PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 21821, 10 September 1934, Page 13

PICTURE THEATRES

EMPIRE The carefree atmosphere of Montmartre has been skilfully captured in ‘ Girl Without a Room, at the Empire Right from the opening scenes where the greenhorn from the Tennessee backwoods wins an arV scholarship'which enables him to visit Pans, to- the amusing conclusion, the film gives a delightful and roguish insight into the lives of the eccentric artist: folk who live in the Latin quarter. Almost all the story takes place in an apartment house, -the adjoining alley, and a Paris- cafe. Charlie Ruggles, with the "humorously recedingchin, gives' a splendid performance ns a peculiar: artist, , whose masterpiece is a whistle, the painting depicting not • the whistle, but the ■ blow. As Ray Loring, a rather dissipated creature ■who went to Paris to become a writer, Marguerite Churchill fills a difficult part very- well., Charles Farrell gives his usual:' good performance, the role of the Tennessee boy with the necessary naivette very cleverly. e becomes a convert to Ruggles s futuristic - art ’ school- and creates a composition entitled The Wheel of Life. The picture was judged upside, down at an exhibition and awarded first prize. The refusal of the indignant artist to accept the _ prize leads to a storm of public derision. The masterpiece is sold to a jig-saw i puzzle .syndicate, who arrange a further contract. The excellent supporting programme includes a Paramount Newsreel, an hilarious Harry Langdon comedy,, a superbly photographed Grantland Rice Sportlight, and a Popeyo, the sailor, cartoon, ‘ Wild Elephinks. RECENT Samuel Goldwyn knew what ho was ■ doing when ho decided, to. invest a lot o! money in making a Hollywood'star out of Anna, Sten, the Russian actress. . He should draw big dividends from ‘ Nana,’ her first American picture, at the Regent, for it is entertainment ot the popular pattern—solid, tial, and gilt-edged, and with direction and acting that compel admiration. More important than this immediate result, however, it will establish the star’s reputation and cause her next picture to be eagerly, awaited. There is no dispute that the story, or ‘ Nana ’ is a long way from the original which Emile Zola wrote. Zola painted the character and, career ot ms heroine in their true cojours, very sombre and drab; hut though the story of the film centres round a fundamentally immoral and unprincipled woman, this realisation does not come till atterward, so cleverly has Goldwyn substituted “ glamour” for sordid realism. He has done his best to ennoble, ms heroine, and though from an artistic point of view that may. be a subject - for criticism, it is certainly excusable from the viewpoint of the masses who want popular entertainment. Success .! justifies most things; and.it un- ; douhtedly justifies the liberties which Samuel Goldwyn has taken with Zola’s unpleasant history of the Eady of the Boulevards. Anna Sten s performance is a first-class display of personality, and a .foretaste of that real acting ability which should take her up to the dizziest heights of stardom in Hollywood. • She is surrounded by an excellent cast' of veteran players—notably Richard Bennett, Lionel Atwill, Phillips Holmes. Mae Clarke, and Muriel Kirkland. The'coloured Silly . ' Symphony ' ‘ Grasshopper and the ’Ants ’ also is showing. ST. JAMES May Robson, in the current release at the' St. James, ‘ You Can t Buy Everything/ creates a charactex* that becomes fascinating. At times she makes the personality of Hannah Bell, * widow of'an impecunious banker, heartily despised t for. her flint-hearted, nier’oenary instincts, then again she abso- : lately endears herself to the audience by her intensity of mother love and beauty of sentiment.. Hers is an emotional interpretation finer than which screen has seldom seen. , The story is that of a woman. who harbours a grudge that becomes an obsession ex her life against the man she thinks jilted her on the morning of their wedding. For spite she marries a man for whom she has no affection, and. she makes a desperate resolve to dedicate her life to ■ ruining the man she considers did her that irreparable wrong. She has a son, and she devotes all her ■ natural shrewdness, her fast-mounting wealth, ancFall the hate of her personality against her erstwhile fiance, while her amazing miserliness she bends to compiling a great fortune so that her son' will be the richest man. in America. Her avarice is shown in some very amusing episodes. As. her young son. who is taken to a. charity hospital with an injured leg, Tad Alexander gives an impressive performance. William Bakewell takes the role of the grown-up son, and he falls in love with the daughter of his mother’s former lover. The ageing mother’s attitude to this development is wonderfully portrayed. Lewis Stone gives a masterly interpretation ■ as the girl’s father. Mary Forbes is responsible for a most refined and dignified piece of acting us the friend of Hannah 8011, who in the end succeeds in winning her over to see how she has wronged her former lover. STATE The romantic story of an Australian bushranger and the' girl whom he set on the road to fame as an opera singer is told in * Stingaree ’ at the State. It is a picture with wide appeal, for the . events which it relates are sufficiently exciting to keep the audience in suspense throughout the screening, and sufficient'humour is introduced to bring the film to the borderline of comedy. Indeed, it contains most of the elements that go to make up bright as well .as absorbing entertainment. The story of a bushranger, even if he is of the unpleasant type to which some of the Australian outlaws of the early days belonged, may be expected to awaken something more than curiosity in the average audience, but when he is. of the handsome, dashing sort, as is Stingaree in this picture, sympathy and even admiration are more likely to be evoked. In the title role Richard Dix soon proves himself to be one of the Robin Hood type, and the audience is with him throughout his many nefarious adventures. The part of the prima donna is taken by Irene Dunne, who gives a charming, polished performance. She does not fall short of her difficult tasli of giving conviction to her portrayal, and her singing of the theme song, .. ‘To-night You’re Mine,’ evokes the warmest admiration. Mary Boland brings to the story a spirit of comedy that makes it impossible to dislike her in spite of the unpleasantness which she is called upon to introduce. There are several other important roles, one of which is filled by Conway Tearle, who, in a more attractive part than he is usually given, creates a favourable impression. Variety of settings as well UfS swift action makes the story pleas-

ing entertainment. The supporting programme contains items of special value. A Pathe review presents entertainment of a most iiQvel type, and the newsreel touches on subjects of general interest. There is also-a comedy. GRAND Charlie Chan, created by the lata novelist Earl; Derr Diggers, has become a tremendously popular fiction character, newer and inore. interesting in the public mind than ‘ either _ Sherlock Holmes or Philo Vance. He is a type always hitherto treated as a villain, now becomea hero, using his cunning to unravel mysteries instead of causing them. Chan, the great Chinese detective of the Honolulu police, has become a very real character to millions of readers. He has enjoyed a vogue second to no other hero of mystery stories, affording a colourful characterisation entirely different . from the usual run of story book detectives. The five pictures in which he has lived on the screen have made him a distinct favourite, with audiences. He not only has an uncanny gift of deduction, but he also expresses a charming sense. of humour in his quaint, philosophical wisecracks, which have all the flavour of modernised paraphrasing of the wise utterances of Confucius and the ancient Oriental philosophers. Now he appears again in ‘ Charlie Chan’s Courage,’ at the Grand. Warner Gland again essays Charlie Chan in this production, and he offers patrons another splendid performance and more adventures around the character for whose exploits they have formed a periodically stimulated appetite. A supporting film of more than ordinary educational interest, ‘ Krakatoa,’ deals with volcanic eruptions all over the world, many of the scenes being breath-taking in their vivid depiction of the ruination of whole cities, townships, and surrounding country. It is a film that is well worth the price of admission itself. . There are also several newsreels of special concern to sportsmen. ,They : show, in action the All Blacks,' the Australian and English cricket elevens in the third test at Manchester, and the Australian and English tennis champions, whilst one film is of the recent bonspiel at Oturehua. ISTABDH The merriest of musical comedies, with smart word play, bright songs, and some original burlesque dancing, contines to be a firm favourite in its second week at the Octagon Theatre, with Jack Buchanan and Elsie Randolph providing the bulk of the fun. Jack has run hopelessly into debt when he is left a fortune, provided he can satisfy an unknown aunt, whom he is to visit at once in the south of France, that he is a fit person. Jack selects his friend Francis (Garry Marsh), who is affianced to Sunya (Vera Pearce), an adippse prima donna who shivers inwardly with jealousy, to give Jack moral backing with the aunt. Trouble can bo sensed when Sunya, distrusting Francis, and “ Snoopy,” an attractive female detective who is attracted by Jack, set forth separately in pursuit. More trouble is prepared by the care-free boys on a hair-raising trip trough the Alps, where they pick up Moya (Dorothy Hyson), a ward of the wary aunt, who has broken an axle or two. “Snoopy” disguises herself as a Dutch telegram girl, and humour throngs her pursuit of Jack, who has given Sunya his word that Francis shall not look at another •woman. The aunt utrns out to be a lady with a 1 greater knowledge of the world than .appears from her austere exterior, and as Francis falls in love with Moya Jack has a busy time. Endless humour is mingled with really clever work. The supports include Croydon-Paris Airway, a fine view of Melbourne old and new, and newsreels featuring cricket, tennis, and Ascot. • # STRAND Many phases of journalism in America have attracted the attention of the moving picture world in the past, but that this field has not yet been exhausted is clearly shown by ‘ Picture Snatcher,’ at the Strand. In modern journalism a written description of a murder, a fire, a society wedding, a scandal, or a celebration is not enough; news must be illustrated. On the staff of sensational journals the pictures must be in keeping with the style of the report. Just what this means is fully indicated in this film, which gives an insight into tho mentality of the men who do this work. This film is thrilling, vivid entertainment. James Cagney’s virile personality is the pivot of the story. He is seen as a gangster who determines to abandon crime for newspaper photoraphy. His first assignment is to get pictures in the ruined home of a fireman who guards the secret of a domestic tragedy with a gun. Cagney gets his pictures, though not without a scruple. His next exploit is one based bn an actual happening of a few years ago. He introduces a camera into the- “death house” at Sing Sing Prison, and photographs an execution. The third task is even more nervewracking, as he is involved in the capture, after a machine gun duel, of a notorious “ killer.” A hard, brilliant humour and a slight romance are tho ingredients which agreeably lessen tho tension. Alice White and Ralph Bellamy share the honours of the film.