PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 23273, 23 May 1939, Page 1

PICTURE THEATRES

ST. JAMES Jackie Cooper plays the leading role in ‘ Gangster’s Boy,’ which heads the current programme at the St. James, and succeeds in enhancing still further the excellent reputation he has achieved during the past year or so. He is seen as the son of a notorious racketeer, Tim Kelly, who has retired from active | crime and has settled down in a small town with his wife and son. The lad is well liked in the high school which he is attending, and is unaware of his father’s reputation until the newspapers start a campaign to run Kelly out of the town. All the boy’s friends turn against him, with the exception of the son and daughter of a judge, who is Kelly’s bitterest enemy. The judge’s son runs over a child while driving Kelly’s car, and Kelly’s son takes the blame for the accident. In a drastic climax the boy’s name is cleared. The second picture is ‘ Blondes for Danger,’ a comedy-drama featuring Gordon Harker, Enid StampTaylor, Percy Parsons, and Ivan Brandt. t : i REGENT ‘ Marie Antoinette,’ which is the present attraction at the Regent, is a triumph of tho motion picture art. More than that, it is a triumph for Norma Shearer. Magnificent in its pageantry, with brilliant costumes and setting, flawlessly cast with such famed film names as Tyrone Power, John Barrvmore, Anita Louise, Joseph Schildkraut, Gladys George, and scores of others, these were secondary to Miss Shearer’s absorbingly human interpretation of a woman sometimes carefree, ofttimes desperate, seeking for happiness. Antoinette is a girl eager to be in love and to be loved, who finds herself married to a moronic husband, a role superbly played by Robert Morley, a young English actor making his first motion picture appearance. When he fails her and his country through weakness of mind and spirit she seeks escape in mad pleasures and dangerous flirtations. But in tho end she cannot escape her destiny as the last Queen of France. Power is a handsome, gallant, and convincing Count Axel le Ferson, the man who dared to love a queen. The humour is provided by Barrymore, whose performance as the cynical, world-weary King Louis XV. is among his finest. Miss George’s du Barry is lusty and amusing. Schildkraut,, a recent academy award winner, is a thoroughly villainous Duke d’Orleans. GRAND ! Smashing the Spy Ring,’’ which screens finally to-riight, at the is a' gripping and JSriting tornational espionage. _ Ralph BiHL-.lfiy is cast as a secret service agent who is entrusted with the task of crushing a foreign spy ring organisation that is operating in the country. The second picture is ‘ Homicide Bureau,’ another racketeer picture featuring Bruce Cabot and Rita Hayworth. A PROGRAMME OF MIRTH. Comedy will be the order of the day at the Grand, with tho new programme opening to-morrow, and those who do not appreciate to the full—and they must be few—the happy “ Jones Family ” in their latest effort, ‘ Down on the Farm/ will enjoy the antics of Will Hay in his picture ‘Hey! Hey! U.S.A.’ A new Will Hay film is an eagerlyanticipated event. This peerless comedian, whose facial antics and irresistible wisecracks are always hailed with uproarious enthusiasm by filmgoers of every age and type, will be seen in his latest comedy. Directed by Marcel Varnel, the producer whose name is identified with such riots of mirth as ‘Oh, Mr Porter’ and ‘Convict 99.’ this picture introduces Will Hay in his most popular characterisation, that of Dr Benjamin Twist, who this time endures tho most amazing and thrilling adventures in tho heart of Chicago’s gangster-land. ‘ Down on the Farm/ latest picture in Twentieth Century-Fox’s ever-popular Jones Family series, shows that even in the comparative tranquillity of country life, the Joneses can stir up more trouble, more fun and excitement than all your neighbours put together! Tho hilarious story centres around a cornhusking contest which Dad Jones is called upon to enter after having

boasted of his boyhood prowess. The family is portrayed, as usual, by Jed Prouty, Spring Byington, Russell Gleason, Ken Howell, George Eirnest, June Carlson, Florence Roberts, and Billy Mahan, Louise Fazenda and Eddie Collins have prominent roles.

STRAND A thrill-packed background of an automobile racing track forms the setting for the breath-taking action of ‘ Burn ’Em Up O’Connor/ which is now at the Strand. The movement is fast throughout, and is leavened by a charming romantic element which adjusts the balance of the story perfectly. Dennis O’Keefe, the young man who is rapidly carving a niche for himself in the motion picture world, heads the cast, opposite pretty Cecilia Parker, while Nat Pendleton, Harry Carey, and Addison Richards have prominent supporting roles. In the development of the plot, three members of a motor magnate’s racing team are killed in three big events, and the fourth, Jerry “ Burn ’Em Up ” O’Connor, seems destined for the same fate. The riddle of the accidents is solved by a mechanic, however, and the driver goes on to win a great triumph. In the meantime, romance blossoms between Jerry and the daughter of his boss, and the two settle down to happy married life. Boris Karloff is starred in the second film, ‘ Mr Wong, Detective.’ STATE The many picturegoers who followed with rapt interest the exploits of the famous Chinese detective, Charlie Chau, when played by Warner Gland, will be glad to know that the death of that actor has not robbed the screen of the popular character he portrayed. The mantle that slipped from his shoulders has been taken on by Sidney Toler, a comparative newcomer to important roles, who makes his debut as Charlie Chan in ‘ Charlie Chan in Honolulu/ which is enjoying a season at the State. Toler does not try to ape all the mannerisms and characteristics of Gland, but gives a convincing and ■ appealing portrayal which should win over to him many of Gland’s fans. Sen Yufig, as Chan’s eldest son, makes an able and attractive successor to Keye Luke, while Phyllis Brooks introduces the romantic element. Eddie Collins of the rubber face, John King, and Claire Dodd have the other main roles. The story is of the unravelling of the mystery of a murder which takes place on a liner in Honolulu Harbour. There are some interesting short features. OCTAGON Still attracting; large audiences to the Octagon, ‘ Suez ' is one of the most spectacular and dramatic films of the year'. Loretta YoiSng, Tyrone Power, , and Annabella head the-, brilliant cast/ In its combination of drama, spectacle,*, and heart interest, ‘ Suez ’ is a production that sweeps patrons off their feet. The story is that of the building of the Suez Canal by the French engineer de Lessens, and it gives heed to the emotional battle waged with two women who claimed his love as well as to his physical strife at the same time against hostile Bedouins, the ever-shifting sand, and rival nations, that he might make a short sea route to the East, Cast in the role of the French engineeradventurer, Tyrone Power makes de Lesseps an heroic and magnetic figure, haunted by the loveliness of the woman he left at honie yet impelled to respond to the love of another who shared his troubles and perils equally. Never has Loretta Young been so glamorous than she appears here in the role of Countess de Montijo, and seldom has Annabella been more appealing than when joyously sharing the adventures on land and water which make up a great part of the story’s attraction. EMPIRE A delightfully crazy and irresponsible film which treats with great speed and despatch the lives, of several equally crazy and irresponsible people is ‘ Too Hot to Handle/ now showing at the Empire. It is all about the adventures of two newsreel cameramen and a noted aviatrix, which combination discovers several interesting new angles to the eternal triangle. It seems that in America newsreel cameramen act very much like reporters, with the exception that, as they use aeroE lanes instead of taxis, and do not ave to stay in one place long enough to write anything, they flit from assignment to assignment and from country to country with a suddenness which at times must "be embarrassing even to themselves. Tho romance of 1 Too Hot to Handle ’ hesitates between China, New York, and South America, The leading characters, Clark Gable and Myrna Loy, meet each other when a newsreel car, disguised as an ambulance, crashes into an aeroplane which is landing after flying cholera serum to China. They ?ot further acquainted while flying together in thick fog 60 miles at sea taking pictures of a burning munition ship, and cement their friendship in a cannibal clearing among hostile tribesmen in South America. Excellent supports include a Fitzpatrick technicolour travelogue on Sydney, a Rete Smith feature, and newsreels. MAYFAIR One of the strongest inborn characteristics of all members of the British race is a passionate love of freedom and a hatred for any oppressor, and the figure of Bobin Hood has long epitomised that spirit. That is one of the reasons why ‘ Tho Adventures of Robin Hood ’ is'proving such a popular attraction at the Mayfair. Errol Flynn portrays the hero perfectly, and Olivia de Havilland makes a charming Maid Marian. The associate attraction is ‘ Living on Love/ starring James Dunn and Whitney Bourne.