PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 21823, 12 September 1934, Page 2

PICTURE THEATRES

GRAND'S DOUBLE BILL Two splendid ■ full-length pictures, •whose contrasting themes are entirely dissimilar, comprise the new programme that was screened for the first tune at the Grand to-day. The first is Wild Gold,’ starring Claire Trevor and John Boles, who will delight with his refreshing portrayal of a devilish, young engineer in the ghost mining town, ■ who makes frequent trips to Reno to celebrate and get in his cups. On one .of these he meets thecharming Claire Trevor, who repulses him coldly. , This rebuff, however, only -stirs his • determination! to know the lady better,, and when she stalls in Red Rock with a disabled car he “fixes/’ the car so that she has to stick around for quite a spell. During that time romance blossoms and flowers, amid the hectic happenings of the reawakened ghost town. . Gold lures women as, well as men m this modern boom. That brings Harry Green, Ruth Gilette, and,their beautiful show girls into the revived town of Red Rock. And there you have-heart appeal in the lovely persons of Suzanne Kaaren, Wini Shaw, Blanca Visclier,' Elsie Larson, Gloria Roy, and Myra Bratton. Roger Imhof contributes a picturesque impersonation as the old prospector. Monroe Owsley is a suave villain as usual. _ Edward Gargan plays the bartender with a vitality that promises more from this actor in' the future. It’s a motley, horde, summoned anew by the siren • call of easy wealth as the result of the Government’s revaluation ; of gold; Men and women find romance, ■ adventure, and, a,few, treasure. Many of the extras who worked in the production were real prospectors working over the old veins in Kernville, Oalifornia. These and the authentic .settings lend verisimilitude to the picture. His wife wanted him to retire and play a little . - . but all play and no work makes Will a wild hoy. That, in ' brief, is the story of Will Rogers’s latest picture, ‘ Handy Andy,’ the • other attraction. Will is getting along comfortably in his drug store, when his wife, Peggy Wood, persuades him to sell out. First he takes up pigeon raising, but he has to stop that when his pets fly all over the house. Next he takes tip golf, with uproarious results..' Then his wife and daughter; Mary, Carlisle, persuade hint to attend the mardi gras in New Orleans. Will begs off from attending the Comus costume, ball. Wandering around alone, /he gets Acquainted'with a fellow drug- , gist and' Tiis dashing girl friend, Odnchita Montenegro. A _few cocktails ■ make him change his mind about the hall, and he attends with Conchita, '<■ choosing a Tarzan leopard-skin costume. 'A few more cocktails help persuade him .to do an hilarious adagio dance with Conchita —and the ball breaks up in a riot. . Of course, there’s more to the story than, that. Among other things Will serves as Cupid in his daughter’s romance with a young man his wife doesn’t approve of, while there is a climax that gives , a finish to a good : picture. EMPIRE ‘ Girl Without a Room,’ which is the Empire’s current attraction, is a gay : melarige of fun, hut the romance sup- ■ plied 'by Charles Farrell' and Marguerite Churchill is fresh, appealing, and i believable, although it occurs in the 1 midst of the giddy, jnad setting of the Montmartre: district of Paris. Charles Ruggles, Gregory Ratoff, Grace Bradley, arid a quartet of innusmg , Russians - set a mad comedy pace. The story is hilariously funny. Charles Farrell appears as an artist who paints what he feels and not what he sees, and gets into trouble by winning a contest with his painting hung upside down! The sparkling dialogue is by Frank Butler ■ and Claude Binyon, and the songs were written by Val Burton and Will Jason.As a young painter who wins a scholarship in a Paris art school and has a bank'roll as well, Farrell makes a welcome addition to the clan of amusing, gamorous people who call their crazy doings art. But in the midst of all this happy-go-lucky, hilarious life he finds true-love, and his romance with a most famous artist’s. model .furnishes the theme of the picture. There is an entertaining bill of shorter subjects. VT. JAMES For. mature and polished acting of.the type that will always appeal to theatregoers, the performance of May. Robson in ‘ You Can’t Buy .Everything,’ which is being screened at the St. Janies Theatre, has seldom been bettered in a film .of its. type. The story of the film is that of a woman who was jilted on the day that she was to he married, and who, out of spite, married another man. She also forms a resolve to do all she can to ruin the man who has wronged her. When she has a son a new interest comes into her life, but her resolve is . not shaken, and she proceeds, while carrying out her bitter campaign; to build up a fortune for her son. The plot takes many interesting turns before an excellent climax is reached. Tad Alexander, a New Zealander, gives an impressive performance, and Lewis Stone and William Bakewell are others who contribute to the success of the film. ’ • . STATE Richard, Dix plays the title role of the romantic melodrama, ‘ Stingaree,’ at the State. Irene Dunne plays the other principal role, and it is the first time these two players have been seen in the same picture since their success in ‘ Cimarron.’ The story deals with a great love between the bandit and an opera singer, which commences when he comes to rob the home where the girl occupies the position of a humble relative and servant. The bandit kidnaps

her and escapes to his mountain lair through a cordon of mounted police, who are sworn to kill him. By sacrificing his liberty he starts the singer bn her cherished road to fame. In return the singer tries to sacrifice her glory for the bandit, but he baulks her by carrying out a dramatic scheme .during which he goes as far as kidnapping the Go-vernor-General of Australia and masquerading in his official raiment. From this point the film quickly works up to a thrilling climax. Richard Dix gives a powerful performance, and Miss Dunne has her first opportunity to exploit thoroughly her beautiful voice. . REGENT ‘ Nana,’ the Regent’s current attraction, is ono of the most amazing records of a woman’s life ever presented on the silver sheet. Of course, there are parts of the book that were impossible for screening, hut Samuel Goldwyn has built his film story around the original story rather than actually on it. However, his greatest achievement of all appears to have been his selection of that alluring Russian actress, Anna Sten, for the title role in this great picture. Anna Sten, a curious mixture of moods and fancies, has the aloofness ot Garbo, the personality of Dietrich, and the charm df Mary Pickford. Anna Sten’s handling of the role of the girl who rpse from the gutter to be the toast of Paris is as fine a piece of . acting as one could imagine. In brief, Anna Sten actually Seems tP live the part which she enacts. The original ISana, whose real name/was Blanche D’Atigny. had little to commend her. She was thoroughly bad.- had a most extraordinary hoarse voice, and was celebrated for her particularly vulgar rendering of the at any time vulgar can-can. Anna Sten. fortunately, gives her audience a much more likeable and purer Nana, and one that wins a great deal of sympathy. » OCTAGON Outstanding appreciation wherever shown has greeted Jack Buchanan s latest musical production, ‘ That’s a Good Girl/ which is completing a season of two weeks at the Octagon. His delightful personality, his purity of English speech,, his versatility in singing, dancing, and acting have all combined to make Jack Buchanan one of the greatest favourites of the present day, and in ‘ That’s a Good. Girl ’ he is given every opportunity of displaying his ability. Supporting Buchanan are Elsie Randolph and Vera Pearce, both of whom will be remembered for their performances in ‘.Yes, Mr Brown. Thp story concerns a young man who in order to inherit money has to marry his pretty .cousin to some eligible bachelor. His choice falls on the lover of a temperamental opera star, and from then on complication-follows complication, in which endless humour is mingled with really clever work. The plot of the him develops no fewer than three roniances, arid all end happily with Jack Barrow halving an. aunt’s fortune with a lady detective. The supporting programme is an excellent one. STRAND James Cagney, the “ bad boy of the films,” is the hero of ‘Picture Snatcher,’ the Strand’s current picture, in which he has a thoroughly “ hardboiled ” role, albeit an entertaining one. ‘ Picture Snatcher ’ is based on a newspaper story by Danny Ahearn which treats of a little-known phase of the work on a “ yellow. ” tabloid of tho most sensational type. 1 Cagney, in tho title role, is tho “ go-getter ” who get? photographs of people and hews events by hook or crook, .regardless of ethics or common decency. Patricia Ellis, a seventeen-year-old Broadway ingenue, plays opposite the star. She was cast for the part after her notable work as tile ingenue in ‘ The King’s Vacation,’ starring George Arliss. Others in the cast include such notable players as Ralph Bellamy. Alice White, Raff Harolde. Robert Emmett O’Connor, and George Pat Collins. Cagney’s photography assignments for his paper result in many adventures of an exciting nature, one being the photographing of a condemned woman by illicit methods —a happening that actually - occurred in America a", few years ago. In Alice White he has a splendid foil for many humorous incidents.