PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 20634, 6 November 1930, Page 9

PICTURE THEATRES

REGENT A feature of tho Regent Theatre’s . *urrent programme' is a happy revuetto, which occupies the whole of the 1 first half of the bill. Humour, song, and dance are all pleasingly intermingled in the performance, which is presented by a clever cast of wellknown local artists. Van and Schenck, who have been seen previously in talkie featurottes, are starred in * They Learned About Women,* a bright comedy-drama, which heads the pictorial offerings. Bessie Love also has a prominent role in this film. The children’s matinee on Saturday ; will be well up to the standard ■ of previous entertainments, and will include ‘Let Her Go, Gallagher,’ starring Junior Coghlan, an ‘ Our Gang * comedy, and “Frolicking Fish,’ a new talkie cartoon. EMPIRE All the fun, romance, and daring /horsemanship, that are to bo found in the U.S. Cavalry are seen in ‘Troopers Three,’ a Tiffany all-talking picture pow at the Empire Theatre. , Res Lease, Roscoo Karns, Slim Sum- , merville, and Dorothy Gulliver head the cast of * Troopers Three,* which is ' an original story bv Arthcr Guy Em- ' pey, and supervised by him and Col. Roger S. Fitch, of the U.S. Cavalry. The story tells of three young , men - who thought they were entering a , training camp, but found they bad , enlisted in the cavalry for three years. What happened was a-plenty 1 There . . was a girl, of course—the daughter of ' a first sergeant Her dad was hardboiled, but she was soft-hearted. v PRINCESS .One of the many. novel .features of First National’s big spectacle, ‘ The Song of the Flame,’ now playing at the Princess Theatre, is the fact that war scenes of the Russian revolution Siar in technicolour. The colour wonderfully to the realism of the graphic scenes shown in ‘ Song of the Flame.’ Alexander Gray, Bernice Claire, Noah Beery j Alice Gentle, and other new and old favourites appear in the big cast. Literally thousands of gorgeously-uniformed or picturesquely- . costumed ; extras appear in the great mob scenes, and colours as well as outlines are accurately reproduced in big scenes of Moscow, Petrograd, and Russian village locales. The powerful dramatic plot and novel love story were ’ found in the operetta of the same title. OCTAGON '‘The Mississippi Gambler,’ at the Octagon . Theatre, has a story which is a graceful romance of the charming Southerners, and of how a professional gambler,' who plied his trade on the great fiver boats, played his greatest and last game of poker with a quick and clever girl.' It is drama of a pleaningly slender calibre, but with a very definite tenseness behind the smiling urbanity of the gamblers, an element of suspense which materially aids the romance and the appeal of the whole picture. And also behind the . drama there lurks more than a sushumour. . ‘ Pointed Heels,’ a second big attraction, features a powerful cast, headed by William' Powell. TEMPTATION.’ In one of the opening sequences 6f ‘Temptation,’ the:Columbia all-talking drama coming to the Octagon Theatre to-morrow, two girls meet on the stairway of .a .boarding house. It is 8.30 in the morning. One of the girls wears a simple dark suit, a white blouse, and an inconspicuous hat. The other girl is arrayed in a dance costume with a spangled bodice and a badly rumpled tulle skirt. To complete the picture, she wears on her head /a tissue paper cap and carries a balloon. It doesn’t take very much imagination to figure out just what types these outfits are covering. The neat dark outfit is typical of a thrifty, modest, intelligent working girl. The j-akish, dowdy dance costume, the dunce , cap, and the balloon immediately suggest a fly-by-night, who has been indulging in an all-night orgy. It develops, as the story of ‘Temptation’ proceeds, that these two girls are exactly what their clothes indicate. Lois Wilson and Lawrence Gray are co-featured in* this comedydrama of New York life. Others in the cast are Eileen Percy, Billy Bevaii, Robert T. Haines, Jack Richardson, and Gertrude Bennett. E. Mason Hopper directed. ROXY For thrilling mystery entertainment ‘ The Bishop Murder Case,’ which will bo finally shown at the Roxy Theatre this evening, could scarcely be beaten. Adapted from S. S. Van Bine’s novel, the story tells of a series of murders committed by a maniac, who leaves only one clue—a black chess bishop. Basil Rathbone, Leila Hyams, and Alec B. Francis are starred. BYRD PICTURE TO-MORROW Although their nearest neighbours were more than 2,300 miles away, the forty-two members of Rear-admiral Richard E. Byrd’s South Polar expedition* were in constant communication with the outside world by radio. Now each of the members can relive his adventure, called “ one of the most stupendous and daring feats of modern times,” oyer again in # the film record of the expedition, ‘With Byrd at the South Pole,’ booked for showing at the Rosy to-morrow; The film npt only , shows the living conditions of the men and the great scenic wonders of the Antarctic,, but it is a continuous feature drama. The humorous, human-interest incidents of the daring exploit are recorded in full detail. The plane flight over the pole, made by Rear-admiral Bvrd amditbree companions, is a living experience in picture. STRAND Fun aplenty is provided in ‘Oh, Yes,’ at the StraneTheatre. When two men fall in love with the same woman there i* sure to be,trouble; just as there is when .two women fall in love with the same imam. It is the former case in ‘Oh, Yes.’ The rivals are impersonated ' very .cleverly by Robert Armstrong and James Gleason, and the story in which they take a prominent part is woven around the life of the railway men of Aiheffca, and a thrilling train wreck is seen during, the course of the story. Patricia Caron and-Zasu Pitts are in the cast, with Paul Hurst and Frank Hagney in important roles. The droll humour of Zasu Pitts adds to tho entertainment value of the picture. ‘ OFFICER O’BRIEN.’ .Clyde Cooke, who plays the humorous Linio Lewis in * Officer O’Brien,’ which will be shown at the Strand Theatre to morrow, was born in Fort M'Quarrie, Australia, on December 16, 1891, He was_ the son of a marine and mining engineer, but showed a liking for the stage as a child, and made his first appearance in the theatre at tho ago of six as a dancer. This was in J. C. Williamson's pantomime show at the qtd Majestic Theatre'in Sydney. For five years Clyde was a comedian and dancer at the Alhambra Theatre in Lon-

don. Then ho danced in the Folios Bergero in Paris. Returning to Australia lor a brief appearance, ho went to New York, and for several Seasons was featured by Charles Dillingham at the New York Hippodrome, being one of tho outstanding entertainers in ‘ Happy Days.’ William Boyd has a star role, and others iii tho cast are Dorothy Sebastian, Ernest Torrence, Paul Hurst, Russell Gleason, Arthur Housman, Ralf Harolde, and Tom Mahoney. KING EDWARD ‘The Drake Case,’ opening at‘the King Edward Theatre to-night, is .heralded as a new and different murder trial court room picture, thrilling from start to finish. It is played by an allstar cast, including Gladys Brockwell, Forrest Stanley, Robert Frazer, James Crane, Doris Lloyd, Bill Thorne, Eddie Hearn, Tommy Dugan, Byron Douglas, Francis Ford, Henry Barrows, Amber Norman, and Barbara Leonard, and .was directed by Edward Laemmlc. Miss Brockwell has the role of the accused woman, with Stanley as the district attorney and Frazer as tho defence lawyer. An immense court room was built especially for the picture.