PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 23444, 8 December 1939, Page 3

PICTURE THEATRES

EMPIRE When a picnic ends up with one of the picnickers being accused of murder it is a safe bet that Gracie Allen is somewhere in the vicinity. That is just what happens in S. S. Van Dine’s ‘ The Gracie Allen Murder Case,’ the new Paramount mystery-thriller-comedy which is showing at the Empire. in addition to Gracie Allen, Warren William, Ellen Drew, Kent Taylor, and Judith Barrett have featured roles. Gracie pins the murder on Kent Taylor when his cigarette case is found with the murdered man. Ellen Drew, in Jove with him, is sure that he is innocent and gets Philo Vance (Warren William) to prove his innocence. The late S. S. Van Dine’s stoiy evolves to a thrilling conclusion despite Gracie’s mad tangling with the suave, shrewd deductions of Philo Vance. The insane detective work of Gracie Allen, the efforts of a girl to free the man she loves from prison when ho is accused of murder, and the clever plotting of a girl who loved the murdered man, all serve to make what is described as a thoroughly entertaining film. REGENT Lew Ayres, who created the title role in the original ‘ Dr Kildare ’ series, again jilays the role of the personable young interne in ‘ Calling Dr Kildare,’ which began a season at the Regent today. Riding on the crest of a new popularity wave, Ayres recently scored opposite Jeanette MacDonald in ‘ Broadway Serenade,’ and before that was featured with Joan Crawford in ‘ The Ice Follies of 1939,’ Lionel Barrymore again plays the gruff Dr Gillespie of the series, the new role following upon his hit portrayal in ‘ Let Freedom Ring.’ Lynne Carver, Ayres’s hometown sweetheart, and Nat Pendleton. the comic ambulance orderly, both of the original production, repeat their roles in the second 1 Kildare ’ picture, as do also Samuel S. Hinds and Emma Dunn, enacting Ayres’s father and mother, Walter Kingsford as Dr Carew and Marie Blake as the hospital telephone operator. New characters in the story are played by Lana Turner, Laraine Day, Alma Kruger, Reed Hadley, and Nelt Craig. Miss Turner, of * Love Finds Andy Hardy ’ > fame, vamps Ayres as Rosalie, the sister of a murder suspect. Laraine Day, who scored a triumph in her film debut as the feminine head of ‘ Sergeant Madden,’ enacts Mary, the nurse who “stooges” for Barrymore. ST. JAMES There is plenty of suspense in the main feature on the new programme at the St. James. 1 Premiere ’ is the name of this film. The story is opened on the first night of a revue, with the usual atmosphere of expectancy from the audience and hurry backstage. There is' jealousy between the leading man and the backer over the star of the show, Carman Daviot. Carman has been given the part at the expense of another, Lydia. Lavalle, who creates a “scene” with Renoir, the backer. She threatens him with a pistol, but this is taken from her. Meanwhile on the stage the first item is being presented. This is a noisy act, a chorus number in which girls are “ shot ” by chorus men. During the banging the manager notices Renoir slump in his box—shot dead. From then on the stage is laid for tense mystery. John Lodge and Judy Kelly have leading roles. The role created by Douglas Mao Lean in the silent film ' Twentythree and a-half Hours’ Leave,’ the second film, that of the sporty young Sergeant Gray, who bets he will eat breakfast with the general, whom lie has never seen, is played by James Ellison in the new version. STRAND An unusually fine cast was assembled by Harry Sherman for the Paramount production of Zane Grey’s master-work, ‘ Heritage of the Desert,’ which opened to-day at the Strand. Donald Woods, Evelyn Venable, Russell Hayden, Robert Barrat, and Sidney Toler make 1 Heritage of the Desert ’ one of the best-acted westerns of the season. It relates the toughening experiences of a tenderfoot who finds love, life, and hope in the land “ where men are men.” Part of the toughening process consists of being the unwilling target of a gunman’s bullet. Love is personified by the luscious Evelyn Venable. Toughness and tenderness are skilfully combined when Woods, given up_ for dead by his murderous assailant, is rescued by Barrat, who brings him home to be nursed back to health by Miss Venable. Fireworks really begin when she becomes the centre of two opposing forces. The picture was produced by Harry Sherman and directed by Lesley Selander. ‘ Star of the Circus,’ starring Otto Kruger, is in support of the main feature. GRAND As time goes on the talented Juvenile star, Jane Withers, becomes more and more a bundle of dynamic energy, and she falls into as much trouble as ever in her latest film, ‘ Arizona Wildcat.’ which has opened a season at the Grand. It is this type of picture that gives the young actress every _ opportunity of exploiting that particular brand of boisterous humour which has made her such a favourite with picture patrons all over the world, and there is nothing she leaves undone to make the best of her chances. Fast action is the keynote of the production, and as a youngster who, after bandits have held up a stage coach and murdered the driver and the guards, decides to bring the outlaws to book, she gives one of the best performances of her career. The associate feature is ‘The Edgeof the World,’ a gripping drama in which the action takes place in the Shetland Islands. The film abounds in scenes of great natural beauty, and the wild, rugged coasts of the Shetlands have been utilised as a fitting background for a dramatic story, in which the inhabitants play no little part in the telling. STATE As the genius who invented the telephone was a giant among men, so Darryl F. Zonuck’s production of ‘ The Story of Alexander Graham Bell,’ which opened to-day at the State, is a magnificent, screen tribute to a great American whose miraculous achievement and stirring love story are symbolic of the tradition of America. Don Ameche, splendid in the role of Bell,

brings another immortal character to the motion picture gallery of the great. Loretta Young gives her finest performance as Mabel Hubbard, out of whoso deafness came the inspiration for the telephone. Henry Fonda is perfectly cast as young Tom Watson, Bell’s assistant. Charles Coburn, Gene Lockhart, Spring Byington, and Loretta Young’s three sisters—Sally Blane, Polly Ann Young, and Georgina Young —complete the cast of the Cosmopolitan production for Twentieth CenturyFox, which was directed by Irving Cummings.

MAYFAIR Adventure amid the dangers of India is again the theme in ‘ Storm Over Bengal,’ the fine action picture to finish tonight at the Mayfair. No better setting exists for scenes of breathless excitement, and the beauties of the countryside make a splendid contrast to the grim tidings of war. The story concerns an outbreak among the hillmen of a small native State, Lhanapur. The main roles are taken by Patric Knowles and Richard Cromwell as the two brothers, and Rochelle Hudson has the feminine lead. Martha Raye is the star of the second attraction, a gay comedy entitled ‘ Give Me a Sailor.’ GEORGE FORMBY RIOT. George Formby improves with every picture, and his latest screen riot is to be screened! at the Mayfair to-morrow under the title of ‘ Trouble' Brewing.’ This is a film that provides one of the best opportunities for Formby to date, and he undoubtedly makes the most of it, while, as usual, there are some tuneful songs in the finest Formby manner. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has selected a fine story for Rosalind Russell, Robert Montgomery, and Frank Morgan in ‘Fast and Loose, which will also be screened. GREEN ISLAND In ‘ Block-Heads,’ new Hal RoachM.G.M. comedy, starring Laurel and Hardy, and coming to the Green Island Theatre to-morrow, the comedians find themselves in a “ swank,” modern apartment house. The dignity of the surroundings, howeveroffers no bar to their continuous merriment. In fact, the austerity of the background makes their • famous gags all the more ludicrous, and the current comedy contains an abundance of side-splitting incidents. In addition to the active imaginations of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, who can endow the most trivial of incidents with laugh-compelling qualities either in real life or before the camera, they have been assisted in the new venture by a group of Hollywood’s best-known comedy creators.