PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 20591, 17 September 1930, Page 7

PICTURE THEATRES

REGENT The presentation at the Regent Theatre of ‘ The Return of %. Fu Man-, chu ’ has met with conspicuous success, crowded houses being tlVtr order nightly, it is a tensely absorbing melodrama, and ranks among the best pictures of its kind yet shown here. It would bo difficult to assemble together a cast capable of speaking with greater clarity or more admirable diction than the'one featured in this film. Warner Olaud, who plays the part ot Dr Fu, is a native of Sweden, but ho speaks his lines sin English and gives a wonderful charactorisatipn. Not much less convincing is the polished portrayal by the Australian actor, 0. P. Heggie (as Inspector Smith;, who has a ; fine speaking voice.v.Shayle. Gardner, a New Zealand actor, plays a prominent part, and the love interest is supplied by Neil Hamilton and Jean Arthur. , . . : ' The supporting programme is of uniform excellence, and, includes a ‘Mickey the Mouse,’Cartoon,V ‘ Spills and Thrills’ (a very interestin'; and, thrilling aquatic picture), .add the 4 Hearst Metrotone News.’ Air additional attraction in t.he evening,js the Regent Revuette, produced and directed by Mr'Alec Regan, and featuring all Dunedin artists in a lively halfhour’s entertainment of varied and delightful items. i EMPIRE The news of the foundering of the R.M.S Tahiti in mid-ocean some weeks •ago came as a shock to most people. Certainly a few photographs of the ship sinking have : been published and displayed, but- nothing at all lifelike has been seen. The Empire Theatre is this week screening a film depicting scenes on board the ill-fated Tahiti, the lowering of lifeboats, and, chiefly, the actual final plunge of the great transpacific ship. It is well worth seejug. They are together again—the world’s most famous comedy troupe. The or- ' iginal Cohens and folks ■ who made the whole world laugh in , the first 4 Cohens and Kellys ’ —here in the funniest film of the series. Can you imagine them all in kilts? Trying to ■ outsmart smart Scotsmen? Each trying to put it over on the other? It is the funniest Scotch story of them all —told in a screamingly hilarious picture that has moments of drama and pathos that will give you the finest en- • tertainment you nave enjoyed-for -some time. _ _■ - The cast includes the famous originators of the “ Cohens and Kellys ” George Sidney, Charles Murray, Vera ■ Gordon (Mrs Cohen), and Kate Price . (Mrs Kelly). An excellent programme of short , talkies and several pleasing orchestral ■ selections are also presented. OCTAGON (The. story of ‘-Murder on the Roof,’ which is now the chief picture at the Octagon Theatre, is centred about a fashionable night club in New York situated at the top of a skyscraper. At present it is the fashion for all. the • : elite of New York to hold social gatherings and other functions in these dubs, and in ‘ Murder on the Roof’ one is taken right into the heart of one of New York’s fashionable rendezvous. Beautiful women, beautiful clothes, and flashing jewellery combine to make the picture so realistic that one cannot hut feel that one is actually in the heart of gay New Y'ork. _ 4 The Dummy,’ the second attraction, is first of all a comedy, and the ruse by which the “deaf and dumb ” office boy gets his job in the detective’s office is an uproariously funny one. Mickey _ Bennett does some excellent pantomime as the deaf and dumb- rich boy trying to be kidnapped by the desperate gang. The discovery of the detective’s disguise, and the fight which ensues, is a great climax in a ’ picture filled with excitement. Ruth Chatterton and Raymond Hatton are starred. Good sound supports are screened. PRINCESS Out of that land of mystery, bounded on one side by the terrible heights of the Himalaya Mountains and on the other by the vast readies of the Mongolian plains, comes the story of 4 The Green Goddess,’ a Warner Brothers all-talking Vitaphono production, starring George Arliss, now in its last ) days at the Princess. It is a land from which few travellers return, a country where anything can and does happen, a part of the world so little known that thousands of square miles are yet uncharted on any map. Therefore, this story is not an impossible melodrama of tin's wild country. It is a little slice out of the weird and mysterious happenings of Northern India and Southern Tibet, where divinities far more strange than “ The Green Goddess ” are worshipped and offered human sacrifices. 4 PARIS ’ ON FRIDAY. Not since Sarah Bernhardt, in her heyday, was accustomed to set Paris by the ears has there arisen a star fit the magnitude of Irene Bordoni. Although not of the same metier as Bernhardt, Mile Bordoni has the same power of weaving a spell over her audiences, and patrons of the Princess Theatre from next Friday will have the opportunity of seeing this clever Frenchwoman in 4 Paris,’ the first talking picture she has made. Mile Bordoni belongs to the-musical comedy stagey but, like all Parisiennes, she , has the ability to turn on drama at a moment’s notice, thus it is that her picture, 4 Paris,’ has all the sprightly elements of a true French farce, as - well as the less frivolous material. Opposite, Mile Bordoni is Jack Buchanan, - who was invited by First National Vitaphone to go to Hollywood from London to play with the French actress an her initial venture on the screen. 4 Paris’ is staged on a scale of-won-derful magnificence. Most of the scenes are in technicolour, with some - splendid ballets and choruses. The dressing of the principals and supers is ; very elegant, and Mile Bordoni wears gowns that aro six months ahead of the prevailing fashions. There is a very Solid plot and story to ‘Paris,’ and not just a flimsy excuse for song and enthusiastic dancing. STRAND Thrills aro hallmarked all over the action of ‘Her Unborn Child,’ the sen- ; sational stage success which has at last reached the screen as an all-talking ; production' and is at present on view at the Strand Theatre, where the offer ing is attracting excellent patronage. ’ With a story based on a topic of world-wido interest, in unreeling, the action the author has not neglected to insert at the most opportune "time the necesesary “ punch ” to each big situation, thereby-lifting the action to a tremendous dramatic climax. ■The pungent dialogue, unconventional situations, delightful comedy interludes, and smashing dramatic power which electrified legitimate theatregoers have been carefully preserved in the talking picture version, produced by Windsor Picture Plays, Inc., and recorded by the Do Forest talkie system. The touchingly dramatic

story of a boy and a girl in love, forgetting everything else, presents one of the most unusual subjects yet selected for the talkie screen. The programme also includes several short talkie fcaturettes. v KING EOV/ARO TALKIES : _ Commencing- at 7.J0 to-niglib. the Kingiy Edward Theatre will present its first programme of talking and sound films to the public. The latest sound equipment has been installed, and the management proposes to screen the best available second-run films. The coming programmes certainly bear out the truth of this announcement, but the first bill is the one that 'concerns patrons id'the. meantime. The great all-talking wartime satire, ‘Splinters,’ which will head the first talkie programme, is not only a talking picture triumph, but it is'a tribute to human nature. ‘Splinters’ is the picturisation of the famous concert party which danced and sang its way into the hearts of the troops behind the lines. While the horrors of war have been used for a basis in hundreds of recent stories, ‘Splinters’ looks for the silver lining, finds it, and extols tho triumph of mirth over man’s inhumanity to man. The history of the “Bra- Sat Theatre ” behind the lines was filmed by a British director, with an all-Bri-tish cast, including many actors from the English stage, who formed the original personnel of tho wartime company. One of them is Nelson Keys, whose name for many years has been a household word on tho English stage ; another is-Hal Jones, an equally capable comedian; and a third is Peg. Stone, said to be the cleverest of all female impersonators. Much of tho wartime . humour has been discarded, leaving only those jokes whose tincture is evergreen. ROXY ‘The Virginian,* which heads tho current bill at the Poxy Theatre, is just the type of picture for which “alltalking” is most admirably suited. A classic of the pioneering days, this epic theme of red-blooded drama and beautiful romance is so stupendous, so vast in its great outdoors scope, that “ailtalking alone can do it full justice. Photographed in the open spaces of Western cattle country, the film presents to the eye and ear of the beholder every living detail of this thrilling «tory. Yon hear the bellowing of a thousand head of cattle, you he.ar tho shouts of the cowboys as they drive tho stampeding herd through the swiftlymoving current of a piver, you hear tho cowboys round the crackling campfire, chanting their, typical • ditties, yon hear tho dance hall in full blast. Gary Cooper, in his first full-dialogue role, is giving a .wonderful performance. .