PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 22804, 12 November 1937, Page 7

PICTURE THEATRES

STRAND Ralph Morgan, who plays an important role in Universal's ‘ The Man in Blue’ at the Strand, was on the Broadway stage for 22 years, scoring in such hits as ' Fair and Warmer’ ‘ Turn to tho Right,’ ‘ Buddies,’ ‘ Cobra,’ ‘ In Lovo With Love’ and ‘Strange Interlude.’ Among his screen appearances are ‘ Magnificent Obsession,’ ‘ Ex-Mrs Bradford,’ ‘ Crack Up,’ and ‘ The Outer Gate.’ Ho plays the role of the professor in 1 The Man in Blue,’ ■stealing bonds from Robert Wilcox. _ His theft is a dramatic turning point which causes Wilcox to re-establish himself in human society. The story of ‘ Dancing Feet,’ the second film, concerns the adventures of a modern young miss (Joan Marsh), who leaves the comforrs of her luxurious home to prove to her guardian that she can earn her own living. With the aid of Eddie Nugent, who does not know of her riches, she obtains a position as a sixpence-a-dance hostess at a down-town cabaret Nugent is her best customer, and they soon begin to dance their way to romance. Nugent had ideas on how to capitalise their dancing feet. A dancing lesson session over the "adio, cabaret performances, starring stage parts, were all worked out in his mind, and Miss Marsh was tho partner to back him up. Unfortunately for the young couple, however. Miss Marsh’s guardian intervenes and puts all manner ot obstacles in their path to success. Ably assisting in ‘ Dancing Feet ’ is Ben Lyon and Isobel Jewell, completing a quartet of star favourites. GRAND An emotional, dramatic, and sincerely affecting exposition of tho thoughts and feelings of men living under death sentences in the “ condemned row ” of a prison is given in ‘We Who Are About to Die,’ which is at the Grand. Preston Foster, Ann Dvorak, and John Beal are seen in tho featured roles. They are supported by a cast of fortyodd that includes many prominent players. The story describes how a young aviation engineer, played by Beal, becomes the victim of a vicious frame-up by a group of gangsters who rob an aeroplane factory, murder tho cashier, and kill a child in their headlong “ hit-and-run ” escape. Planted ” evidence and the misguided testimony of respectable citizens, blinded by public feeling, together with the work of a politically ambitious district attorney campaigning for governorship on a platform of criminal convictions, combine to make an open-and-shut case against the helpless prisoner. Abounding with thrills and virile action from the start is ‘ Hollywood Cowboy,’ screening in support. With George O’Brien in the starring role it is a modern Western thriller. The plot centres'about a syndicate of racketeer’s who, unable to find enough scope for their crooked talents in the city, go west to the Wyoming Plains to make_ money by tricking the ranch owners into signing false contracts and then ruining their stock. O’Brien enacts the role of a popular film star out west also, but for the purpose of making a film. Chance throws him into the midst of racketeering, and also, metaphorically speaking, into the arms of Cecilia Parker, daughter of one of the staunch ranch owners who refuses to be hindered by racketeers and strikers. O’Brien and Miss Parker provide tho romantic interest, and with many exciting scenes, including cattle stampeding and aeroplane tactics for that purpose, the picture is well above the standard of the usual Western.

EMPIRE Jean Harlow is seen in the last film she completed before death put an untimely end to her career, ‘ Man in Possession,’ in which she is co-starred with Robert Taylor, at the Empire, at tho comencement of its second week. Taylor conies from the arms of Garbo in ‘ Camille ’ to his romance with Miss Harlow in this film, which is based on the H. M. Harwood stage success ‘ Man in Possession.’ A “ hand-picked cast supports the co-stars. Reginald Owen, one of Hollywood’s most distinguished character players, has the important rolo of Taylor’s older brother who, in the comae of the amusing plot, becomes a rival for the affections of Miss Harlow. Miss Harlow, hailed by critics and public alike for her talents as a comedienne, plays the role of Crystal Wetherby, an American harassed by debts. In an endeavour to keep up a “ front ” she runs herself' even more deeply in debt, with the result that hercreditors make use of the English custom of assigning a sheriff’s assistant to take tip his post in her house and to watch her personal property to make certain that she does not sell anything. In desperation, Crystal resolves to marry Claude Dabney, an elderly, pompous Englishman whom sho does not love, but whom sho believes to be rich. It is Taylor who plays the part of Raymond Dabney, the sheriff’s assistant, assigned to watch over Crystal’s belongings, and when she implores him not to “ give her away ” before the man she wants to marry, he agrees to pose as her butler. The fun begins when Crystal’s fiance turns out to be Raymond Dabney’s brother. The rivalry between the two brothers for Crystal’s affections is brought to_ a finish only when Taylor convinces his brother that Crystal is a designing woman who is only after Dabney for his money—whereupon Taylor promptly marries Crystal himself.

STATE Jessie Matthews’s greatest, gayest, and most glittering picture, ‘ Head Over Heels,’ had its initial screening at the State to-day. ‘ Head Over Heels ’ is a zestful comedy-romance, set in tho Parisian cabaret world, of three young people and an actress, who has home-wrecking tendencies. Jeanne, a cabaret singer (Jessie Matthews) meets a young sound engineer, Pierre (Robert Fleming) at a broadcasting station, and accept an invitation to lunch at his rooms, where he lives with Marcel (Louis Borrell), an insincere young actor-philanderer. To the worry of Pierre, who has taken a fond liking to her, she falls head over heels for Marcel, who, however, has become infatuated by .an American film star, Norma Langtry (Whitney Bonnie). This leads to a quarrel in which Jeanne, in a fit of jealousy upon seeing her happiness snatched out ot her grasp, rails Norma and causes such a scandal that the French Actors’ Association tars her from further cabaret

appearance. To add to her troubles, Marcel leaves for Hollywood with Norma, and Pierre, whom Jeanne now realises to bo the better and more likeable of the two, sho has lost touch with. When Pierre finally locates Jeanne, he persuades the Actors’ Association to allow her to broadcast in a special series, but unfortunately Norma, who has returned from America, happens to bo there when Jeanne is broadcasting and she once again spoils her chances by quarrelling. This time her chances of a come-back seem to be quite ruined, and so Jeanne disappears again, and it is_ not until Pierre finds her selling cigarettes at her old cabaret that matters seem to bo any better. Then Marcel, repentent, puts in another appearance and manages to persuade Jeanne that he really does care for her and she for him. The rest of the film, which tells of the struggle between the two young men for Jeanne’s affections, makes some of the wittiest and most romantic screon entertainment yet filmed. OCTAGON ‘The Great Gambini,’ which is the main attraction on the new Octagon programme, is outfitted with several new twists to make it different from tho accepted “ who killed whom and ■why” formula, and the result is more than usually interesting screen entertainment. To offset the sombre side of the tale, there is a slim slice of romance and a most generous portion of comedy. The picture gets off to a promising start when the clairvoyant Gambini tells an engaged couple that their contemplated marriage will never take place, and not once is the interest permitted to flag. Akim Tamiroff, who created an excellent impression with his playing of the title role in ‘ The General Died at Dawn,’ plays the ‘Great Gambini.’ Marian Marsh, John Trent, Genevieve Tobin, and Reginald Denny are included in the cast. The latest Dick Poran Western * Blazing Sixes,’ supports. It is a tale of Colorado in 1890, when it was a common thing for the road agents_ to hold up the stages carrying gold coins from the Denver Mint. The identity of these highwaymen—the hide-out where they melted the coins down and made gold' bars out of them—remained a mystery until the secret agents of the Government tracked them down and recovered the loot. Dick Foran is chief ot the Government group. The film is said to be the most thrilling among the 11 outdoor pictures Foran has made since the beginning of his screen career a couple of years ago. As usual, advantage is_ taken of_ Foran’s excellent singing voice. He sings two songs—' Ridiri’ on to Monterey’ and ‘ In a Little Prairie Town.’ REGENT Photographers popped in and out of their hooded tripod cameras; funereal swal!ow r -t ailed “portrait directors” rushed about, giving changed orders and then countermanding them —but Mrs John Jacob Aster, mujti-miliion-airess, was not satisfied. The picture would be like all her other attempts to preserve her beauty in black and white—a failure. Then someone brought in a dog. He was a mongrel—but he “ made ” the portrait. So it is with ‘ Storm in a Teacup,’ latest cinematic product of that amazing man from Denham, Bucks—Alexander Korda. The film, which commenced today at the Regent, is good comedy at all times, but it never achieves brilliance until “Scruffy” makes<his bow. Then it becomes easily one of the 'two or three best pictures ever produced in England. “ Scruffy ” plays the part of “ Patsy,” a hearttugging animal with an utter lack of pedigree, around whose fate a national controversy arises, because of _ whom politics are influenced and the lives of many people altered. When his Irish owner, Mrs Hegarty, fails to pay the dog tax in the West Scottish town of Baikio, “ Patsy ” is seized for lethal vengeance. An honest-minded reporter sensationalises the incident in the smug local newspaper and unwittingly inflames local opinion. Through a series of remarkable and most amusing incidents the affair becomes a national topic, with tremendous sympathy aroused for the uncomprehending “ Patsy ” and the voluble Mrs Hegarty. The reporter, by this time most heartily in love with the daughter of the man whom he has ridiculed—the ambitious, over-riding Provost—is thrown into prison, and the story with a strong climax centring round his trial. Although comedy is still the chief element, a noticeable dramatic undercurrent raises the production at this stage to the degree of brilliance. The director, Victor Saville, has made wonderful use of his opportunities to portray human characters, _ doing manifestly impossible things in a most enjoynbly credible fashion. “ Scruffy,” or “ Patsy,” may be the pivot of the piece, but he is not the hero. Rex Harrison—seen by film “ fans ” only in ‘ Men Are Not Gods ’—makes a splendid portrayal of the reporter. Vivien Leigh is magnificent as tho leading lady. ST. JAMES Another home-spun story that outdoes ‘ Old Hutchj’ and even rivals that outstanding picture, ‘ Ah, Wilderness,’ has arrived at the St. James, where its homely characters and dialogue should delight audiences. It is ‘ The Good Old Soak,’ in which Wallace Beery and Eric Linden again appear as father and sou. There - are other familiar figures in the cast, including Margaret Hamilton (one or the “ pixilated ” sisters) as a crabbed, wisecracking maid servant, Ted Healy as a bootlegger, Una Merkel as a slatternly kitchen girl, and Robert M'Wade as a scoundrelly banker. The plot is easy to follow. Beery is a bibulous father of a family, who becomes even more alcoholically inclined as tho story moves along. Eric Linden, his son, does everything that an irresponsible young man can. He buys fur coats for a charming night club performer, and then steals his mother’s railway bonds to hide the deficit in his office accounts. Behind it all is Robert M'Wade, cousin of the family, who persuades Linden to “ borrow ” his mother’s bonds, giving him a few hundred dollars when he knows they are worth rr Then the lovable old scamp of a father, having taken the blame for the bonds, springs to life and terrifies the banker into handing over the full value of tho bonds Dunedin picturegoers will delight in the whimsicalities of Beery, who sits dreaming of barmaids, “ cuspidators,” billiards rooms, and pictures of racehorses. His long-suffering wife, Janet Beecher, is a fine woman, who cannot scold him, however bad his laziness. Beery shows himself as a character actor of many talents. His obviously innate knowledge of human nature and frailties makes him live his • part. Ted Healy, too, as bootlegger to Beery, sometimes gentlemanly, sometimes plainly vulgar, creates a study that tho audience enjoyed. Robert M'Wade, the banker, is a model of respectable hypocrisy until Beery starts on his trail; then he becomes a cringing coward, who hands over his gains without a murmur.

MAYFAIR Clive Brook, debonair and suave, is called on to take a more active role than is usual for him in 1 The Lonely Road,’ which is concluding to-night at the Mayfair. The film is a drama of secret service work, and the story inchides a strong romantic interest, the object of Brook’s affections being Victoria Hopper. The second offering on the programme, ‘ Sing, Baby, Sing,’ which has a long cast of well-known players, is a merry mixture of singing, dancing, and comedy. SEQUEL TO ‘ALL QUIET.' Universal’s ‘ The Road Back ’ will head the programme to be screened tomorrow at the Mayfair. Because of what he wrote in his novel, ‘ The Road Back,’ Remarque was exiled from his native land, so strongly did his book stir national feeling. The author saw the unrest growing, saw the revolution that followed food riots, saw returned soldiers facing the trap of starvation. Remarque saw the wives whose husbands never came back; saw the sweethearts who did not wait for the return of the men they had promised to marry. He saw turmoil, human drama being lived every day. He put into his story, ‘ The Road Back,’ everything that he saw, He described the emotions of vibrant flesh-and-blood people. The characters were ready to step out of the book and into a movie set. Universal’s ‘Oh, Doctor!’ starring Edward Everett Horton, will be the second film. The picture is an adaptation of Harry Leon Wilson’s humorous novel of the same name, and presents the inimitable Horton in the role of the chief character, Ned Billop, a hypochondriac who sells his birthright for a mess of pills. He lives to regret his bargain, and then regains his (heritage by methods which, although highly amusing, are dangerous and thrilling.