PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 22618, 9 April 1937, Page 13

PICTURE THEATRES

REGENT Tho technicolour version of the Robert Hichens novel ‘ The Garden of Allah,’ which to-day commenced a season at the Regent, is by far the most beautiful of the colour pictures. Some of the scenes are almost breathtakingly lovely, but tho film does not rely on beauty alone for its attraction. . The story is adapted from an established “ best seller, and tho capable cast is Leaded by Marlene Dietrich and Charles Boyer. As may be remembered, it is about a Trappist monk who breaks Lis solemn vows to the church and runs away from his monastery in Northern Africa. In a nearby town at the edge of tho Sahara Desert, the legendary Garden of Allah, he meets and later marries a young woman who is seeking an ethereal happiness. Tho man is continually haunted by his broken vows, and this secret gradually becomes a definite barrier between them. Marlene Dietrich is indeed beautiful in the film, her reddish-gold hair and blue eyes making her an admirable subject for tho colour camera. Charles Boyer’s performance is a triumph for the French actor. The supporting cast is headed by Basil Rathbone, C. Aubrey Smith, Joseph Schildkraut. and John Carradme. A pictorial highlight of the picture is the dance sequence of Tilly Losoh. ‘ The Garden of Allah ’ shows how close is tho timo when all pictures will be mad© in colour, hut it is by no means merely an experimental film. The supporting programme includes No 8 of tho ‘ March of Time ’ senes and the latest Walt Disney cartoon, ‘Mickey’s Alpine Climbers.’ EMPIRE ‘ A pageant of beauty, in which hundreds of the famous “ Folly ” girls dance through the floodlight in endless ■variety of scenic .and musical settings,gives the background for ‘ The Great Zienfold,’ the latest attraction at the Empire. The' story of the man Ziegfeld and his Tis© to tho peak or showmanship is worked into, the glittering background. William Powell plays principal part to perfection, tbat_ of the generous personality whose object in life is to create, things beautiful. His genius is for harmony, and he achieves his ambitions by blending tho colour and music and the human drama of ‘ Rio Rita,’ ‘ Tho Showboat, and ‘ Whoopee.’. In the present attraction the motion picture takes up the torch where Ziegfeld laid it down, and produces an extravaganza with elements of all these former triumphs. The human story has all the movement, the tenderness, and tho real pathos of the 'life of these ■ floodlight artists. Ziegfeld loves all beautiful women, and all lovo him. Then comes Anna Held, the French star-of his first great show, and, as hjs wife, she sways between the heights of happiness and the extreme of disappointment. _, Her tragic role is taken by Luise Rainer, and the charm she gives the character, and her delightful songs, leave a lasting impression. Myrna Loy comes in as Billy Burke, Ziegfekl’s second wife, whose love and understanding of his charming, extravagant nature are with ,him through all his triumphs and disappointments. Together they reach, the peak of their art. Ziegfeld makes money only to lose it, and in the end dies penniless. His life_ is, nevertheless, • a triumph, for his genius had found expression in the greatest combinations of love and music. STATE It was inevitable that Jeeves, the most popular character in present-day humorous literature, should find his way to the films. Although it_ was bound to come, Wodehouse enthusiasts, who run into many millions, might quite reasonably have feared that P. G. Wodehouse’s delightful characterisation could never be successfully portrayed by any actor. Such fears are groundless, ns ‘Thank You. Jeeves!’ which opened a season at tho State to-day. convincingly shows. In Arthur Treacher the screen lias found the perfect Jeeves. Treacher is, of course, the star attraction, but the part of Bertie Wooster is also well taken. David Niven is as inept and muddle-headed as Wodehouse intended him to he, and Virginia Field is a charming lady in distress. The picture catches the Wodehouse spirit to perfection, and the sparkling dialogue loses nothing in the speaking. The settings are well done, including authentic reproductions of an ancient English manor house. -The facile Wodehouse pen has produced some screamingly funny situations for this story, and the cast makes the best of them. One of the most amusing is when the girl has rounded up a bunch of crooks at revolver point. Bertie Wooster has been told that the crooks are Scotland Yard men—which they most definitely are not. In his usual muddling manner he strolls into the scene in the moment of the girl’s triumph and relieves her of her gun. ST. JAMES Teeming with flesh-and-hlood characters from all walks of life swept up from city streets into a cauldron of dramatic circumstances—this is ‘ Sworn Enemy,’ a story of metropolitan crime operations, which opened to-day at the St. James, Heading tho cast are Robert Young as a son of the city alums endeavouring to go straight in a Jaw career until the gang with whom he was raised kills his brother. Florence Rice as a surgeon’s daughter proves the best detective on the special force. Joseph Calleia as the sinister Joe Emerald, crippled overlord of the rackets, sports lover, and perverse philanthropist, is a killer unknown even to his own lieutenants. Lewis Stone appears as Dr Gattle, distinguished surgeon, who spends 12 years in prison on a charge ‘‘framed” by Emerald. Nat Pendleton is cast as Steamer Krupp, a greathearted, child-minded prize-fighter, and a pivoted character in the melee. Sworn Enemy ’ is based on a story by Richard Wormser and was directed _ by Edward L. Marin. The. plot depicts the struggle of a poor hoy trying to go straight until his brother and employer are killed by the men with whom he was raised. The pace is swift from the opening scene, when, having landed his first job, ho struggles with gang representatives who demand part of his

salary for “ protection” to tho final climax in tho luxurious penthouse ot tho gang overlord. The story traces an intricate pattern of intrigue and brutality on the part of the racketeers, and a pattern of courage and determination on the part of the man who attempts to wipe them out. STRAND ‘ Murder by an Aristocrat, ’■ a baffling mystery melodrama from the First National studios, which heads the new programme at the Strand, tells how five members of an aristocratic family are blackmailed by the ne er-do-well of the family, who later is found in the library with a bullet through his heart. This starts a seriesof thrilling events. A second member of the family is found dead in the attic, the victim of a poisonous drug. The remaining members of the family all come under suspicion, as do the butler and maids. The district attorney, a member of the family, endeavours to make out a case of murder in order to avoid scandal. Lyle Talbot and Marguerite Churchill do some capital acting as the doctor and the nurse respectively. ‘ Rainbow’s End, tho supporting film, is notable for the clever and experienced manner in which the leading male role is handled by Hoot Gibson. Excitement and thrills abound in the production, which is another of the popular Western stories dealing with in© constant struggle between right and wrong in the West of America. OCTAGON ‘King of Hockey,’ the stirring Warner Bros.’ romance with the popular ice sport as its background, is now at the Octagon. Staged in the atmosphere of Madison Square Garden, New York, the exciting incidents of the game, with the crowds of spectators, are brought to the screen by crack hockey players, including Dick Purcell, the_ masculine lead, who was the former ice star of Fordbam University. The romance between Purcell, the hookey star, and Anne Nagel, in the role of a wealthy society girl, springs - up in the ice rink and is furthered by the. debutante’s s6ven-yeaf-old sister, who is one of the most ardent fans of the team’s crack puck pusher. The head of a gambling syndicate tries to bribe the hockey star to “ throw' ” the games to the opposing teams. A worthy successor to ‘ Seventh Heaven ’ comes from the samei author, Austin Strong, in Paramount’s ‘ Along Came Love.’ a gay comedy of young love, Which will be shown in support. ‘ Along Came Love ’ is the story of a romantic shop girl who meets her ideal and contrives to. make him. fall in love. GRAND Romantic comedy of the first order is The Bride Walks Out,’ which has begun a season at the Grand Theatre. Featuring Barbara Stanwyck, Gene Raymond, : Robert Young, Helen: Broderick, and Ned Sparks, it revolves round the matrimonial adventures of a meagrely-paid Civil engineer, who is convinced) that two can live on his wages, and a mannequin who does not hold the same opinion, but who, nevertheless, marries him. The dialogue is funny, the situations hilarious, and the action speedy. As the picture opens Gene Raymond la trying to convince Barbara Stanwyck that she should give up her job and marry him, despite his small salary. After much haggling and some amusing by-play she gives in and the wedding takes place. Nothing seems to go right, however, and although the bride manages to’ keep the true state of things from her husband, it all comes to a head finally 1 and the lovers separate. But not before Robert ,Young steps into the picture as a delightful inebriate and the source of a great deal of laughter. Barbara Stanwyck , recently, in the melodramatic ‘ A Message to Garcia,’ proves herself equally adept as a comedienne, while in ‘The Bride Walks Out ’ Gene Raymond has found an excellent w follow-up to his _ last comedy, ‘ Love o.h a Bet.’ There is an excellent supporting programme. MAYFAIR ‘ Give Us This Night,’ now at the Mayfair, is an appealing story of an Italian fisherman, young and handsome, and) a young girl opera star, beautiful and lovely. Jan Kiepura, who won American fame in the film ‘ Tell Me To-night,’ is. sensational. His voice is exquisite. Miss Swarthout, first seen in ‘ Rose of the. Rancho,’ is even better to look at and listen to in ‘ Give Us This Night” ‘ Boulder Dam,’ a dramatic film depicting the exciting incidents connected with the construction of the mighty power project, supports. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has again produced an outstanding picture in ‘ San Francisco,’ to commence at the Mayfair to-morrow. The picure is most) dramatic, andi the most enthralling part of it is that which deals with the earthquake and fire which swept San Fraficisco in 1906. Scenes in which men, women, and children are buried beneath crumbling buildings and in which fire is seen at its terrible work, are such as will ho remembered when others are long forgotten. The theme follows the rivalry between tho dance hall owner, played) by Clark Gable, and the son of a wealthy San Francisco family (Jack Holt). The leading woman, Jeanette MacDonald, repeats the success her acting and singing won her in ‘ Naughty Marietta.’ ‘ Where the Power God Dwells ’- is the associate film. GREEN ISLAND Sparkling comedy, with moments of thrilling excitement and tender romance, make the screen play of ‘ Three Live Ghosts,’ which opens to-morrow at the Municipal, Green Island, unusual entertainment. Featuring Richard Arlen at the head of a fine cast, the story comes to the screen with a sweep and a breadth that were impossible on the stage, where it was a smashing hit. Dealing with the adventures of three soldiers who returned from the war to find themselves officially “ dead,” the plot concerns their humorous wanderings through London without names or identities. On© of them, Richard Arlen, is a wealthy American boy who thinks the police are looking for him. The second, played by Charles M'Naughton, is a Cockney. The third, played by Claude Allister, is an English nobleman who has been shell-shocked and has a mania for stealing things. Beryl Mercer as a Cockney mother is superb in the role she first created on the stage.