PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 21292, 22 December 1932, Page 9

PICTURE THEATRES

JUNGLE THRILLER OPENS AT EMPIRE How would you like to see a hungry man-eating tiger battle to death with a twenty-five foot bone-crushing python? How would you like to see this same embattled tiger step into a pool to slake his thirst and come face to face with the jaws of a sixteen-foot crocodile just waiting for tiger meat? How would you like to see the meanest of jungle beasts —the wily black panther—tackle the jungle’s most ferocious man-eating tiger? How would you like to see what happens when the crocodile gets himself wrapped in the coils or a twenty-foot python ? How would you like to see a lone white man in the heart of the tropic jungle entrap this snake with his bare hands—and alive? These are some of the thrills in the Van Beuren Corporation’s feature film, ‘ Bring ’Em Back Alive,’ the authentic camera record of Frank Buck’s famous book of the same name, which was released at the Empire Theatre to-day. There is no love interest, no built-up drama, no sobbing sisters or he-man lovers in this release. But there is such excitement as no Hollywood brain-child could ever give. There is real heart action, for example, when the hunted tiger charges right into a native village and then into a camouflaged trap. There is the heart-stopping moment when Frank Buck jockeys the maneater into the home-made cage at the risk of his life. As for the other big mofaients, there are combats between age-old jungle enemies that pale into insignificance anything civilisation ever threw into a prize ring. A wide-shouldered, ruddy-faced, stocky man merely throws off the garments of the metropolis to trek six thousand miles by land and sea in search of a Royal Bengal tiger; his weapons, his two hard hands ; his props, a couple of native boys._ His cages are hand-made right down in the heart of the tiger country. No nails to hold the bars in place, no forged steel bars wedged in cement, but rough-hewn poles tied together with thongs made from the dried bark of native trees. A mounting stampede of intensely interesting action follows the inaugural of this quest as shown in ‘ Bring ’Em Back Alive.’ RECENT While local theatregoers have during the past two years seen a wide variety of films which have had as their settings the islands of the Pacific, never before have the native life, and customs been so accurately portrayed than in ‘ Bird of Paradise,’ at the Regent Theatre. All the glamour of the South Sea Islands has ' been captured. The story is replete in drama, and the film forms a notable step in the advancement of the screen. Dolores Del Rio and Joel M'Crea are the featured players. ST. JAMES British drama of the type provided in ‘ Frail Women ’ at the St. James proves conclusively that it has a much wider appeal than films of such type emanating from foreign studios. ‘ Frail Women’ is not only entertainment for entertainment’s sake; it points a moral, and one which all young people should heed. Edmund Gwenn, who made fame for himself ■ in Galsworthy’s ‘ Skin Game,’ again walks away with the honours in this film, though Mary Newcomb, a newcomer, is brilliant. Owen Nares also acts well. OCTAGON So many are the examples for and against the idea that the necessity of earning one’s living in supposedly inferior marts of trade has crippled creative genius that it is evidently a question applying to the individual. How it works out in one family where father and son are implicated is told in ‘ The Bargain,’ at the Octagon. Lewis Stone is starred. STRAND Decidedly unusual in theme, ‘ Sinners ill tlie Sun,’ at the Strand, is thoughtprovoking entertainment. Brilliant dialogue has not been relied upon to give the film its appeal, but a new note or two in backgrounds Jjas been struck. It is the story of a mannequin with lofty ideas and a motor mechanic. Chester Morris heads the cast. KING EDWARD Sharp satire characterises Will Rogers’s ‘ Business and Pleasure,’ at the King Edward. _ He_ plays the role of an American millionaire with a heart of gold, who takes a party of sneering snobs down a peg or two during a busi-ness-pleasure trip to Europe. The supports are interesting and entertaining.