PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 21219, 28 September 1932, Page 5

PICTURE THEATRES

REGENT Muck of the action of ‘ Life Goes On,’ the Paramount British picture at the Regent, takes place in the Grand Hotel in London. Despite the fact that the locale of the action is to a certain extent limited, the story is thrilling in its mystery, and the delicious humour with which it is sprinkled keeps audiences in good humour. in order to facilitate the taking ot certain scenes of the action it was thought advisable to construct the whole of the ground lioor of an hotel. The floor is complete in every respect, and with some 0,000 square feet in area comprises elevators, switchboard, and telephone booths, bars, decks, and other hotel furnishings. The whole forms the background for the thrilling episodes of the story, which contains an absorbing mystery. Hugh Wakefield, Elsie Randolph. "Betty Stockfiekl, and Wallace Geoffreys are flic principal players. No, it is not a drunken party or the tale of temptation of the man who looked on liquor until he could not tell the colour. It is just a mystery. It all happens one night in the Grand Hotel in London. To reveal the plot would spoil this new type of mystery that is solved in a surprising fysliion. And there is plenty of sparkling humour that will keep you laughing between thrills. Hugh Wakefield, as a traveller who finds himself and Elsie Randolph, a telephone girl, the centre of a series of mysterious happenings, provides plenty of excitement. EMPIRE “ 1 The Miracle Man ’ proved far more interesting to work on than the average picture because there is only one part in the entire production which may be called a straight role,” said Director Norman M'Leocl recently. He points out the diversity of characters as follows: —Sylvia Sidney plays a girl crook, hardened against life, cynical and scheming, who changes under the spell of the Miracle Man. Chester Morris is a two-fisted brutal leader of a gang of crooks, a scoffer at anything good in life until his regeneration. Irving Pichel is seen as an atheist who defies the power of God until his own son is cured by a miracle. John Wray, as the frog, is an obvious character actor with his body twisted into grotesque shapes. Robert Coogan is a pitiful little crippled boy. Ned Sparks appears as a pickpocket. Hobart Bosworth is the beloved, kindly, religious faith healer. Boris Karloff has another of his weird character roles as the half-caste menace. Virginia Bruce, as a frail invalid, and Lloyd Hughes, as the millionaire brother, both have character parts. Floriue M'Kinney, as the sweet, unsophisticated daughter of Frank Darien, the character hotel owner, lias the lone straight part. ‘ The Miracle Man,’ famous as an outstanding silent, and now refilmed as a major vocal production, is perhaps the Empire’s best attraction since ‘ The Man Who Played God.’ There are good supports, and Mr Paul Cullen at the organ is as popular as over. ST. JAMES • Those who remember Constance Bennett’s superb emotional acting in ‘ Common Clay ’ have been awaiting her reappearance in a similar role in 1 The Easiest Way,’ which is now at St. James Theatre. It is an essentially modern story of a young woman treated harshly by fate. There is an imposing array of supporting artists, including Robert Montgomery, one of the most likeable heroes in films; Clark Gable, whose rise to screen- fame has been astounding; Adolphe Menjou, who is steadily regaining his former popularity: Anita Page, of ‘Sidewalks of New York ’; and Marjorie Rambeau, the gifted actress of ‘ Min and Bill ’ and ‘ Hell Divers.’ The direction and production are of the high standard one has come to expect from Mctro-Goldwyn-M.ayer films. OCTAGON ‘ Wayward,’ the current attraction at the Octagon Theatre, co-featurers Nancy Carroll. Richard Arlcn, and Pauline Frederick, three cinema stars of notable achievement and popularity. It presents the theme of a persecuting mother-in-law, the part portraved by Pauline Frederick, who _ thinks her son’s wife (Nancy Carroll) is quite unworthy of the affection of “ her darling boy’ (Richard Arlen), and certainly quite beneath the social prominence and dignity of the BrownbestFrost families, the most aristocratic in Cloughbarrie. Of course, she would be fair to the girl—who was pretty—■ and try to make her worthy of her new position, but it was all a terrible mistake. ‘ Murder on the Second Floor,’ the other picture, tells a dramatic storv of strange happenings in a Bloomsbury boarding house, and has already been seen on the stage by thousands of delighted theatre-goers. On the screen it is enacted hv a cast of British players, including John Longdeu. Pat Patterson, and the celebrated Sydney Fairbrother. STRAND ‘Society Girl,’ a thoroughly entertaining picture from the Fox studios, is now at the Strand. James Dunn as a hopeful young middle-weight, Spencer Tracv as his alert manager, and Peggy Shannon as a thrill-seeking society girl all give impressive performances. The film is unusual in many respects. For one thing, its makers did not have Dunn follow the customary formula by making a whirlwind finish, in the last round against insuperable odds to win the championship. Instead, lie gets licked. The fault, of course, is Peggy’s, but when she grows penitent she finds Dunn is considerably incensed over the affair, and by no means in a forgiving mood. So the story speeds along to an exciting climax, and again refrains from formula in so doing. KING EDWARD Howard Hughes’s great spectacle, ‘Hell’s Angels.’ will commence to-night at the King Edward Theatre. In this picture one secs an aeroplane hinging at terrific speed and incredible deliberateness full into the side of a gigantic Zeppelin. As the huge dirigible falls in ghastly flames down to the ground, from which two frightened little men flee in terror, there comes over the spectator a feeling of despair and agony. There is a series of shots, projected upon a momentarily widened screen, of the Zeppelin, majestically riding its tragic way by night through cloud and clear, with all its engines whining a melancholy dirge. The final seen© is one prolonged orgy of battle, in which 100 aeroplanes collide, catch (ire, blow up, crash, crumple, and collapse.