PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 21354, 7 March 1933, Page 5

PICTURE THEATRES

GRAND An extravagantly funny musical farce describes ‘ Lord Babs,’ tbe principal feature at the Grand Theatre. The film seems to have been specially devised to give Bobby Howes, in the title role, every opportunity of making himself appear ridiculous. It is wholehearted fun and nonsense from beginning to end, and the action throughout is breath-taking in its rapidity. The original was pure stage farce written by Keble Howard, and tjie introduction of some pleasing song numbers, such as ‘l’ll Make You Love Me and Like It,’ ‘ At the Top of the Stairs,’ and ‘ Babies on Parade,’ provides some tuneful interludes in the general uproar of burlesque and buffoonery. Much of the best of the farce is staged on'a big passenger liner, where “ Lord Babs ” is the most helpless of blundering stewards. A great deal of entertainment is extracted from the sudden change of attitude towards him on the part of passengers and officers when he receives advice that he has inherited an earldom and £20,000 a year. The comedian finds a wealth of opportunity of the less subtle type when he sees that he is about to be involved in an unwelcome marriage with the pork-pie magnate’s daughter, and the latter part of the picture is devoted to hilarious scenes in ,which the unfortunate young man adopts every ruse and subterfuge, even to the extent of suffering from “ mental regression,’’ and acting the part of a baby of twelve months, in a frantic endeavour to avoid the wedding. The part of Parker, the pork-pie profiteer, who will b'e content with nothing but an earl for a son-in-law, is very capably filled by Alfred Drayton, and Jean Colin, as Parker’s daughter, and Pat Paterson, the fatuous “ Lord Babs’s ” make charming musical comedy ladies, and their voices are a distinct asset to the musical side of the production. The other picture on the programme is ‘ White Face,’ a typical Edgar Wallace mystery, which is played by a competent cast of artists. Thrills follow one another with startling swiftness, and the plot takes several rapid and unexpected turns until the final surprising disclosure. As Police Inspector Mason, who relentlessly tracks clue after clue, Norman M'Kinnell gives a sincere and polished performance, while the tension is agreeably relieved from time to time by the Cockney humour of Hackett, the pickpocket, played by Gordon Barker, who has no reason to love the police, and whose thrusts when under crossexamination provide much amusement. EMPIRE One of the most anticipated productions of the new movie season is delighting large audiences at the Empire, with the co-starring appearance of Clark Gable and Jean Harlow in ‘ Red Rust.’ Gable, who still retains his title as the screen’s most popular male star, and Miss Harlow, of tlie sensational platinum tresses, first appeared together in the melodrama ‘ The Secret Six.’ In ‘Red Dust’ the locale is the picturesque region of Cochin China, with Gable playing a hardened plantation foreman who has forced himself to become completely brutalised in an effort to remain superior to his environment of deadly fever, tropical heat, and treacherous natives. To Miss Harlow falls the role of Vantine, bora to the tropics, perfectly at homo on the plantation and equal in strength and animal pugnacity to the men. It is when the beautiful wife of an engineer comes to the plantation and is involved in a love affair with Gable-that the jealous and fiery nature of this savagelike creature asserts itself 'and brings the action of the plot to a dramatically compromising situation. ‘ Red Dust ’ is notable for its perfect casting, Gable being perfectly fitted as the brutal rubber plantation overseer who is constantly engaged in vicious fights with his subordinates. The “ other woman ” of the dramatic triangle is played by Mary Astor. Gene Raymond is seen as Gable’s rival, and the remainder of the cast is, made up of Donald Crisp, Tully Marshall, Forrester Harvey, and Willie Fung. REGENT Certainly the most fascinatingly weird drama of strange situations and characters to be seen in Dunedin for a long time is Universal’s ‘ The Old Dark House, at the Regent. Based on the strange story by the celebrated English author, J. B. Priestley, this unusual picture, with its tense drama, is laid in the sinister setting of an ancient house in the lonely' Welsh mountains, where a group of travellers caught in a violent storm seek refuge for the night, only to discover that the inhabitants are tainted with insanity and ruled over by a gigantic, brutal servant, who, becoming inflamed by drink, menaces the entire group. The desperate situation is heightened when the evil brute, going mad himself with lust and ferocity, decides to loose upon the house the maniac brother kept in his charge in a locked room. As the storm increases, so does the evil brute’s ferocity, and a series of thrilling events occurs, which givas this picture an unequalled dramatic punch. ‘ The Old Dark House ’ features an exceptional cast of talented stage favourites, assembled especially by Director James Whale to lend authentic portrayals to the exciting picturisation of the celebrated J. R. Priestley novel of the same name. Boris Karloff, Charles Laughton, Melvyn Douglas, Lilian Bond, Ernest Thesiger, Eva Moore, Raymond Massey, and Gloria Stuart head the exceptional cast. ST. JAMES Grade Fields, remembered for her inimitable acting and singing in ‘ Sally In Our Alley,’ gives of her best in her second picture, ‘ Looking on the Bright Side.’ at the St. James. Gracie Fields lets herself go in another popular medley of song and sentiment which is certain to please her many admirers. This time, Gracie is a manicurist in love with a young hairdresser, whose secret passion is the composition of popular songs. He writes them and she sings them to Oscar Schultz, a Hebrew theatrical manager, so effectively that the young man’s fortune is quickly made. But as soon as he makes good he becomes swell-headed and abandons Gracie. So she turns policeman and patrols a sentiment beat until her thankless lover’s conceit proves his downfall. It is astonishing how much humour and sentiment, of her own special type, the irrepressible Gracie extracts from this enchanting story. She sings four songs in wonderful stylo, including her stage success, ‘ He’s Dead, hut He Won’t Lie Down,’ and docs some excellent character acting into the bargain. Two of the other numbers are ‘ Looking on the Bright Side ’ and ‘ You’re More Than All the World To Me.’ OCTAGON An excellent donbh-featnre programme is being screened at tbe Octagon Theatre this week. The princip.il picture is ‘ Week-end Marriage,’ in which George Brent and Loretta Younj? have the leading roles. The theme iff

the picture is domestic problems, and the producers have woven into a story, the essentials of which have become commonplace, variety and entertainment, which, with the excellent acting of the players, makes the film interesting from start to finish. On the same programme ‘ Woman of Experience ’ is also being screened. Helen Twelvetrees, whoso exceptional ability has taken her quickly to the front rank of screen players, has the leading role in a story of gaiety and intrigue in that city of romance, Vienna. The woman is a spy, and her life Is consecrated to her work, but love slips into her scheme of things, and she has a problem to face. STRAND For an hour’s laughter scrambled with some good thrills and wrapped up in a real plot, ‘ Caught Cheating,’ with Charlie Murray, George Sidney, and an excellent cast, at the Strand is recommended. Sidney is erroneously believed by a king of the underworld to be the man he has caught his wife cheating with. He defies the police to keep him from putting-Sidney on the spot within twenty-four hours. Sidney is all aquiver. and shies at every shadow, until Murray conies along and promises to give him his million dollars’ worth of business if Sidney will show him all the wild sights of the big town—in other words, accompany him to the artists’ masked ball with a couple of beautiful women. At the masked ball gangster No. 1 and his men are there masked as policemen. Sidney’s wife is there as “ Juliet,” keeping a tearful eye on her husband, who has suddenly become so changed to her. And the gangster’s cheating wife is there also as none other than the litle playmate for the evening of Sidney and Murray. The laughs and thrills come fast and furious 1 KING EDWARD Into ‘ The Crowd Roars,’ at the King Edward Theatre, are packed just about as many thrills of various kinds as the average picture-goer can stand. Shrieking cars in gruelling races, desperate drivers doing dare-devil deeds despite innumerable dangers—these things and many more are incorporated in this new vehicle for one of Hollywood’s latest surprise actors. James Cagney has arisen since the decline of Clark Gable, and in other countries, where bis three or four later pictures have been screened, he is a fast favourite with both sexes. The fact that he lias made a series of films in such quick succession indicates the nature of the demand upon his style of acting. Joan Blondell, the star of ‘ Gentleman for a Day,’ receives another big chance in this production. It is a picture featuring the fastest action seen on -the screen lor many months. It is a mile-a-minute drama, with autos plunging and thundering down the stretch, crashing through fences and over embankments, bursting into flames, while the crowd of spectators roars with a lust for action. ‘ The False Madonna ’ is in the same bill.