PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 22366, 16 June 1936, Page 13

PICTURE THEATRES

EMPIRE Stars, romance, music, gaiety, laughter, and drama all -mingle in a new blend of screen entertainment in ‘ Escapade,’ a romance of Vienna, now at the Empire. It is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture, which stars William Powell and introduces Luise Rainer, Vienna stage star, to New Zealand audiences as his leading lady. Frank Morgan plays the jealous doctor, and blonde Virginia Bruce his flirtatious wife who gets Powell into a multiplicity of comical complicatinos. Alady Christians, European star, is his jealous sweetheart, and Reginald Owen plays the absent-minded musician lover. The story deals with a debonair and lionised artist, played by Powell, who falls in love, through complications over a painting of another man’s wife, with the demure companion of a countess. With a jealous doctor, a former sweetheart, and a flirtations wife on Ins hands, he tries to balance the whole structure while progressing on a rocky road of true love. Through flirtation he paints an unconventional picture of the doctor’s wife. _ Through mistake it goes to the publisher. He hunts a model to pass for the original as an alibi, falls in Jove with her, and a jealous former sweetheart interferes. ST. JAMES One of the smartest comedy romances of the year is ‘ The Bride Comes Home,’ starring Claudette Colbert ami Fred Mac Murray. In a day wlien it is difficult to get away from the patterned story, this tale of a modern hoy and girl who can’t spend five minutes together without fighting, yet who find they can’t stay away from each other, should provide a refreshing change. Miss Colbert is the daughter of _ a Chicago financier who had gone distressingly broke. Though reared in great luxury, the girl nevertheless has plenty of pluck and decides to go to work. Robert Young, a _ childhood sweetheart, lias just inherited three million dollars, but Claudette feels she would prefer getting a job to marrying him. She does go to work, as assistanteditor of the magazine Young publishes, where she is made assistant to the editor. Fred Mac Murray. Mac Murray is a hard-boiled, rough-spoken follow who resents Miss Colbert’s presence. They fight from the moment they meet. Botli the hoy and the girl seem to have been born with a liberal quantity of the Old Ned in them, and they find it exceedingly difficult to speak a civil word to each other until they happen to fall in love. STATE Who is the most popular star in films to-day? Thoughts might immediately drift towards Bergner, Garbo and others among the famous, but they must all bow to a child—ShirleyTemple. Shirley Temple enjoys as much popularity overseas as in her native America, and it is all due to her naturalness and charm of manner. In ‘The Littlest Rebel,’ which is now at the State, she has her first big dramatic role, and proves conclusively that she can handle any part with equal success. The story is set- in Virginia at the time of tire Civil War. Shirley is ever in the foreground, whether she be singing, dancing, in flight, or having scrapes with the “Yankees.” John .Boles is once again east in the role of the child’s father, while charming Karon Morley plays the mother. The casting of Shirley Temple, John Boles, and Karen Morley together was a happy choice, for none of them overacts. In the higher scenes they interpret their roles in the same manner as in the more dramatic sequences, with excellent results. The story is full of the romantic atmosphere of the southern States of America in a stirring period, and every detail of the settings is carefully thought out. REGENT ‘Anything Goes’ is the intriguing title of the current attraction at the Regent, and, judging by the reception accorded the film in Dunedin, it is a picture of more than ordinary merit. The original stage production of ‘ Anything Goes ’ was notable for three sensational musical numbers by Cole Porter, ‘ You’re the Top,’ ‘ I Get a Kick Out of You,’ and the title melody ‘ Anything Goes. The screen production is even more notable, for, in addition to these throe tunes, it includes a brand now Cole Porter number. ‘ There Always Be a Lady Fair.’ and four other new tunes by equally famous composers. The story presents Bing Crosby aboard an ocean-going liner with the borrowed passport of a prominent criminal in his pocket. He must elude the -ship’s officers, who take him to be Public Enemy No. 1, while searching for a beautiful stranger whom he believes to be in distress. Charles Haggles assists him in his various disguises, in order to keep out of the clutches of the law, and within speaking distance of his charmer, played by Ida Lupino. Tumbling out of his various disguises while he eludes the ship's officers, the whole ship becomes a madhouse of fun. The wrongful possession of the passport which he is carrying is responsible for many humorous interludes, and gives Crosby ample scope to display his acting and comedy abiltiy. STRAND An ambitious film, ‘ This Day and Age,’ which is the principal attraction on the programme at the Strand, is cleverly conceived and capably executed. ft provides a striking commentary on the maladministration of justice in the United States. Realism is one of the predominant features of the picture, and there are many thrilling moments, the audience being kept in suspense until the last stage in this drama of the sordid side of American life. Refreshingly dramatic is (he eventual triumph of the youth of the community, but ibis conclusion is only reached after many sacrifices on the part of a body of young students who have banded themselves together in an endeavour to bring a gang of bandits to justice. A feature of this picture is the remarkably line performance of Charles Bickford in the leading role, and there are several other well-known players in the cast, Judith Allen filling the only important feminine role. ‘ Green Eyes,’ an exciting mystery film, is shown in support, and a bright Walt Disney cartoon in colour completes the programme. OCTAGON Many entertainment celebrities maike numerous appearances in the new Paramount screen farce, ‘ Millions in the Air,’ which is now at the Octagon. Most of the action in this sprightly film takes place in a radio studio, a duplicate of Radio City’s largest broadcasting theatre, and the villain of the story is the gong which marks Hie success or failure of performers. The clanging of this sinister object, or its silence, knits

together a series of entertaining events, that otherwise would ho episodic, and servos as background for an appealing romance with Wendy- Barrie and John Howard as the principles. The second film is ‘ It’s a Great Life,) more’or less a propaganda production dealing with one of America’s methods of coping with the army of unemployed youth. Chic Sale. Paul Kelly, Joe Morrison, and Rosalind Keith have the leading roles. GRAND The droll comedian Edward Everett Horton is seen at his best in ‘ Your Uncle Dudley,’ a delightful comedy which is the principal attraction on the programme concluding at the Grand to-night. He is the centra! figure in the film, and his antics cause, as usual, prolonged roars of laughter. Horton is ideally cast as a typical American small town prominent personage, so wrapped up in civic worries that he lias no time left to attend to his personal affairs. In support is shown a thrilling drama of the railroad, ‘ Whispering Smith Speaks,’ which features George O’Brien in the principal role. MAYFAIR Laurel and Hardy in ‘ Bonnie Scotland ’ head the double-feature programme at the Mayfair. These two popular comedians more than fulfil expectations in an nnroarions farce of a most attractive kind. The second attraction is ‘ Living on Velvet.) in which the leading role is taken by Kay Irancis. ably supported by Warren William and George Brent.