PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 22541, 8 January 1937, Page 14

PICTURE THEATRES

EMPIRE Careful discrimination is evident in the choice of Robert Louis Stevenson’s tale, ‘The Suicide Club,’ for adaptation to the screen, and the film promises to be well received. It commenced at the Empire to-day. Stevenson’s faculty for telling a good story simply and well is nowhere better illustrated than in ‘ The Suicide Club.’ The plot of a prince courting danger in lesser-known haunts of London is an original one, and toward the' end it builds up a very real state of suspense. Wilh the crispness of Stevenson’s dialogue and his humorous touches also reproduced the film should undoubtedly make first-class entertainment. Added to these qualities is a thread of true romance and a full measure of action. Of the players, Robert Montgomery needs no introduction. He has appeared in modern and costume roles, in serious and lighter parts, and he has excelled in each performance. It was a discriminating casting director who chose him for the role of the hero, whose princely dignity and lack- of effusion disappear at the call of a mysterious woman. In the leading feminine part Rosalind Russell is equally convincing. Her lack of gestures and her excellent English should do much to recommend her. Frank Morgan’s part is frankly one for humorous treatment, and it suits him well. As the prince’s attendant, keeping an eye on his own safety and at the same time .harassed by the prince’s disregard of his own personal safety, he acquits himself well. Reginald Owen, Louis Hayward, and E. E. Clive are others whose performances are well above the average. , REGENT Entertainment of an exceptionally high standard is contained, it is said, in ‘ Fatal Lady/ a film that is full of surprises as the story develops, and reaches a spectacular and thrilling climax. It has commenced a local season at the Regent. Music is the vehicle on which the film depends for its success, hut the series of mysterious murders which happen with amazing rapidity lifts the picture out of the ordinary, and makes it one of exceptional interest and merit._ It is the story of the career of a gifted singer, who comes under suspicion for the violent deaths of those who are attracted to her. Drama and mystery are contained in the opening when an admirer is found dead in Texas with her photograph in his pocket. A wealthy Brazilian who proposes to her is stabbed in the hack while enacting a mock scene with her. Madly in love with the star, a young American follows her to Paris, but he is found dead in his oar under mysterious circumstances. Determined to unravel the mystery of the American’s death an elder brother endeavours to find the murderer by the desperate method of publicly wooing her himself. It is at this stage of the film that the excitement is at its height. The glorious voice of Mary Ellis, the former Metropolitan Opera prima donna, who plays the leading role brilliantly, is one of the strongest features of the film. She is heard in extracts from two original operas ‘ Isabella ’ and ‘ Bal Masque, and her rich and resonant voice captivates. Others in the cast are Walter Pidgeon, Norman Foster, Guy Bates Post, John Halliday, and Alan Mowbray. ST. JAMES Those who know their Zane Grey, and there must be few not conversant with his writings, rely on him for excitement and romance. Many of his stories have been transferred to tbe screen, but up till now he has not appeared in a role himself. He has chosen ‘ White Death,’ now showing at the St. James, in which to make his debut. This fact alone would lend distinction to the film, but it can rely on its own merits for public endorsement. It is a delightfully human romance, and limitless laughs are interwoven with the thrills of man’s fight against the monsters of the deep. The whole produption is enriched, and the entertainment value enhanced, by the majestic beauty of the backgrounds of the story. It was filmed on the Great Barrier Reef off the Queensland coast. Playing the ; leading role opposite Zane Grey is Alfred Frith, the famous Australian stage comedian, who succeeds in being indescribably funny. Others in the cast include Nola, Warren, a charming example of Australian womanhood, and John Weston, another Australian. Both of them are successful in their roles. The story concerns' » giant man-eating whit© shark which has struck terror into the hearts of the natives and has been responsible for many deaths. Zane Grey, who appears as “ himself,” is commissioned to catch the monster. All the fishing scenes teem with thrills, but a dramatic nightlong battle with the “ devil fish ” has seldom been equalled for excitement and realism. STATE Romance, intrigue, stirring drama, thrills, suspense, and comedy abound aplenty in ‘ Secret Agent,’ a stirring drama of the Secret Service in the electric atmosphere of war-time Europe, which began a season at the State to-day. It is a gripping adaptatoin of Somerset Maugham’s novel, ‘ Ashendon,’ and is the story of a secret service man who, under the assumed name of ‘‘Ashenden,” sets out to thwart a German spy during the Great War. Fluent staging swings the action from London to the Swiss Alps, thence to mid-Europe, .where suapenseful events

culminate in a realistic train smash, following bombing by British planes. A piquant romantic slant and deft comedy touches relieve the engrossing canvas of espionage. The tragic dement enters with the cold-blooded killing of a suspected spy, ultimately revealed to be innocent. The plan is to put “ paid ” to a German spy who is about to visit Palestine to buy Arab support with the Fatherland’s money. Firstly, Ashenden suspects a completely innocent man, who is sent to his doom. Later he discovers the true spy is an alleged _ American who has been paying attention to “ Mrs Ashenden.” The chase begins, culminating on the Constantinople express, with British planes causing a wreck with well-aimed bombs. The enemy agent is killed by the Mexican, and Ashenden and his “ wife ” set about a genuine marriage, for their association has resulted., in love. There are several dramatic highlights, the first of these being Ashenden’s discovery of a murdered spy in a picturesque Swiss church. The brilliant cast indudes Madeleine Carroll, Robert Young, Peter Lorre, famous Continental actor, and John Gielgud, one of the finest actors on the English stage and screen. GRAND The affection of a father for his two motherless sons and the heartbreak and sorrow, turmoil, and triumphs that this love brings the parent is the motivating background for ‘ Sins of Man,’ which is now screening at the Grand. Jean Hersholt is seen as the sexton and bellringer of the church in a small Tyrolean village. Karl, the elder son, is expected to follow in his father’s footsteps, but secretly harbours dreams of being an aviator. The other boy, Gabriel, has been a _ deaf-mute from birth. Karl breaks his father’s heart when he announces that he is going to America to study flying. Shortly afterwards the old man is joyoijsly surprised to find that Gabriel is beginning to hear. To be completely cured he must be taken to a noted surgeon in America. In the meantime Karl’s daring has won him a reputation in America, and the boy writes his father of his success. Hersholt forgives him and decides to visit him in America, and at the same time prepares the way for Gabriel’s impending operation. In America Karl and his father are happily reunited. But it is only for a short while, as Karl is soon afterwards killed in an aeroplane crash. In the meantime war has broken out in Europe, and Hersholt hears that his native village, has been demolished. How Hersholt and his younger son, Gabriel, arc brought face to face after 20 years, and how the old man recognises his boy, makes %one of the most touchingly human pictures ever produced in Hollywood. The associate picture is ‘ The Border Patrolman,’ starring George O’Brien. STRAND ‘The Case of the Velvet Claws,’’ First National’s latest murder mystery drama, has been booked by the Strand as the feature attraction on the programme which commenced to-day. Warren William is starred as the brilliant amateur detective, Perry Mason. The plot of ‘ The Case of the Velvet Claws ’ is baffling, and the suspense is maintained up to the moment of the climax. There are two possible motives for the murder—to cover a love scandal and to gain possession of the wealth. Percy Mason’s problem is to find which is the real cause of the crime. Eight persons are suspected, one of whom believes herself to be the killer. Circumstantial evidence points to the probability that Perry Mason himself did the deed. The hero is injected into the case by the pistol method—just as he is starting on his honeymoon —by the wife of the man who is marked for slaughter, and who has laid herself open to suspicion through a secret love affair. Winifred Shaw plays _ the wife suspected of the murder, while Claire Dodd is the bride. The other film on the double-feature programme is ‘ Roaming Lady,’ a thrilling adventure tale of the China Seas, in which Fay Wray and Ralph Bellamy are featured. The picture is based on a magazine story by Diana Bourbon and Bruce Manning. Miss Wray is seen as a blue-blood deb in love with Bellamy. In order to separate them, the girl’s father details the young pilot ijo a special assignment in China to protect the company’s oilfields against bandit raids. The girl follows Bellamy there, and soon involves them both in a series of hair-raising adventures. The battle scenes are particularly thrilling. Ferocious Chinese rebels and two daring air pilots wage a battle of arms and wits. The young men’s wits give them the decision, and Bellamy, in addition, wins the girl. But this is only a small portion of the thrills that are crammed into this gripping story. MAYFAIR A haunted castle that is transported ito America, complete with its ancestral ghost, provides the novel setting for the film, ‘The Ghost Goes West,’ which concludes this evening at the Mayfair. Robert Donat is starred in a dual role, and the sequences on arrival in America are both amusing and clever, forming the best type of romantic comedy. ‘ Guard That Girl ’ is also screening. , * ANYTHING GOES.' * Anything Goes,’ the main attraction on the new programme at the Mayfair to-morrow, is a musical comedy film starring Bing Crosby. The story presents Bing Crosby aboard an oceangoing 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 Enemey 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 mad house 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 ability. A well-known band supplies the atmospheric music, which is mostly of the red-hot rhythm type. Also deserving of mention is the male quartet, which is heard in the course of the story in songs of a humorous and nautical character. The second picture will be ‘ Ceiling Zero,’ a thrilling air drama with a glorious romance running through it. James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, and June Travis are the featured players. OCTAGON ' The characters and atmosphere of the late Edgar Wallace’s African stories are so vivid and real that it is at once obvious that he could not have drawn them after merely reading travel books. The reason for the suggestion of absolute authenticity in the stories—which gives them their thrilling quality—is not far to seek, for Wallace wrote them from his own observations when, as a young man, he was working in Central Africa. ‘ Sanders of the River,’ the Alexander Korda film which is now at the Octagon, is a perfect example of this touch of authenticity. It is, without doubt, one of the most thrilling and unusual films ever put on the screen. Wallace became a special correspondent for a newspaper, and was sent into the Congo area at the time of the trouble on the Belgian Congo rubber plantations. Here, according to his own words, he “absorbed the sights and sounds as blotting paper absorbs water.” And he put those sights and sounds into his Sanders stories, which were among the most thrilling he over wrote. ‘Sanders of the River ’ contains a remarkable collection of real life thrills. Zoltan Korda, the director, spent several months in Central Africa filming scenes the like of which have never been seen on the screen before. Leslie Banks plays Commissioner Sanders, Paul Robeson is Bosambo, the giant negro whom Sanders makes a king, and Nina Mae M'Kinney appears as Bosambo’a wife. GREEN ISLAND A motion pjeture with a college hackground is Fox Films’ ‘ Bachelor of Arts,’ which opens to-morrow at the Municipal, Green Island. Its author is John Erskine, Columbia University’s celebrated professor, who has countless books to his credit, including ‘ The Private Life of Helen of Troy,’ ‘ Galahad,’ ‘ Adam and Eve,’ and others. The players in featured roles are all of average college age, and include Anita Louise, Tom Brown, Arline Judge, Frank Albertson, Frank Melton, and others. In addition to all these “ earmarks ” of authenticity, ‘ Bachelor of Arts ’ is said to be a really honest story of college life—with the hokum out and the humour in. It is devoted to the thesis that all college life is not one long “ rah, rah, rah.” Blazing a path as a pioneer of a new-type action picture, George O’Brien’s new starring picture, ‘The Cowboy _ Millionaire,’ will he in support. Action ranges over 6,000 miles from London’s spires to Arizona’s deserts. Audiences are promised an engrossing lot of thrills. This Fox Film release has been acclaimed wherever seen.