CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 11, 14 January 1941, Page 12

CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

CITY AND SUBURBAN THEATRES

PLAZA THEATEE. An exciting romance rippling with gaiety and laughter, "The Lady in Question," starring Brian Aherne and Rita Hayworth, is showing at the Plaza. The centre of the story is a man who serves on a jury to try a girl charged with murder, and after her acquittal he takes her into his shop without revealing her identity to his wife and family. The inevitable happens, and the truth of the girl's situation leaks out, but in the process the principal figures go through a series of extraordinary and amusing experiences. Among the supports on the programme is a highly interesting newsreel showing phases of the Italian rout at Sidi Barrani. KING'S THEATRE. Daring, romantic, and bordering on the scandalous, "Lucky Partners" is screening for a further week at the King's Theatre. The stars, Ginger Rogers and Ronald Colman, team admirably in this simple yet delightfully humorous story. The immense scale of the British advance along the Libyan front is brought home to audiences by the news films which were rushed to New Zealand by Fox Movietone Pictures. The capture of Sidi Barrani —details, too. of the attack— and the taking of thousands of prisoners are ■ revealed in the war's best "short" to date. PARAMOUNT THEATRE. A clever comedy with a good sprinkling of thrills is "Law and Disorder," now showing at the Paramount Theatre, and featuring Barry K. Barnes, Alistair Sim, and Diana Churchill. "Law and Disorder" is a timely film, and deals with the days just before the war, when reservists were being called up and the whole country was being mobilised. Barnes is cast as a young lawyer who is also a bit of an amateur detective, and gets on the trail of a German plot ,to guide bombers to London targets by means of secret transmitters. The second feature is "Champion Chumps," a straight-out slapstick comedy featuring Joe E. Brown and Martha Raye. STATE THEATRE. "Frontier Town" and "The Long Shot" conclude tonight at the State Theatre. "The Bride Wore Crutches," an unusual and entertaining comedy starring Lynn Roberts, Ted North, Edgar Kennedy, and Robert Armstrong, opens tomorrow at the State. Action takes place principally against newspaper and gangster backgrounds with a stupid cub reporter trying to solve a holdup with the aid of his crime-chasing sweetheart, a pretty newspaper woman. Laughs are continuous and uproarious. The reporter chases gangsters but winds up capturing cops and getting thrown m gaol himself. "Hard Luck Dixon," the reporter, is played by Ted North. Every headline is a headache to the reporter and everything he does seems to go wrong. It is even his fault when the bride wears crutch.es, because he arranges that little upset too, in addition to his other bungling. "Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum," the associate film, is the seventh of the popular series in which Sidney Toler has appeared. REX THEATRE. "Storm Over Bengal," a thrilling story woven around the iife of a Bengal Lancer, with Colin Tapley (the New Zealand actor) in the cast, is showing at the Rex. The stars are Patric Knowles and Richard Cromwell. "23£ Hours Leave" is the second big feature and the latest newsreel is also showing. PRINCESS THEATRE. "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex" and "Everybody's Hobby" are being screened at the Princess Theatre. The former, a technicolor, by Warner Brothers, features Bette Davis and Errol Flynn. "Everybody's Hobby" tells of a typical American family, five busy pairs of hands all at work at their hobbies. When father strikes trouble it is his hobby and that of his son that opens the way to freedom and makes them heroes. ROXY THEATRE. "The Ghost Breakers," a Paramount mystery film with Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, and Richard Carlson in the leading roles, is showing at the Roxy Theatre. Also being screened is Paramount's production "Hidden Gold," featuring William Boyd. VOGUE, BROOKLYN. "Young Tom Edison," starring Mickey Rooney, is showing at the Vogue. Playing the great inventor as a youth, Mickey presents a clever portrayal, a human characterisation. "Nick Carter, Master Detective," starring Walter Pidgeon and Rita Johnson, is the supporting feature. Selected supports complete the programme. PRINCE EDWARD THEATRE, WOBURN. "Susannah of the Mounties," which is showing at the Prince Edward, stars Shirley Temple in an amazing dramatic role as the sole survivor of an Indian massacre who is adopted by a Mountie post. "Sued for Libel," a newspaper murder mystery drama, is the second feature. EMPIRE THEATRE, ISLAND BAY. Dramatic true-life story of Father Edward J. Flanagan and his fight to establish a home for underprivileged boys, "Boys Town," starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney, is showing at the Empire Theatre. "The Man Who Wouldn't Talk," the second feature, is an unusual, powerful drama that holds one spellbound from the moment the strange central character comes on th§. screen until the final dramatic denouement. REGAL THEATRE, KARORI. "Four Wives," the "by request" sequel to last year's best-loved hit, "Four Daughters," is showing at the Regal. The original cast of "Four Daughters" is back again—Priscilla, Rosemary, and Lola Lane, Gale Page, Jeffrey Lynn, Claude Rains, May Robson, and all the others. "Lightning Conductor," starring Gordon Harker and John Lodge, is a^so showing. PALACE THEATRE, PETONE. "Dr. Christian Meets the Women" and "Military Academy" conclude at . the Palace Theatre tonight. \ Gracie Fields, in the greatest roman- . tic comedy role of her career, "Keep Smiling," will be seen tomorrow. The 1 second feature stars Peter Lorre in "Mr. Moto's Last Warning." GRAND THEATRE, PETONE. "Swiss Family Robinson" and "Viva Cisco Kid" conclude at the Grand Theatre tonight. Good, fast action, culminating in a thrilling race between two stage- ; coaches, characterises the latest ad- : venture of the famous cinema cowboy. • "Hopalong" Cassidy, called "Stagecoach War," the attraction tomorrow. Martha > Raye and Charlie Ruggles are co--1 starred in Paramount's comedy, "The [ Farmer's Daughter," the second feature. [ ~ - : STATE THEATRE, PETONE. ] "I Love You Again" concludes to--1 night at the State Theatre. Nick Carter, in the person of Walter ! Pidgeon, again plunges into lurid ad- • venture in "Phantom Raiders," second " of the series built about the famous i detective of fiction, which opens tomorrow.

i REGENT THEATRE. One of the best topical dramas ever produced by English studios, "Convoy" is showing at the Regent. Authentic scenes of life on board a British battle-cruiser, actually filmed at sea under wartime conditions, vividly portray the magnificent work of the Navy at the present time, while scenes among typical British sailors provide light relief. Cliye Brook commands the battle-cruiser, John Clements is his subordinate officer, and Judy Campbell provides the romantic side. ST. JAMES THEATRE. A human and. compelling story, combined with all the thrills of the turf, is brought to the screen with the film "Sporting Blood" at the St. James Theatre. The story tells of the trials and tribulations that come to a trainer before he can reasonably anticipate reaching the top of his profession, while a spectacular fire, in which several horses are lost, results in further substantial loss. Robert Young, Maureen O'Sullivan, Lewis Stone, and William Gargan play the leading roles. The supports . are headed by a newsreel showing the , taking of the Italian stronghold of Sidi Barrani. OPERA HOUSE. "Spring Parade," in which Deanna Durbin appears as a village girl, is showing at the Opera House. It is a story which gives the gifted singer and artist many opportunities. A fortune teller gives her the idea of seeking fame in the city, and the country maid never looks back in her career. The gradual metamorphosis is perfect, and there is a delightful love interest when she meets Robert Cummings. The settings of the story are essentially romantic. DE LUXE THEATRE. The graft seemingly always present in United States municipal politics can sometimes form the theme for an entertaining film, and one of these is "Down Went McGinty," the attraction at the De Luxe Theatre. With a sound cast headed by Brian Donlevy and Akhn Tamiroff, supported by Muriel Angelus and Steffi Duna, it tells of a down-and-out who becomes a gangstersupported mayor of a large city, and then a State Governor, with a readymade, family to create the illusion of a benevolent politician. "Constantinople Express," the other feature, is an exciting story of espionage^ in postMunich and pre-war Europe. RIVOLI THEATRE. "An Englishman's Home," starring Edmund Gwenn and Mary Maguire, heads the bill at the Rivoli. A typical Englishman, convinced that war preparations are a waste of money, unwittingly harbours a member of Germany's Fifth Column . . . then the spy is unmasked when his home becomes the control centre directing parachute troops over London. Joe E. Brown, wide-mouthed comedian .whose antics have enlivened the screen for years, returns in "Beware Spooks!" the associate film, with Mary Carlisle featured. The comedy star is seen as a policeman whose antics make him the underworld's best, if most unwilling, friend.. • TIVOLI THEATRE. A legally dead wife who returns home 'on the night of her husband's honeymoon with his second wife lays the foundation for the hilarious situations in the new Irene Dunne and Cary Grant starring film, "My Favourite Wife," showing at the Tivoli. Authentic revelations gathered by J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in his years of crime-detection works, serve as the basis for the exposure of parole corruption in the Paramount picture, "Parole Fixer," the associate film. CAPITOL THEATRE, MIRAMAR. An all but forgotten incident in American history, which contains more drama, colour, and exciting action than one would- at first imagine, is picturised in "The First Rebel." showing at the Capitol. Claire Trevor and John Wayne are starred. Also showingis "The Biscuit Eater," a story of two boys and their no-account dog. SEASIDE THEATRE, LYALL BAY. Sonja Henie and Ray Milland axe featured in "Everything Happens at Night," which is showing at the Seaside Theatre. The associate feature is "Rhythm of the Saddle," starring Gene Autry. TUDOR THEATRE. The Tudor Theatre is presenting the Shirley . Temple 20th Century-Fox technicolour film "The Blue Bird," in which a brilliant band of players brings vividly before the eye a fine portrayal of Maeterlinck's famous masterpiece. The cast includes, besides Shirley in the role of Mytyl, Spring Byington. Nigel Bruce. Gale Sonderland, and Eddie Collins. "Viva Cisco Kid," starring Cesar Romero, is also showing. MAJESTIC THEATRE. "New Moon" concludes tonight at the Majestic Theatre. "Night Train to Munich," starring Margaret Lockwood and Rex Harrison, opens tomorrow. ASCOT THEATRE. Beautiful Linda Darnell stars with John Payne in "Stardust" at the Ascot Theatre. It is an exciting romance of a glamour girl's rise to fame in Hollywood. The Jones Family also appear in "On Their Own," another of the popular seiies. The supporting items are excellent.