CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 4, 4 July 1940, Page 8

CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

ST. JAMES THEATRE. '"Come On George" will be shown finally tonight at the St. James Theatre. •■''•■'■ „ , ■ "The Invisible Man Returns,' starring' Vincent Price, commences tomorrow. MAJESTIC THEATRE. The Majestic Theatre will show "The Secret of Dr. Kildare" for the last time tonight. "Judge Hardy and, Son,"i starring Lewis $tone and Mickey Rodney, com-mences-tomorrow.- •...-"■ : PARAMOUNT THEATRE. "The Light That Failed" and "Oh, Johnny, How You Can Love" conclude tonight at the Paramount Theatre. • . "Follow the Fleet" and "Keep Smil-i ing" open-tomorrow* ; . REGENT THEATRE. All-of the finest elements of English comedy, are preserved in the film adaptation of. the. popular play "French Without Tears," now in its second week at the Regent Theatre. Indications are that the film will be extremely popular, and it certainly deserves to be.. Terrence Rattigan's pl.ay, from which the film has remarkably few : differences, was seen by every member of the Royal Family as well as by everyone who could get into the London theatre during the course of a long season. The film version loses nothing- by its transcription. The huge French.comedian Jim Gerald is cast to perfection as the professor and Ray Milland gives what is definitely his best performance to date as the rising young diplomatist and novelist who refuses to be vamped by'the play's most designing blonde (Ellen Drew)...; ..-..-..._ -... - > ' ASCOT THEATRE. Lew Ayres arid Lana Turner star in "These Glamour Girls," at the Ascot Theatre. It is a bright comedy-drama of a.bevy of college beauties crashing into New York society. The accompanying attraction is "Bad Lands, with Robert Bafratt and Douglas Walton; It is aL vivid drama of courage and action in the West. The supporting programme is excellent. NEW FRINCESS THEATRE. v "Rulers of the Sea" and "Four-Girls in- White" conclude tonight at the New Princess Theatre.- ■■ ■■; • ■ \ ' - " tjeralded. as,..D.eanna D.urbin'.s most colourful motion, picture, "It's a Date, ' which has' its1 background-in' Hawaii, will open tomorrow at the- Princess Theatre. The music, with Deanna singing lour numbers, is again outstanding. One'of the star's finest supporting casts shares, credit', for iher' latest triumph: Kay Francis, as Deanna's mother, a famous and glamorous actress, returns to high favour with an excellent performance arid Walter Pidgeon, as romantic interest for both Deanna and Kay, has perhaps the most successful role of his career. Double portions of mystery, action, and comedy are con-tained-in Universal's "Honeymoon Deferred," which is the associate feature. Edmund. Lowe and, Margaret. Lindsay are.starred. . REX THEATRE. ;/ ~ j "'No Parking" and "10th"Avenue Kid" will be shown finally tonight at the Rex Theatre. ;■ • . ; :\. • "Second Fiddle" and "China Clipperf' open tomorrow..': [ KING GEORGE THEATRE, LOWER ■■■ HUTT. -■■ . :' - ■' •' "Bluebeard's Eighth Wife," with Gary Cooper, Claudette Colbert, David Niven, and Edward Everett Horton, is now showing-at the King George Theatre. Also screening is a "March of Time," "Background for War," a startling, authentic story of the Mediterranean. • c DE LUXE THEATRE, LOWER HUTT. The. "Dead End" boys are starred in "Hell's Kitchen;" showing at the De Luxe Theatre." Stanley Fields*, Ronald Reagan, and Margaret Lindsay head the cast. "Oliver Quade," that popular fiction detective identified as "the human encyclopaedia," comes to the screen for the first time in "Death of a Champion," the associate film. PALACE THEATRE, PETONE. Hailed as another Capra triumph. Columbia's screen version of "You Can't Take It With You" is showing at the"Palace Theatre. Included in the cast are Jean Arthur, James Stewart, and Lionel Barrymore. The film deals with the ldvable Vanderhof family, which believes in doing whatever it wants whenever it wants to. The second feature, "Call of the Rockies," stars Charles Starett and Iris Meredith. GRAND THEATRE, PETONE. J A. E..W. Mason's name has recently come into prominence on the screen; on the heels of "Four Feathers" comes "At the Villa Rose," which is showing at the Grand Theatre. It is a murder mystery, but one written by a master of the craft. A warm, tropical romance, counter-pointed by the thrills and suspense of a gigantic man-hunt on land and in the air, is unfolded in "The Marines. Fly High," associate film. STATE THEATRE, PETONE. "Babes in Arms" concludes tonight at the State Theatre. "Come On, George," which opens tomorrow, is another George Formby success. The story concerns the troubles and cares of a stable hand who, in all innocence, makes friends with a particularly savage horse. He is encouraged in his delusion that the horse is as quiet as a lamb, but the real trouble starts when someone enlightens him. PRINCE EDWARD THEATRE, WOBURN. Even the most hardened horror fans are in for an evening of suspense at the Prince Edward Theatre, where Boris Karloff is currently starring in Columbia's "The Man They Could Not Hang." In the supporting thriller, "The Gorilla," the Ritz Brothers come to grips with a beast so ugly that it is described as "the thing snakes see when they get drunk."

CITY AND SUBURBAN THEATRES

KING'S THEATRE. The King's Theatre will show "Rebecca" for the last time tonight. "Vigil in the Night," starring Carole Lombard, Brian Aherne, and Anne Shirley, opens tomorrow. PLAZA THEATRE. Darryl F. Zanuck's production of "Drums Along the Mohawk" is showing at" the Plaza Theatre. Filmed in the latest technicolor, with Claudette Colbert and. Henry Fonda in the starring- roles, this 20th Century-Fox picture contains unsurpassed action. The story is based on the best-selling novel by Walter D. Edmonds of the stirring days of adventure and romance when America was young. The action is set in New York's peaceful, beautiful Mohawk Valley, and depicts the colonists under the onslaught of the savage Iroquois. Battle scenes in this film reach a pitch of realism and excitement seldom equalled on the screen. Supports include a New Zealand Government film on wartime economy, which was filmed in Wellington streets a few days ago. STATE THEATRE. An unusual and absorbing idea in mystery films makes the 20th CenturyFox drama "The Man Who Wouldn't Talk," which heads the new bill at the State Theatre, splendid entertainment. From the outset of the film, when a murder is committed, the audience and the police know at once who committed the crime; the mystery is the identity of the killer and his motive. Confessing to the slaying, the murderer, who calls himself Joe Monday, refuses to speak another word even in his own defence. The result is a highly exciting story well played by Lloyd Nolan, in the title role, Jean Rogers, Richard Clarke, Onslow Stevens, and Eric Blore. The Sherrington, metropolitan hotel for women is the scene, of vivid nights of drama in "Free, Blonde, and 21," the associate film. Lovely Lynn Bari is seen as a cultured girl who falls in love . with ■: a distinguished doctor in the person of Henry Wilcoxon, Mary Beth Hughes plays an alluring, selfcentred blonde, who finds the devo* tion of Wilcoxon's assistant, Robert Lowery, inadequate, because the busy life of ,an, impecunious young doptor leaves Him insufficient time and money tp satisfy her craving for fun and luxury. In her love of adventure, she takes up with a dubious young stranger, • played by Alan Baxter, and soon , finds herself, dangerously entangled in a murder mystery, in which she ' selfishly proceeds to involve Lowery,-Lynn Bari, and Wilcoxon as well. ■"■'.' DE LUXE THEATRE. "Charlie McCarthy, Detective" and "Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President" conclude tonight at the De Luxe Theatre; "Congo Maisie" and "Our Leading Citizen" commence- tomorrow. EMPIRE THEATRE, ISLAND BAY. "On the Night of the Fire," which is showing at the Empire Theatre, with Ralph Richardson and Diana Wynyard starred, is from the book by F. L. Greene. The story covers a murder committed at the zenith of a huge fire and deals with the reaction of the murderer after he is discovered and is fleeing from the police. The associate film, "Secret Enemy," is. concerned with: the ; espionage activities which were brought to such perfecition by both ;the Allies and Germany, during the Great War. V-^-' :•: ;. >r HOXY THEATRE. "Each Dawn I Die" and.. "Hitler — Beast of Berlin" conclude tonight at the Roxy Theatre. "They Made Me a Criminal," which, opens' tomorrow, is a tense and: exciting Warner Bros.' drama with a prizering background that co-stars John Garfield and the "Dead End" Kids. The romantic Argentine background of the new "Hopalong Cassidy" outdoo* drama, "Law of the Pampas," which is the associate film, is .enhanced by j four new songs with a strong Latin flavour. OPERA HOUSE. The gallant Geste brothers, the- principal characters of "Beau Geste," which opens a season at the Opera House tomorrow, are convincingly played by Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, and Robert Preston (as Beau, John, and Digby respectively). The supporting cast is headed by Brian Donlevy, as MarkofT, the savage, half-man sergeant, and J. Carrol Naish, as Rasinoff. "Beau Geste," which is based on the famous novel of the same name by P. C. Wren, shows how the Geste brothers join the French Foreign Legion so that none of them shall be thought guilty of stealing a valuable sapphire, the "Blue Water," from their guardian; it shows them standing together, fighting as one man against a brutal sergeant who believe that one of them possesses the gem; and it shows them involved in desperate battles with desert tribes, loyal to death, holding among themselves —and another—to the last the secret of who stole the sapphire. TUDOR THEATRE. With amazing timeliness, Columbia's "U-Boat 29," which is showing at the Tudor Theatre, brings to the screen a wartime story of the struggle between German and British agents. Just as the English Secret Service is today manoeuvring to foil the machinations of the German Gestapo, the film graphically depicts the actions of two loyal agents as they work to prevent the torpedoing of a whole squadron of the Royal Navy. Conrad Veidt, Valeric Hobson, and Sebastian Shaw are featured in this thrilling film. REGAL THEATRE, KARORI.

Edward Small's new romantic film drama, "King of the Turf," which is showing at the Regal Theatre, not only stars Adolphe Menjou but also introduces a young newcomer, Roger Daniel, whose great performance indicates that a new star has been born. Like the same studio's "Public Enemy," and "Black Legion," "Racket Busters," the associate film, starring Humphrey Bogart, is an absorbing, gripping tale fashioned around a topic taken from the front pages of the American newspapers.

TIVOLI THEATRE. "Daughters Courageous" and "Tropic Fury" conclude tonight at the Tivoli Theatre. A new personality aimed for a debut similar to that of her predecessor, Deanna Durbin, in' "Three- Smart Girls," Gloria Jean appears in the title role of "The Under-Pup," which opens tomorrow. The eleven-year-old singing actress shares starring honours with1 Robert Cummings and Nan Grey. Gloria plays the title role, that of •'Pip-Emma,"' a poor girl from the East Side of New York who wins a trip to an exclusive girls' camp. There her troubles begin. Faced with the animosity of tne wealthy girls, "PipEmma" nevertheless wins not only their friendship but their envy through her loveable personality. The title role, which Jean Hersholt portrays in "The Courageous Dr. Christian," the associate film, is a strong one that concerns the lives of every character in the story. It is typical of the part that a small-town doctor plays in his community. RIVOLI THEATRE. "The Courageous Dr. Christian" and "Double. Crime in the Maginot Line" conclude tonight at the Rivoli Theatre. Flora Robson, star of "Wuthering Heights" and "Fire Over England," heads the cast of "Poison Pen," which opens tomorrow. Her brilliant work is echoed in the supporting roles filled by Robert Newton, Belle Chrystall, Ann Todd, and Edward Chapman, in a picture of a kind not easily forgotten. Jack Holt soars to brilliant ii«:w heights with his performance in Columbia's "The Strange Case of Dr. Meade," which is the associate film. As a doctor fighting to bring modern medicine into a backwoods community,. Holt is seen as a modern gladiator. CAPITOL THEATRE, MIRAMAR. Mark Twain's beloved classic "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" will conclude tonight at the Capitol Theatre, as will the associate feature "One Hour to Live," featuring Charles Bickford and Doris Nolan. Tomorrow a new double-feature programme will be presented, in addition to a new serial presentation. "The Oregon Trail," of fif-j teen chapters. j