PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 23451, 16 December 1939, Page 19

PICTURE THEATRES

THE NEW PROGRAMMES 1 MAN OF CONQUEST' INDIAN LIFE PORTRAYED The colourful career of Sam Houston has at last been the subject of a drama on the screen. For years producers considered it excellent material, but never dared attempt it because they feared the unpleasant reactions of foreign countries. Republic Pictures, however, well prepared with two years of intense research, wasted no time, for they realised the increased necessity of exploiting true American lile in those troubled times. ‘ Man of Conquest,’ at the Empire, tells of Sam Houston’s life from the time he lived with the Cherokee Indians for a year to his victory as Commander-iu-Chief of the Texas army that smashed the might of the invading Mexican army, to make Texas a State in the Union. The whole story is literally alive with action and spectacle, and the terrific battle between Houston’s forces and the Mexican army has seldom been equalled for thrilling realism. Punctuating the excitement of 1 Man of Conquest ’ is the romance of Houston and the two women in his life. His first wife was Eliza Allen (Joan Fontaine), a proud daughter of the aristocracy, who could not, or would not, tolerate Houston’s rough and easy methods of fraternising with the people, Divorce followed and a broken-hearted Houston went back to live with his staunch friends, the Cherokee Indians. But he was too great a leader, too much a man to remain long in the background, and when Texas, the new land of freedom and opportunity, beckoned Houston answered the call. A cast of Hollywood’s most distinguished performers enacts every scene most convincingly. Richard Dix is Sam Houston reincarnated, colourful, aggressive, a man of destiny. Lovely are Miss Fontaine and Gail Patrick as his first and second wives. In addition, there are splendid characterisations by Edward Ellis as Andrew Jackson, C. Henry Gordon as Santa Ana, Robert Armstrong as Jim Bowie, Victor Jory as William B. Travis, Robert Barrat as Davey Crockett, and Max Terhune as Deaf Smith: portrayals that again bring to vivid life the famous heroes of the Alamo and the Texas-Mexico War of 1836. ‘ Man of Conquest ’ takes into careful consideration Sam Houston’s life from the time he dwelt with the Cherokee tribes for a year, through his career in politics, to his glorious campaign that resulted in an independent Texas. Interwoven prominently, too, is Houston’s friendship for Andrew Jackson; friendship born on a battefield in the war or 1812. There has been spared no expense in making ‘ Man of Conquest ’ an unforgettable- document of Houston’s life. Production is lavish; great care having been taken to ensure 'historical and technical accuracy. Action scenes ii) ‘ Man of Conquest ’ are gripping, especially at the Battle".-,of the Alamo ahd-the Battle of-Jacitdf~where Houston’s army routed Santa Ana’s. Last night the winners of the junior championship at the recent Town Hall dance competition appeared on the stage and created a favourable impression. The list of supports is very good, especially the newsreels, which are packed with interest, including as they do “shots” of the R.A.F. machines over the Siegfried Line; several splendid glimpses of the British Army in France; and the burial ceremonial of British naval men and German airmen killed in action.

STAGE AND MEDICAL DRAMAS ACTION BILL AT ST. JAMtS Those who prefer their entertainment thrilling will find their desires realised at the St. Janies this week, where the bill comprises ; the dramas ‘ Comet Over Broadway ’ and ‘ Woman Doctor,’ which, though of varying types, are of the highest standard in their particuar spheres. _ The first attraction is an adaptation of Faith Baldwin’s story, played by Kay Francis and lan Hunter, while ‘ Woman Doctor ’ has Frieda Inescort as its star. Faith Baldwin’s magazine story, ‘ Comet Over Broadway,’ which was adapted for the screen by Mark Bellinger and Robert Buckner, has Kay Francis heading the starring list, which also includes lan Hunter, John JLitel, 'Minna Gombel, Donald Crisp, Melville Cooper, Sybil Jason, lan Keith, and a host of others. The story fashioned by such expert hands at fiction writing as Miss Baldwin and Mr Hellinger, is a dynamic one and gives plenty of opportunity for the cast of experts under the direction of Busby Berkeley to do a fine dramatic job. At the outset Kay Francis is seen as. a stage-struck girl in a middle western town who is married to John Intel, a man much her senior. While she is innocently visiting a famous actor who has come to the town Litel walks in, there is a fight and the actor is accidentally killed. Her husband sentenced to life imprisonment, Kay promises to devote her life to obtaining his freedom. Taking her infant daughter with her, she becomes an actress in travelling tent shows and then in a burlesque troupe, of which Minna Gombel is the prima donna. On her way upward Kay meets a producer, played by lan Hunter, and they fall in love. Fearing her love, Kay flees to England, where she wins big success on the stage. Several years later Hunter follows her and offers her a part in a Broadway production expressly written for her. She returns and scores a great triumph in the play, but she proves to be just a ‘ Comet Over Broadway ’ because she gets news that her husband can be freed at last. And although she loves Hunter she takes her small daughter and goes back to her old home and her husband to .make up to him for his years in prison. An emergency operation in mid-air; a plane unable to land because of fog; her own daughter as patient; these situations face Dr Judith Randall in the tensely dramatic climax of the Republic’s * Woman Doctor,which supports. In this production Dr Judith Randall, a talented woman surgeon, is played by Frieda Inescort. Henry Wilcoxon enacts the role of her hnsba'nd, Alan Graeme, an aeroplane designer, and her daughter Elsa is portrayed by Sybil Jason. Because of the demands of her profession Dr Randal] lias been neglecting her husband and daughter. Alan and Elsa leave Dr Randall and move to Alan’s Rhode Island estate. When Dr Randall drives out to see them tho

sound of the car's horn frightens Klsa's I lior.se and she is thrown. A broken rib punctures her long ami an operation is urgently necessary. Despite adverse i weather conditions, Alan decides to fly them to hospital. While in the air dense log closes in on them. The radio station at the airport warns them, against lauding on the beam as the celling is zero. Little Klsa is gasping for breath, so Dr .Randall decides to operate. The resultant climax is a fitting finale to this 'stirring' human story. ... IMMORTAL STORY • CHRISTMAS CAKI * AT THE F.EGEKI T’rouf .that the works of diaries Dickens are admirable subjects for the screen .was pffered by the large and enthusiastic audiences which attended the opening sessions ... of ‘ A Christmas Carol ’ at the Regent yesterday. I’erhiips the best known of all the great Victorian novelist's stories, ‘ A (.'nt'istmas Carol,’ . has ~ vividly ea.plqred . the spirit of old London, ami also the spirit of. one .of the finest of human institutions, the celebration ,of ChristmasThe producers of the him, Mctro-Gpldwyn-Maycr, have lose none of the appealing atmosphere of the original, and the picture is an outstanding successor to ‘ David Copperfield ’ and ‘ A Tale of Two Cities.’ As Scrooge, the miserly old bachelor who had lost all his feelings of goodwill toward others, Reginald Owen is always impressive in the finest role of his career. Dickens’s genius for character delineation makes the performances of the actors essential to the . success....of the,.story. .Ip. the Alin old Scrooge and the people who surround him lose their identity as characters in a book and .become real live people, who arouse feelings of liking arid distaste in the minds of the audience. Reginald Owen, who plays the role of Scrooge, is one of the foremost character actors of ■ screen and stage, and was chosen for the part by Lionel Barrymore, who, on doctor’s orders, had to relinquish the role. Owen reaps laurels for his faithful characterisation of the old miser’. His performance is as much in the spirit of the story as his make-up, which transforms him into the original illustration of the character.

Like Reginald Owen, no member of the cast fails to give a sincere and appreciative portrayal. The part of Bob Cratchitj Scrooge’s browbeaten and underpaid clerk, is taken by Gene Lockhart, and, that, of Mrs Cratchit by his wife, Kathleen Lockhart. Jjynne Cqrvcr and Barry Maokay are convincpig, asrtheir. two .eldest children, . while Terry Kilburff, a young English hoy, reveals brilliant talent as Tiny Tim, who, next to Scrooge, is perhaps the most important character of the story. His natural acting in ‘The Boy From Barnardo’s ’ first brought Terry Kilburn into prominence, and his canahle interpretation of a much more difficult role in ' 1 A Christmas Carol ’ augurs well for his future on the screen. Two other yell-known juvenile players who appear in lesser parts ai-e Ann Rutherford and the New Zealander, Ronald Sinclair. Beautiful, photography and a musical score that includes the oldtime carols add to the charm*of the picture. The dramatic highlights .include Scrooge’s dismissal of lus clerk on Christmas Eve; the Christinas celebration in the family of the clerk from whom his dismissal is kept secret; the encounter of Scrooge with the ghost of his dead partner; Scrooge’s; visit hack tp his boyhood with the Spirit of Christmas Past; his /light over London with the Spirit of Christinas Present, and the grim moment when he sees his own forgotten grave of the future. Breathing its Christmas message of “ Peace on earth, goodwill toward men,’’ Charles Dickens’s classic reaches its climax with the regeneration of the miser, the happy gathering at the home of his nephew, and at the humble abode of the Cratchits.

A varied supporting programme includes a comedy featuring Robert Rencliley, two films from the ‘ Passing Parade ’ and ‘ Crime Doesn’t Pay ’ series, and a hinhly-amusing cartoon in colour entitled ‘ The Bookworm.’ Items of outstanding interest are included in the newsreels. HUMOUR AT ITS BEST ADVENTURES AT A CIRCUS * Peck’s Bad Boy ’ is a fictional character in the United States with a popularity almost equalling that of Huckleberry Finn and other Mark Twain identities. With the engaging Tommy Kelly in the role of Bill Peek in the RKO-Radio film, ‘ Peek’s Bad Boy With the Circus ’ (which is the new picture at the State), the youngster is a lovable and very human one. Tommy Kelly is remembered for his initial performance in the technicolour production, ‘ The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.’ In the current film he and his friends have some adventures at a circus, a pleasure made possible by the_ money which both his parents have given him for his fare to a summer camp w'here young Peck is to defend his title to a trophy cup. The circus atmosphere is good and furnishes the most diverting scene where Edgar Kennedy, as a lion tamer, finds that his beasts, drugged by some sleeping pills administered by young Peck, refuse to go through their usual performance. By their behaviour, one would think that these sluggishly yawning lions thoroughly appreciated the spirit of this amusing scene. Most hilarious incident of all, however, and one which becomes an hysterically diverting one, is that where Bill Peck substitutes for the injured young bareback rider, Fleurette (Ann Gillies), and, through bad manipulation of the wires supporting him for his somersault act, sends the circus audience into roars of derisive laughter by some ludicrous poses as he struggles helplessly in the air to regain his position on the horse._ Not without authentic arena thrills is this engaging comedy. The producers employed the renowned Escalante Troup, the Liberty home act, famous animal trainers, and 100 circus players and 69 performing animals for the circus show within the picture. ‘ Peck’s Bad Boy With the Circus ’ launches another picture series, which have grown popular with the public in the past two years. The adventures of Bill Peck will he continued in future releases. A host of Hollywood personages, is entrusted with the featured role in the picture. Ann Gillis, remembered as Becky Thatcher in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,’ rejoins Tommy Kelly, and Benita Hume, Billy Gilbert, Spanky MaeFnrland, and Louise Beavers complete the top players. The feature of a really outstanding list of supports is one of the universally popular Walt Disney “ shorts,” which on this occasion relates in the best Disney fashion the vicissitudes of “ Donald Duck.” Several newsreels that have lately been released in the Dominion rover efficiently and in graphic style some of the more important phases of the war. I

FEATURING "SWING " MUSIC HCPt-ROSS COMEDY AND CRIME DRAMA. The accent is on “ swing ” music in tin; major .production at the Strand this week, where fans of this particular music will have their (ill of " hot numbers. Shirley Ross and Bob Hope arc the principal dispensers of music and comedy. ‘ Persons in Hiding ’ is the supporting attraction, and varies tho entertainment by providing the thrills; it is crime drama of the most baffling sort. Jitterbugs, rug-cutters, alligators, swing fans, and just plain lovers of good swingy music and good comedy have a big motion picture moment in store for them in Paramount’s ‘ Some Bike It Hot.’ This film is one of the best of its type offering, for it not only co-stars Bob Hope and Shirley Ross, but Gene Krupa is starred right along with them —and his orchestra is featured with him. Swing fans will rceogni'C Krupa as “ king of the hide-beaters,” who starred so long with Benny Goodman and then started his own orchestra. Naturally the picture has a story, too,' and it is the kind ■of story that fits right in with swing. Bob wants to hurry the rise to fame of himself — Gene Krupa and his boys. Ho tries ‘‘■high, pressure ” on a good agent, but this fails to bring results. - Then he meets Shirley, and she knows he is desperate, so she gives him her diamond ring to pawn. But Bob is foolish enough to lose it in a dice game, and complicates matters tremendously befor the end of the picture. The picture, called for new tunes, too, and ‘ Some Like It Hot ’ and ‘ The Lady’s in Love With You ’ are heard in the picture. The latter is to be sung by Bob and Shirley, and ranks with ‘ Two Sleepy People/ Adding to the comedy of ‘ Some Like It Hot ’ are Una Merkel and Ilufe Davis. Behind a good portion of American crime is a beautiful, demanding, and brilliant woman. .That is the belief of J. Edgar Hoover, chief of the G-men, who has written a thrilling story about such a character, under the title of ‘ Persons in Hiding.’ Heralded as the most amazing ■ and frankest of all Hoover’s crime dramas, ‘ Persons in Hiding ’ traces the career of one of these “ crime queens,” a beautiful and thrill-mad girl who gives up everything worthwhile in life to follow the star -of a desperate killer. With him she ’ embarks on a spectacular _ career of plundering, killing, and eluding the authorities until her uncontrollable feminine instincts betray her and her partner. Patricia Morison, Paramount’s dazzling new discovery _ from Broadway, plays the gun-girl in a cast that includes Lynne Overman, J. Carrol Naish, William Henry, and William Frawley. MODERN CASSANOVA MEXICAN BORDER AND WESTERN TALES Action, romance, and comedy are thoroughly mixed in ‘ The Girl and the Gambler,’ exciting story of Mexican border life, which heads the bill at the Grand, with Leo Carillo, Tim Holt, and Steffi Duna in the top roles. The film presents Carrillo as a combination Robin Hood and Cassanova of the bordor, Who alternates’his robbing of the rich to give to tho poor with a carefree pursuit of the ladies. So_ when he makes a wager with one of his rebuffed aides that he can win the heart of a dancing girl in a border town resort he expects little opposition. Unfortunately, for his plans the dancer is not at all for she is in love with a young American who operates a dice table in a casino across the street. And when the bandit becomes insistent she tells him that she and the young American are going to, be married. But the bandit interferes with this scheme by manoeuvring the American into a. gun duel with one of his own followers, the affair ending with tho death of the latter. What happens when a courageous cattleman mortgages his ranch in order to aid his fellow-ranchers fight the ruthless activities of a big meat-pack-ing company provides a, rip-roaring action in ‘ Racketeers of .the Range,’ George O’Brien’s latest RKO Radio western, which supports ‘ The Girl and th Gambler/ BULLDOG DRUMMOND AGAIN POPULAR " SAPPER " CHARACTER Bulldog Drummond, played by John Lodge, has his greatest adventures in the latest ‘‘ Sapper ” adaptation, which will be screened at the Mayfair tonight under tdie title of ‘ Arrest Bulldog Drummond/ Most of the action takes place in a castle, which belongs to Drummond, and where gangsters, plotting to ruin him, “plant” stolen diamonds. Fredric March, Patsy Kelly, Virginia Bruce, and Nancy Carroll head the brilliant cast of ‘ Tlhcre Goes My Heart/ which supports.