PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 20853, 24 July 1931, Page 5

PICTURE THEATRES

EMPIRE

V Filmgoers who remember Marie Dressler’s portrayal of a matchmaking grandmother in .Norma Shearer’s ‘ Let Us Be Gay ’ will welcome the opportunity of again seeing her in ‘Min and Bill,’ the talkie which started to-day at the Empire Theatre. She appears as a sharp-tongued proprietress of a waterfront establishment who beneath her almost uncouth exterior hides a genuine love for her fos-ter-daughter. Although Miss Dressier dominates the action throughout a delightful character sketch is contributed :by Wallace Beery of a gruff yet wholly likeable sea captain, who is a perennial lodger at “ Min’s.” ■ . 7 The episode in which he inserts a benny in an automatic scent machine . in order to make himself presentable to a newcomer at the lodging house is, ono of the most uproariously funny incidents in the whole film. ■ Perhaps the film’s greatest appeal lies in the fact that comedy is blended with moments of supreme tenderness jwhich reveal Miss Dressler’s. talent at its best. She conveys an impression of infinite pathos in one . scene, in which ehe reads aloud to the wholly practical Bill a letter of gratitude from her foster-daughter, whom she has sent to college to escape the sordid environ■jnent of the waterfront. ./ Writing of the picture in an English journal, a critical reviewer says: “ As the sharp-tongued proprietress of a wharfside establishment Miss Dressier 13 given an opportunity to run the whole gamut of her unique ability, from screamingly funny farce through all the Stages of her affection for her foster- . child to one moment of beautiful tenderness and the tigerish' protection of 1 the girl from her dissolute, drunken mother at the swift, tragic end. As ; to Wallace Beery, no‘ praise can he too high, for his sea captain, perennial lodger, indomitably faithful friend is a perfect performance of quiet humour and implicit power.’’ Selected supports are shown, and the bill is rounded .off by Mr Leslie V, Har- . voy’s organ interlude. Book at The • Bristol and at the theatre.

REGENT

' ‘Let’s Go Native,’ Paramount’s mad and merry melange of fun, frivolity, 1 and music, shown at the Regent The- , atre to-day, presents what is believed to be the most imposing aggregation of Hollywood’s younger comedy and music celebrities. - The’musical stage has ■•on- - tributed four of the featured players in ■ the cast of ‘ Lot’s Go Native.’ Jeanette • MacDonald, Jack Oakie, James - Hall, and- Sheets Gallagher all estab-lished-reputations in musical comedy productions before entering moving, pictures. • Hall was the first to leave the stage for. the screen. Oakie and ; Gallagher were next, arriving in Hollywood'shortly- before tho coming of the -‘talkies. .Hall..was.Clara Bow’s.leading : man •in two ..pictures..., Oakie and Gallagher. were engaged in-the silents, homing teamed for. work in .their first alltalking production, ‘ Close .Harmony.’ Miss MacDonald’s debut was in ‘ The ; Love Parade’ as Maurice Chevalier’s leading lady. Her next part was he romantic lead in Dennis King’s ‘ The

Vagabond King,’ and she was seen recently in ‘ Monte Carlo.’ In addition to this quartet of stage graduates < others in the cast of ‘ Let’s Go Native are Kay Francis, William Powell’s wife 'in ‘ Street of Chance ’; Eugene Palett.e. the blundering Sergeant Heath of tho S. Sr Van Din & murder mystery pictures - William Austin, the veteran English character, player of Dr Fu Manchu pictures; and David Nowell, the handsome youth who-plays a, supporting ' role. ‘ Let’s Go Native ’ has plot and action —it moves from a modiste’s salon in New York to the,streets*of the same ' ‘city, to a big coastwise steamer, to an island in the. tropics, to a private yacht. (There is a central love affair between Miss MacDonald and Hall; there is a secondary love affair between Oakie and Miss Francis; there is the menace supplied from several sources. Good supports are shown. Box plans are at The Bristol and at the theatre.

PRINCESS

- Tho popularity won by that fine delineator of Chinese characters, Warner Oland, in the ‘ Mysterious Dr Fu Manchu,’ (‘The Return of Dr Fu Manchu,’ ijnd other thrilling mystery plays, is in itself sufficient to . create ( special interest in his appearance at the Princess Theatre to-day, in his ■ latest, and it is claimed his greatest, picture, ‘ Charlie Chari Carnes On,’ in which Warner Oland portrays the part of Charlie Chan, Chinese detective, •an - astute son of tho Flowery Land who concentrates on three deep mysterious crimes, which have baffled Scotland Yard, and in tho end solves all of them, but not before hjs chase /after the guilty ones has taken him to. almost every country in the civilised world.

* The play is said to be one of terrific suspense, for the mysteries, as in all Earl Biggars’s stories, are adroitly con-' ' cealed right up to the end.- The tale ‘ opens in the Scotland Yard' hcad- - quarters in London, with the news ; of the murder of an elderly American millionaire- In Nice another of Ihe i “ round ihe world” party isf killed, and a little further on, in San Remo, a woman, Whom the inspector counted on to identify the criminal, is herself murdered. Baffled, Inspector Duff goes to America to investigate the antecedents of the various members of the party. At ,Honolulu, where Duff goes to intercept the group on their- last lap, and to visit Charho Chan, the inspector is shot down .and Chan “ car- ■ mes on,” and manages to trap the murderer' as the vessel is nearing port. ■ , Marguerite Churchill and John Garrick- sustain tho lovo interest, with iWarner Oland forsaking his customary “ heavy ” roles to play tho outstanding" title role, and a cast that includes many other film'favourites. Numerous - delightful featnrettes comprise tho first half of the bill. Reserve at Tho Bristol, Hall’s fruit shop, ■ or: at tho theatre.

OCTAGOH

4 French Leave, 1 which caino to the Octagon Theatre to-day, is the fourth British super-film which , British Dominion Films Ltd. have released, Captain Reginald Berkeley’s play, from which the film is adapted, is one of the most brilliant successes of the English stage. Its well-constructed plot; the humour -aid pathos underlying the story; each character is essentially true in conception; the scintillating dialogue are all factors that have made it an ideal subject for adaptation to the talking picture screen. Jack Raymond enthusiastically accepted the offer to direct, and British Dominions Films Ltd. resolved that this production should be one which would bring added distinction to the British film industry. Every facility was placed at Raymond's disposal. Complete freedom was allowed in the choice of scenarist, cast production assistants, cameramen, and the technical staff, rim east includes Madeleine Carroll, Sydney Howard, and Arthur Chesnoy, ami it may bo noted that the ‘French Leave ’ Unit, when it was in production, was .MM • assemblies of en-

thusiastio workers ever engaged in making a talking film. This famous comedy ran as a stago play for two years in London, and was a groat success when played in Now Zealand by a J. C. Williamson combination. There is a full and interesting supporting programme, which includes several entertaining films. Reservations can bo mado at Tho Bristol and also at tlio theatre.

STRAND

‘ The Groat Meadow,’ which opened at the Strand Theatre to-day, is easily ono of tho _ most convincing, thrilling, and romantic of outdoor pictures.. True love—and a truly hard course for it—and beauty of setting, whirlwind action, and life and death are most impressively blended. Eleanor .Bqardman achieves her most notable talkie performance in ‘ Tho Great Meadow,’ tho genuinely intercstting story and splendid supporting cast ' giving her undoubted histrionic genjus well-merited scope. Opposite her, John Mack Brown is equally at home; indeed, his Berk Jarvis will rank for a long time as' ono of tho most sincere lover roles the movies have given us. Gavin Gordon also turns in a line piece of work as the rejected suitor and tho second “husband” of Diony. Others in the cast arc well-known talkie players. In ‘ The Great Meadow ’ tho sound effects blend perfectly into the general excellence of the picture. For instance, while , the little band of colonists is journeying across bleak and dangerous country from Virginia to Kentucky, it descends a mighty gorge where a storm overtakes it. The coho of the thunder reverberating against tho canyon walls, seemingly, for miles is most'

awe-inspiring. 1 Excellent supports are screened Box plans are at The Bristol.

KING EDWARD

An attractive double-feature programme is now at tbo King Edward Theatre. ‘ Man to Man ’ is the story of a father who has been convicted of murder. His son is a student with a brilliant record, but an enemy of bis father makes his life unbearable, ana ho has to leave college. Ho obtains a position in a bank, where there is an enemy of both father and son. Thebe is a robbery, and the son “ confesses ” to save his father, whom ho thinks is responsible. How tho tauglo is eventually straightened out makes a very exciting story. The second picture, ‘The Sea Wolf, 1 features tbo popular Milton Sills. Tho ’story was written by Jack London, and is as cxpiting as one would expect from such an author. It is a tnlo of seafaring days in tho time of “ Bully ” Haves.