PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 22880, 11 February 1938, Page 14

PICTURE THEATRES

ST. JAMES Setting a new standard for dramatic aviation entertainment, ‘ Wings Over Honolulu,’ which commenced at the St. James this afternoon, provides all the factors necessary for an outstanding screen offering. All the glamorous romance of lazy Honolulu, the bustling activity at a U.S.A. army airport, and the social life of the men and women living there, present a new slant on life, while a first-class cast, including Wendy Barrie, Kent Taylor, Samuel ■Hinds, Ray Milland, Polly Bowles, and William Gargan, interprets the piece. Wendy Barrie portrays a beautiful Virginian belle who marries a young naval officer, Ray Milland. The wife has no knowledge of the conventions, customs, or taboos of the service, and she becomes embodied in a situation which almost wrecks her husband’s career. So dreary has the airport become to Wendy Barrie that she welcomes the arrival of a former suitor in his luxurious yacht. Husband and wife quarrel violently and she leaves him for a pleasure jaunt on the yacht. Against orders, Milland takes a navy plane and goes in search of his wife, but a bad storm results in his crashing. At the court-martial Milland offers no defence for his breach of duty, since doing so would involve his wife. She comes into court, however, and in a dramatic climax happiness is finally restored. Milland, who will be remembered for his fine performance in ‘ Three Smart Girls,’ makes another hit in this film, while Wendy Barrie adds further to her already enviable reputation as a player of outstanding qualities. Settings so huge and costly that even the most ambitious director would hesitate to undertake them were used in the filming of the picture. Notable among them was the giant naval aircraft carrier, the T7.S.S. Ranger, which serves as the base for a swarm of fighting planes and is one of the largest of the Pacific fleet. STATE Still the world’s sweetheart, Shirley Temple will once more entertain crowds of Lunedin cinema patrons at the State, where ‘ Wee Willi© Winkie ’ was released this afternoon. To all intents and purposes Shirley is a miracle in modern entertainment. Long ago it was predicted she would become spoilt, that she would lose that ingenuous charm that first captivated the world; that her smile would grow stereotyped, and her nature sophisticated. And these armchair critics of the films who judge the stars from outside the theatres, seeing only fatuous adulation in the devotion of millions; will tell you that Shirley is precocious and trained beyond her years. But one has only to go to a good Shirley Temple film—there have been bad ones—to be captured anew by the simple charm of this golden-haired child. She is always clever, singing, dancing, and speaking her lines like any veteran trouper, hut who would have an unimpressive tyro on the screen in her place ? Shirley is growing up. She was eight last April 23. ‘ Wee Willie Winkie ’ is a very unusual film, principally for the reason that in it Shirley Temple is not the entire picture. Even without its famous star the film would stand as a drama of India reminiscent of the famous ‘ Lives of a Bengal Lancer.’ This is explained by the fact that ‘ Wee Willie Winkie ’ has one of the most notable casts assembled for a Shirley Temple, film. The principal players are Victor M'Laglen, 0. Aubrey Smith, June Lang, Cesar Romero, and Michael Whalen. Each contributes a clear-cut performance, but there is no _ doubt that the finest characterisation is that of Victor M'Laglen. As Sergeant M'Duff, M'Laglen brings to life the splendid Scotsman of Rudyard Kipling’s story. The role is played with a mingling of rugged humour, truculence, and supreme heroism. It is the best thing M'Laglen has done since ‘ The Informer.’ The Twentieth Cen-tury-Fox Company has taken every possible care to ensure the accuracy of the settings and details. The life of a British cantonment near the Khyher Pass in the late ’nineties has been recreated with brilliant success.

STRAND The Strand’s new feature which began this afternoon, is ‘ The High Command,’ a stirring adaptation of Lewis Robinson’s powerful dramatic romance, ‘ The General Goes Too Far ’ —the story of a small band of Britons in a far-flung outpost of the Empire, where the loves and desires of white men and women are but little removed from the primitive passions of the natives that people this land. Lionel Atwill, in the role of Major-general Sir John Sangye, V.C., dominates the picture with a flawless, highly impressive performance, while Steve Geray and James Mason are also excellently cast. When Love Is Young,’ Universal’s scintillating romantic comedy, the second film, brings a new Virginia Bruce to the screen. For the first time on the screen she dances as well as sings under the direction of Hal Mohr. Her movie romance with Kent Taylor is attended by hilarious situations as well as moments of deep tenderness. Walter Brennan supplies his share of the comedy in a role strikingly different from anything the noted character actor has previously done. The music and the settings are colourfully elaborate. OGTABDH ‘ It Happened in Hollywood,’ Columbia’s new production, starring Richard Dix and Fay Wray, which, together with ‘ Adventures End,’ comprises the new bill which commenced at the Octagon this afternoon. This programme will give patrons something in the way of a treat as far as motion picture entertainment is concerned. As the title implies, the story takes place in Hollywood, the famous home of motion pictures, and deals with the predicament many stars found themselves in with the advent of sound. Richard Dix is cast as a famous star of “ pre-talkie ” days, whose career abruptly collapses when pictures become audible, while Fay Wray is also seen as a glamorous screen siren who loses her popularity when musicals become the order of the day. In short, the production is really “ a picture within a picture,” and gives a slant on many interesting things which hitherto have been Hollywood’s innermost secrets, such as the method of recording sound, the shooting of _ scenes; etc. Of particular interest is the fact that prototypes of all of Hollywood’s most outstanding personalities are seen in many sequences of the film. REGENT ' Over She Goes,’ which began a season at the Regent this afternoon, is a frivolous frolic, with Stanley Lupino leading the fun. This amusing musical comedy film ran with great success for

evoral months at the Saville Theatre, Loudon, in it stage version, but with the greater scope of the screen, is said to be vastly more entertaining. The story of ‘ Over She Goes ’ is briefly this:—Pamela thinks it is time the handsome young Lord Drewsden, proposed to her, so, making quite sure his lordship is at hand when out hunting, “ over she goes.” This does the trick. A similar ruse is equally successful in the case of Pamela’s two friends, who fall into the loving arms of the backward Tommy Teacher and Billy Bowler, Harry’s former vaudeville partners. But congratulations have hardly been exchanged when complications set in. Alice Mayhill, to whom the young lord had once written an ardent letter, arrives to press her claim to share his recently-acquired title. To outwit Alice, inventive Billy devises a scheme whereby Tommy must appear as Harry’s uncle, the former Lord Drewsden, thereby depriving Harry of the title. But Tommy causes difficulties, and the plan has just been abandoned in favour of another brainwave of Billy’s—to steal the incriminating letter—when Silas Morner, a faithful admirer of Dolly’s, suddenly turns up, a mountain of a man. He makes Tommy decide to seek refuge in Billy’s plan of assuming the character of the late Lord Drewsden. Billy is preening himself on the success of the idea when the unexpected appearance of Harry’s aunt, Lady Drewsden, brings a new development. The final blow comes with the arrival of the real Lord Drewsden himself. GRAND Laid in one of the colourful periods of American history, ‘ The Toast of New York,’ which is being shown at the Grand, is a spectacular motion- picture of unquestioned' merit. It is exceptional entertainment, dramatically stirring, and extraordinarily interesting. Edward Arnold gives a performance surpassing all his previous roles. He plays Jim Fisk as a superegomaniac. His Fisk is consumed by lusts for power and for gold. Beginning as a sharp trader looting Southern cotton planters during the Civil War, the man moves on to battle with Wall Street. His first conquest is over Daniel Drew; his second the Erie railroad. Then he attempts to corner gold in the exchange, a re-enactment of the famous Black Friday of Wall Street history. Marching with Fisk to power is his partner, Nick Boyd. Cary Grant rses to new heights in his characterisation of Boyd. Daniel Drew is well played by Donald Meek, an amazing character keenly and commandingly etched. The second picture on the programme is a hilarious farce entitled' ‘ Good Morning, Boys!’ in which Will Hay and his orthodox scholars indulge in a series of highly amusing adventures. Will Hay appears as Dr Benjamin Twist, whose tenure of the post of head of St. Michael’s depends upbn the success of his unruly and appallingly ignorant charges in an examination. Thanks to tho worthy doctor securing a copy of tho examination paper beforehand, his boys head tho list in'the results, and are sent to France to demonstrate the doctor’s sys-

tem of tuition. Paris is tho scene of some hilarious adventures, which include the theft of a valuable painting from the Louvre, a riot in a night club of doubtful reputation, and amazing scenes at the convention at which Dr Twist is called upon to demonstrate his method of teaching French, a language of which he is more ignorant than his pupils. EMPIRE The world’s craziest team of non-stop comedians, the Marx Bros., are seen here again with an offering which all but eclipses anything which has come from them before. 1 A Day at the Races ’ is a judicious mixture of farce, clever repartee, music, and rapid actions, and audiences at the Empire this week are certain to be entertained. A story •which centres in a sanatorium, a scheming mortgagor, and a’ race-track gives full rein to the very peculiar talents of the unquenchable three. Groucho is a horse doctor, whose charm is so great that he obtains a position as chief surgeon at a sanatorium. Chico has a number of tasks organised for himself, a few of which are bellboy, race-track tout, and ice cream salesman. Harpo, the most noisily silent actor on the screen, is a jockey, and a very good, one, except that he never follows instructions when told to lose a race. The three are thrown together fortuitously with the common aims of dodging the sheriff and of saving the sanatorium for its beautiful owner, Maureen O’Sullivan. To this end they amost succeed in wrecking the place and a perfectly good race track. Highlights are a medical examination, and the attempt by a beautiful blonde, Esther Muir, to discredit Groucho in the eyes of a wealthy eccentric patient, Margaret Dumont. When one adds the excellent singing of Allan Jones in such captivating song numbers as ‘ On Blue Venetian Waters,’ ‘ To-morrow is Another Day,’ and ‘ A Message From the Man in the Moon,’ and a spectacularly beautiful water carnival sequence, the result is a picture w'hich blends hearty humour with romance and music to make excellent entertainment. Comedy predominates, however, as it cannot help but do with the Marxes in the stellar roles and such scenes as the trio literally pasting Esther Muir to the wall behind w'allpaper, or giving what must be the most preposterous medical examination ever conceived to Margaret Dumont, make ‘ A Day at the Races ’ a laugh masterpiece. On tho same programme is an entertaining and instructive Pete Smith novelty, ‘ Tennis Tactics ’ M.G.M. MASTERPIECE. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s Maytime,’ 1938’s first spectacular musical picture, is coming shortly to the Empire. With the glamorous Jeanette MacDonald and the picturesque Nelson Eddy reunited in the starring roles, this extravagant adaptation of the successful stage musical is far more beautiful than the original. Miss MacDonald and Eddy surpass their starring performances in those brilliant pictures ‘ Naughty Marietta ’ and ‘ Rose Marie.’ John Barrymore is excellent as the temperamental

and tragic impresario, and Lynne Carver, a lovely stranger to the screen from Kentucky, appears with Tom Brown to provide the juvenile romance. Sigmund Romberg, who wrote the original Broadway score, composed the songs of ‘ Maytime ’ with Herbert Stothart. MAYFAIR Rosalind Keith and Charles Quigley have the principal role in 4 Guardians of the Air,’ a story of “ under-cover ” men, aviation, Mexican marriages, and smuggling of aliens across the border into the United States, which is the principal feature at the Mayfair. The second feature is Zane Grey’s stirring tale of horse thieves, ‘ Arizona Raiders,’ with Larry Crabbe, Raymond Hatton, and Marsha Hunt in the leading roles. 'LLOYDS OF LONDON. Historical fact deftly blended with fiction to make a thoroughly entertaining story, together with an exceptional cast and faultless production, made 4 Lloyds of London,’ the Mayfair’s next feature, one of the outstanding films of recent years. All the romance of the early activities of this great British insurance and maritime house have been captured, and in this respect the film is a wonderful instructional medium, but, above all, it is entertainment. The most notable personality in the cast is Tyrone Power, who made his debut in this leading role after comparative obscurity in one or two minor parts. Of the beauty and talent of Madeleine Carroll, who plays opposite him, little need be said, save that from the woman’s point of view at least, her loveliness is enhanced by the gorgeous period clothes which she graces. The associate featurettes will include a two-reel Laurel and Hardy comedy entitled 4 Going Bye Bye,’ and also a 4 March of Time,’ scries No. 6.