PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 22085, 19 July 1935, Page 11

PICTURE THEATRES

EMPIRE "Living on Velvet,’ a First National picture which is heralded as a powerful drama with a most > unusual romance, opened at the Empire this afternoon. It has an all-star cast, headed by Kay Francis, who has two leading men in Warren William and George Brent. The story tells of two men in love with the same girl, each of whom tries to give her up for the other man. Brent, portraying a dashing daredevil, whose mental attitude toward life has been warped by a terrific airplane accident in which his parents and his sister are all killed, and he escaped, considers himself the same as a “ dead ” man, and rushes from one mad escapade to another, trying but unable to forgot. He is always saved from the consequences of his rash acts by his friend, a part played by Warren William, who stands by him like the Rock of Gibraltar. When Brent falls in love with the woman his friend is hoping to marry, ho rushes away. But Kay Francis, who has the role, is also infatuated with the aviator, and sends the one friend she can always depend on, Warren William, to find tho irresponsible youth, and marries him in spite of the Opposition of her family. Follows a series of trying experiences at domesticity, for which tho man is utterly unfitted, and in which ho nearly wrecks the girl’s life. Then in a mad moment he smashes his own life in a thrilling situation, which is one of the most dynamic climaxes of any picture ever screened. There is an excellent list of supporting subjects.

ST. JAMES * Naughty Marietta.’ the world’s first “ adventure musical, opened at the St. James this afternoon. Marking an utterly new departure in screen entertainment. the new picture is a drama of the French settling of Louisiana with its Indian battles, the onslaughts of pirates, the importation of the Casquette Girls from France to be’ wedded to the settlers at the 44 Marriage Market,” and all the rest of the stirring drama of one of the world’s most romantic cities. This background serves as a tapestry before which one hears the immortal song hits of the original Herbert operetta: ‘ Oh, Sweet Mystery of Life,’ 4 I’m Falling in Love with Someone,’ 4 Tramp, Tramp, Tramp,’ 4 The Italian Street Song,’ the 4 Chansonette,’ and the rest of the gorgeous music of the' original stage success. Jeanette MacDonald, the Sonia of 4 The Merry Widow,’ plays the heroine, and Nelson Eddy, sensational young operatic baritone, hailed as the greatest discovery in romantic leading men in years, aside form his gorgeous voice, head the cast of this new production. More than a thousand people are heard and seen in the huge production. _ Sets covered 30 acres. An entire ship was equipped with sound apparatus, a chorus of a hundred and a symphony orchestra wore installed between decks, for the great embarkation number. 44 A mile of people”; some of the largest settings ever constructed, including a complete replica of the centre of the first settlement of New Orleans; great orchestras playing Victor Herbert’s unforgettable music; huge choruses; armies in action—these are among the huge details that went into the making of the most amazing dramatic feat of the screen, the filming of the first great adventure romance with music. The complete replica of old St. LouisV central district, with strange old buildings, convent, garden, market place, the levee on the Mississippi, the fort and its old cannon, was another huge undertaking. One of the most vivid battle sequences in years was filmed in a replica of the Everglades where Nelson Eddy’s troops rout the pirate horde led by Walter Long in the picture. The great Tuilleries Palace in Paris, the huge ballroom of the Governor of New Orleans, and other elaborate settings also figure. Gorgeous costumes—Miss MacDonald wears 20— add colour to the brilliant spectacle. Frank Morgan, Elsa Lanchester ([Mrs Charles Laughton), Akim Tamiroff, Joseph Cawtborne, Greta Meyer, Edward Brophy, Harold Huber, Cecilia Parker, Douglas Dumbrille, and other notable players are among those in this picture. In the supporting programme this week the management has screened an excellent list that includes a Laurel and Hardy comedy entitled 4 Busy bodies ’ and 4 Rainbow Canyon.’ a travel talk filmed in colour’.

REGENT Picture presentations by Eddie Cantor conform to a definite type. There are usually to be found in them an abundant supply of the inimitable Cantor brand of comedy, a collection of beautiful girls, lavish staging, and some tuneful melodies. In this particular field of entertainment the little dark, big-eyed comedian has established a reputation for himself second to none, and the fact that the number of his productions is strictly limited adds to the drawing-power of his pictures. ‘ Kid Millions,’ his 1935 effort, opened this afternoon at the Regent. In this Cantor is at his best, and the picture for all-round entertainment value would be difficult to surpass. There is, of course, the usual fantastic plot—if there were not the picture would lose much of its appeal. Cantor plays the part of a boy who achieves fame. He is the heir to treasure buried in Egypt, and with Egypt, as a setting it can be well imagined that full use is made of the possibilities the land of the Pharaohs opens up for him. As any audience would expect of him, he finds the treasure, and then flies back to New York, t where his generosity finds expression in the establishment of an ice-cream factory, and, like the answer to a small boy’s dream, the dispersing of its goods free to all. The finale is in tecbnicolour, and it is as lavish and as beautiful a piece of work as Samuel Goldwyn, famed for the magnificence of his screen presentations, has ever E reduced, Eddie Cantor is supported y Ann Sothern, Ethel Merman, Block and Sully, and the beautiful “ Goldwyn girls,” who provide an animated anti attractive background for many of the scenes. In an excellent supporting programme there is a another of Walt Disney’s popular Silly Symphonies, depicting in tecbnicolour the fabled story of the tortoise and the hare. This production won for Walt Disney the gold medal awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for i the best short picture of the year. GRAND When the irresistible force meets the immovable object in RKO-Radio’s ‘ Grand Old Girl,’ which heads the Grand’s current faro, the impact starts a romance, Mary Carlisle portrays the irresistible force and Fred. Mac Murray impersonates the immovable object in this May Robson film. She’s the pampered, spoiled lady of a small town high school. He’s the local ico cream truck driver, and the one boy in all Avondale who refuses to . be added to her list of victims. It’s a hot fight between her vanity and his pride until Laura Bayles gets into trouble. Laura Bayles, portrayed by May Robson, is

the elderly principal of Avondale high school. In trying to rid the town or a supposed malted milk shop where her students drink and gamble, she appears on the verge of ridding herself of a job. The emotion-charged situation builds to what is a heart-stirring climax. A seafaring maid’s adventures with her fiance on _ the tropical sens surrounding Now Guinea and the Fiji Islands form the actionful theme of’> ‘ lied Morning,’ the other feature. The adventuress is second mate on her father’s schooner, which a treacherous crew scuttles for the insurance money. She escapes in a leaking dinghy to a tribal village where her ingenuity saves her life from the natives. \Then she espies her lover captured by savages on a neighbouring island, and rescues him in a breath-taking venture. Hed Morning ’ features the winsome Stem Dunn of ' La Cucaracha ’ fame and llogis Toomoy in the leading roles. OCTAGON llelying almost solely on the ability of the four principal actors for its success, ‘ Lost Wo Forgot,’ which opened at the Octagon this afternoon, is a fine example of the dramatist’s art, and excellent entertainment. Without a great deul of action, with backgrounds .and no elements _ that could bo described as highly emotional, tlio story, nevertheless, holds the attention completely. Every character is excellently portrayed and blends into a harmonious whole. Stewart Romo plays his part in a restrained and dignified manner. George Carney, as the sorgeajit of the Seaforth Highlanders, , makes his first appearance on a Dunedin screen, in a first-rate part, lloddy Hughes, ns the Welsh miner, shares the honours as the third of the chief characters. Stewart Home, who plays the load as Captain Ilayner in ‘ Lest We Forgot,’ which is a Sound City production, was born in Newbury and educated at the Grammar _ School there. After working as a civil engineer he made his stage debut in the chorus of a musical comedy, and haying toured Great Britain and India with various companies, ultimately found himself in Australia. Here he took up sheep farming, but soon went back to the stage. Me made Ins film debut as long ago as 1913 in ‘ Justice, with the 'Hepworth Company, tor whom he played many outstanding leading roles for a number of years. Among these were ‘ Coming Through the Rye,’ ‘ Sweet Lavender, 1 rela wney of the Wells,’ and Annie Laurie.’ He then joined Broadwest, and appeared in a long and successful series of racing dramas. A tew years ago he went to America, and appeared in several films there. He is considered one of England’s leading delineators ot aristocratic and military roles. Dor the prologue of this picture, a corner of the extensive grounds was dug up and embellished with barbed wire entanglements, for the scene in whmh the four representatives of the British Isles make their pact to meet again in peace time. , With the mam body ot the story, which deals, of course, with that reunion, tho setting was a typical English manor house.

STRAND Joe E. Brown, the noted First National comedian, has never had a vehicle that fitted him more perfectly, or offered more abundant scope for his mirth-provoking talents, than You Said a Mouthful,’ which opened at the Strand this afternoon, with A Night at the Ritz. With an inborn timidity about watei Joe finds himself mistaken by the girl of '’ his dreams —at least, he starts dreaming about her as soon as ho meets her—for the champion swimmer of Canada, Joe Holt, who is_ the favourite in the forthcoming swimming race from Catalina to. the Californian mainland, a mere 27 miles away. Between his determination to be everything Alice thinks he is, and the relentless coaching of his piccaninny ward—a darky orphan—Joe somehow manages to get used to the water and learn the rudiments of swimming. Of course, Joe wins the race—who ever heard of Joe E. Brown failing to do anything he started out to do ? —but that s a mere detail. The race itself is only the hilarious, side-splitting _ climax to five reels or more of merriment. Night at the Ritz ’ is’ also a comedy, and features Patricia Ellis and William Gargan. ' STATE 4 Brewster’s Millions ’ is attracting full-house patronage to the State, where it commenced its second week to-day. Of course, most of the success of ‘ Brewster’s Millions ’ can be attributed to the versatile _ Jack Buchanan, the pleasant fellow with the long legs, who can dance, sing, and burlesque rather better than any other popular British screen celebrity. His charming personality dominates the whole film, and the influence of his bright ideas and clean humour can be traced in every person in the cast. The settings have been built up with no sparing of expenses, the music is brighter and more catchy than is generally expected in musical comedy, the ballet dancing is superbly conceived and executed, and the plot claims interest and excitement to the very end. Brewster is a penniless young man about town who finds himself suddenly in possession of half a million pounds through the death of a grandfather. Another huge legacy is promised on the condition that Brewster spends the half million within six months, without dissipation and without gving money away. This leads to innumerable hilarious situations which re excellently presented. There is a good supporting programme. MAYFAIR The screen version of that immortal stage play, 4 The Barrets of Wimpolo Street,’ will conclude a successful season at the Mayfair to-night. Three oi the best actors of to-day appear in the leading roles in the persons of Norma Shearer, Charles Laughton, and Fredric March. The supporting programme includes a Fitzpatrick travel picture filmed in colour and entitled ‘ Switzerland, the Beautiful. LAURIER They could dish it out and they had to take it! Paraphrasing the slang expression given wide currency recently this summarises the story of ‘ Sons o’ the Desert,’ the Laurel and Hard,' feature-length, which opened at tin Laurier, Port Chalmers, to-day. A> demonstrated hy the_ two hoys, tin “ dishing out ” practice consists of deceiving their wives, who in turn art’ responsible for the ardent members of the “ Sons of the Desert ” lodge “ tab ing it.” In order to attend a convcn tion of their organisation, Stan am" Ollie are forced to resort to subterfuge Skilfully, they devise a plot, and witl equal deftness win their wives’ belief in the canny plans. Ail goes well until their deception is discovered, and then the fun begins.l