes a memorable debut in this film. Her voice is probably the finest that has been brought to the screen, and her interpretation of Strauss's immortal melodies is entrancing. Her blonde \ charm is cleverly set. up against the ■ auieter, subtler characterisation of . Strauss's wife, played by Luise Rainer. There is an excellent supporting programme. i ROXY THEATRE. Hollywood's particular flair for dra- : matic 'films, exposing evils in American society, is at full force in "Boy ' Slaves," now at the Roxy Theatre. A s^ang of boys are captured by the police ' and are freed to work in what is more than a slave camp. It is there that the ] drama becomes tense and moving. Although it starts in a western locale, ; "Cowboy from Brooklyn," the associate film, with Pat. O'Brien, Dick ; Powell, and Priscilla Lane featured, is definitely not a Western picture. : NEW PRINCESS THEATRE. Hilarious comedy sequences deftly woven into a powerful story stamp Uniyersal's "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man" as one of the year's best screen offerings. Heading the cast of the picture, which is showing at the New Princess Theatre, are W, C. Fields, Edgar Bergan' and Charlie McCarthy. High lighting the film is the bitter feud : between Fields and his wooden ' nemesis, McCarthy. The associate attraction, "The Ware Case." starring Clive Brook, Jane Baxter, and Barry K. Barnes, is a romantic drama so real and so different that it lives long in • the memory. ; KILBIRNIE KINEMA. Robert Donat rises overnight to fame for his memorable performance as "The Count of Monte Cristo," which is showing at the Kilbirnie Kinema. Alexander Dumas's immortal classic has : been brought to the screen in a motion picture that will live not only today but for all time. Twenty years of love kept alive by hate. The throbbing story of a good-bye kiss that kept the flame of hope burning brightly for twenty years. "Savage Gold," a thrilling story of an expedition's quest in i the wild Brazilian jungle, is the asso- ■ ciate film. ; KING GEORGE THEATRE, LOWER HUTT. : A romance, a murder mystery, and • a comedy of errors comprise the triple • themes of "The Mad Miss Manton," ( starring Barbara Stanwyck and Henry , Fonda, which is at the King George ■ Theatre. Fonda portrays a young news- : paper editor, and Miss Stanwyck a , wilful society girl. The boisterous ad- , ventures of a tempestuous movie star . and her Press agent are the keynote of the story of "Annabel Takes a Tour," ; the second feature. : PRINCE EDWARD THEATRE, WOBURN. R.K.O. Radio's film version of Arthur ; Kober's Broadway stage hit, "Having ' Wonderful Time," which is showing at the Prince Edward Theatre, brings Ginger Rogers and Douglas Fairbanks, jun., in a triumphant, co-starring drama with comedy. Jack Holt soars to brilliant new heights with his performance in "The Strange Case of Dr. Meade," the associate film. : . STATE THEATRE, PETONE. Hailed as another Capra triumph Columbia's screen version of the George S. Kaufman-Moss Hart Pulitzer Prize play, "You Can't Take It With You," is showijigat the State Theatre with a cast which includes. Jean Arthur, James Stewart/Lionel Barrymore, Edward Arnold, Mischa Aver, Ann Miller, and numerous others. ( GRAND- THEATRE, PETONE. i The presentation of a spectacular ; musical show with armies of beautiful girls who dance very effectively with or without handsome male partners on mirror-like floors is part of the byplay in "Premiere," which is showing at the Grand Theatre. The real theme of the film is the solution of a murder in a theatre. "North of Shanghai," the . associate film, brings the present ' Orient war into flaming life. PALACE THEATRE, PETONE. i "The Legend of Prague," the film ] banned by Hitler, heads the bill at : the Palace Theatre. "A Touch of the ■ Moon," an English comedy, is the ; associate film. : DE LUXE THEATRE, LOWER HUTT. What happens when an internal war among gang leaders involves the leadin« citizens of an entire community is shown in Paramount's new crime thriller, "King of Chinatown," featuring Akim Tamiroff and Anna May : Wong, which is showing at the. De Luxe Theatre. The associate attraction is "Reformatory," which unmasks the reform school horrors. The star roles are played by Jack Holt, Bobby Jordan (of "Dead End" fame),, and Charlotte Wynters.

CITY AND SUBURBAN THEATRES

KING'S THEATRE. I "Jesse James," that enthralling film oi! the old West, is . still attracting large audiences at the King's Theatre. Technicolour is a new departure as far as Westerns are concerned, but the experiment is proved to be successful lin the greatest degree. The film shows the justification that James had for his life of outlawry, in the unjscrupulous methods adopted by the I agents of a railroad company to obtain j j the necessary land. The James boys, Iwho lost their mother when a gang of 'railway- agents set fire to their home (during the course of a "business transj action," turned outlaw with the'idea of making the railroads unsafe for passenJgers to travel on. Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda take the parts of the James brothers, and the cast includes Nancy Kelly, Randolph Scott, and Slim Summerville. The..supports are excellent. PLAZA THEATRE. j Admirers of the Laurel and Hardy j comedy team have learned with re- > gret of its dissolution, but with Harry Langdon as Hardy's partner in "Elephants Never Forget," now at the Plaza Theatre, they should find some consolation. Langdon is quite different from the helpless individual that.Stan Laurel played, and Hardy, too, plays a role that calls for a little more straight acting than usual. The setting for tl*e film is a Mississippi town in the eighties. Hardy is the town's doctor and Langdon is a quack medicine pedlar whose performing elephant Zenobia is taken ill, requiring the doctor's services. True to the saying "elephants never forget" she becomes attached to her benefactor, following Hardy everywhere, with extremely hilarious results. STATE THEATRE. Hollywood, always on the alert for something strikingly different to captivate the imagination of the millions of screen followers throughout the world, has hit upon what appears to be one of the happiest entertainment ideas since the movies first began. This is 20th Century-Fox's musical comedy version of Alexandre Dumas's "The Three Musketeers," which heads the new bill at the State Theatre. The film stars Don Ameche as a singing, fighting, loving D'Artagnan, and the Ritz Brothers as musketeers more at home with a carving knife than a sword. Swordplay alternates with horseplay, royal romance, and secret intrigue vie for interest with the antics of balmy buffoons. At first thought, the average newspaper reader would guess that the life of a columnist is much less hectic and strenuous than that of a reporter. That is what Michael Whalen, chief reporter of the "Daily Chronicle," also thought when he won his promotion to write a daily column in 20th century-Fox's "Inside Story," the associate film. But events prove otherwise. TUDOR THEATRE. Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer are each engaged when they meet xn "Nearest Thing to Heaven," which has returned to Wellington to screen at the Tudor Theatre. They break these engagements, and, during the following six months, decide not to see each other and to endeavour to reform their ideas of life. But Fate takes a hand, playing the cards cruelly. With Lee Tracy, 11-yeaj.vpld.r .■■Virginia Weidler. and Peggy Shantfoiiiin th top roles, the story of "F;ix£rCDiigan," the associate film, desGiribgs; how a man who "fixes" any troiiblis. or complaints that rise in and about a circus-and a liontamer struggle-to raise an orphan girl in the atmosphere of the Big Top. RIVOLI THEATRE. In "Stablemates," which is showing at the Rivoli Theatre, Wallace Beery is seen in the role of a once brilliant veterinarian who changed to a race track hanger-on because he was framed into a murder charge. .Mickey Rooney, fresh from his triumph in "Boys' Town," plays the stable boy and jockey who befriends Beery in order to get the latter to operate on his injured horse. The two join forces and tour the country with the racehorse, which Rooney has been given in lieu of his salary. When a girl's in love with a millionaire and her family is imbued with an overbearing consciousness of the importance of the Great Middle Class, there's bound to be comedy galore, and that is what there is in "Rich Man, Poor Girl," which is the associate film. Featuring Robert Young, Lew Ayres, Ruth Hussey, Guy Kibbee, Rita Johnson, and Lana Turner, the production gets off to a hilarious beginning. "FUNZ-A-POPPIN.' " Last night's large audience in the Opera House, Wellington, was kept thoroughly happy by the bright, effortless entertainment provided by that all-American company "Funz-a-Pop-pin.' " Tonight's session will be the last of the Wellington season, the company leaving for Invercargill tomorrow. Scarcely a flaw was there to be found in the show as a revue; the dressing and dancing of the ballet were excellent, the individual acts of an unusually high standard, and the never-ending foolery of that popular comedian Bobby Morris kept the audience rippling. Two of the more outstanding turns were the gymnastics of the Carr Brothers and Salici's Parisian Puppets, which seem to be able to do anything. Harry Ross and Eddie Edwards were two more comedians who did not .have to labour to get the laughs. Funny but impressive is "The Peace Conference," with representatives of the Great Powers arguing about prospects. OUR THEATRE. The popular Mickey Rooney, with Maureen O'Sullivan, stars in "Hold' That Kiss," at Our Theatre. It is a delightfully-amusing comedy of two sweethearts who believe that each has money. Also showing is "Love On Toast," another bright comedy, starring a cast of gay newcomers. A high light is a male beauty contest. This splendid double bill is complete with a full range of entertaining short subjects. VOGUE THEATRE, BROOKLYN. Luise Rainer, Spencer Tracy, Charley Grapewin, and Janet Beecher are starred in "Big City," the main feature at the Vogue Theatre. "Devil's Saddle Legion," with Dick Foran, the singing cowboy, and Anne Nagel, is also showing. Special supports are a feature of this programme. REGAL THEATRE, KARORI. Already hailed as one of the most successful dramatic films of the year, "South Riding," the filmisation of Winifred Holtby's best-selling novei of that title is showing at the Regal Theatre. The main characters are superbly played by a distinguished cast headed by four popular stars, Ralph Richardson, Edna Best, Ann Todd, and Edmund Gwenn. The second attraction is the hilarious film, "Safety in Numbers," starring the popular Jones Family. EMPIRE THEATRE, ISLAND BAY. "Pygmalion," the screen version of Bernard Shaw's brilliant comedy, heads the bill at the Empire Theatre. Shaw's story tells of a Cockney flower girl, who becomes the subject of an experiment of a professor of phonetics—a role which provides r eslia Howard one of the greatest opportunities of his distinguished career to display his unchalr lenged histrionic genius. Wendy Hiller is the flower girl. "Pirates in the Sky," starring Kent Taylor and Rochelle Hudson, is the associate film.

TIVOLI THEATRE. Already hailed as one of the most successful dramatic films of the year "South Riding," the filmisation of Winifred Holtby's best-selling novel ) of that title heads the bill at the Tivoli i Theatre. The main characters are j superbly played by a distinguished cast headed by four popular stars, Ralph Richardson, Edna Best, Ann Todd, and Edmund Gwenn. The wellknown story revolves around the intrigue of shire politics which takes place as a result of a scheme for slum clearing in the County of South Riding. Clark Gable and Myrna Loy, as daredevils under fire, provide '• thrills, romance, and action-packed 1 drama in "Too Hot to Handle," the story of the daring feats of newsreel cameramen, which is the associate film. REX THEATRE. The screen's most intense and searching character actor, Peter Lorre, enacts the most telling portrayal of his career a- Professor Sturm in Twentieth Cen-: tury-Fox's compelling screen drama, ] "Nancy Steeie is Missing," which is | showing at the Rex Theatre. Victor McLaglen and Walter Connolly are also starred. Jeeves, P. G. Wodehouse's mad mumbling butler of fiction fame, makes his debut on the screen in "Thank You, Jeeves!" the second j feature, with droll Arthur Treacher j J playing Jeeves. j j JONES IN LOCAL MAT BOUT. j "Lofty" Blomfield, the New Zealand professional wrestling champion, is meeting with plenty of tough opposition this year and he will have another hard match at the Wellington Town Hall on Monday night when he will be opposed by Paul Jones, of Texas. Known as the "hook scissors king," Jones has made such a specialty of this hold that it is almost impossible to break it. and it has won many falls for him in the course of his career. Jones was an amateur champion in Nebraska, a State famous for its wrestlers, before he turned professional and made his home in Texas. He spent two years training with Clarence Eklund, one of the greatest masters of the sport, and this, added to the experience he has had over more than twelve years, has made him one of the most formidable matmen in the world, causing him to be l-anked consistently among the champions and near-champions. Jones has met every holder of the title in the past ten years and has beaten almost all of them in non-title bouts. He is 6ft lin in height and weighs 17 stone, with speed as well as strength. He is an excellent match in every way for the aggressive Blomfield. The preliminaries will commence at 8 o'clock.