PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 23657, 17 August 1940, Page 8

PICTURE THEATRES

THE .NEW PROGRAMMES CLASSIC CAPTIVATES SWISS FAMILY'S AMAZING ADVENTURES Captivating entertainment is provided in the film version of the 1 Swiss Family Robinson,’ which heads the new programme at the State. With fascinating material the producer and director have managed to include a great amount of it into proportionately but satisfactory length, thus keeping the story moving steadily. Most people are conversant with the adventure story of the Swiss Family Robinson, and the picture tells the story just about the way everybody knows it. it is a very creditable production of the solid and appealing .variety. The producer has made no attempt to vary the adventure story The actual plot is on the film, just as it appears in print—primarily an engrossing tale of adventure. The effects of enforced hardship upon the characters of the shipwrecked people are clearly traced, and there is a satisfactory degree of humorous content. Much of this humour is derived from the activities of turtles, an ostrich, and other wild life encountered upon the island which was the enforced homo of the shipwrecked family. Jn their handling of the intricate processes by which the shipwrecked ueople fabricate their island dwelling, improvise utilities, ways, and • means, the producer and director have dono well. The producers have supplied dialogue which adds to the story and does no harm to the picture. The film deals intimately and vividly with the adventures of a family wrecked on a South Sea island, and with their regeneration after a. struggle with nature in the raw. A Swiss merchant in London feels that the shams and pleasure-seeking of Loudon society, coupled with the war-like atmosphere and uncertainty of tlm Napoleonic period, are rapidlv spoiling his four children. In a desperate effort to make men of them, ho sells his home and business and with his family takes passage on u sailing vessel lAiund for Australia, where he hopes to create a new life for those ho loves. But the vessel is wrecked on a reef during a storm, and the Robinsons arc the only survivors.

When the storm subsides, the Robinsons build a crude raft by which they reach a luxuriant tropic island. There they establish their home, bringing livestock and tools from the wrecked brig. After a series of adventures that tax their resources to the utmost and that provide a wealth of thrills for the audience, the father brings his family to a real understanding, reconciles his wife to his ideas, and sees the boys become the self-reliant young men that he hoped they would he. And when finally an English ship visits their island paradise the Robinson family has found itself.

A verj competent performance is

given by Thomas Mitchell as the head of the family, and Edna Best is adequately placed as the wife and mother. Freddie Bartholomew appears to fullest advantage in his role, and Terry Kilburn, Tim Holt, jun., and Baby Bobby Quillan give splendid support. Those six carry the complete burden during the island portion of the picture. Doubtless the story is. as in the original, strongest in its appeal to the juvenile audience, but it undoubtedly made a strong appeal to last night's largo adult audience. Crisis in the Pacific is the subject of a new ‘ March of Time ’ issue which heads the supporting programme, while Disney’s 1 The Pointer,’ is a Mickey Mouse masterpiece. “ DEAD END KIDS " STARRED WITH ANN SHERIDAN Distinctly on the side of good citizenship, though still tough and still aggressive, are the “ Dead End Kids ” in their latest picture for Warner Bros., ‘ Angels Wash Their Faces,’ which heads this week’s programme at the St. James. In addition to the partial reformation of . the Dead binders,” the production is also notable for the fact that it provides Ann Sheridan, now known to fame as the “ oomph ” girl, with her first sympathetic role since her elevation to stardom. Since the part places little dependence on Ann’s “ oomph ” appeal, it gives her an opportunity to demonstrate that she has fine acting ability. In addition to the “ Dead Enders,” other fine Juvenile performers are in the cast of the new Warner picture. They include Frankie Thomas, Bonita Granville, and Jack Searl. Playing the romantic opposite Miss Sheridan is the tall, handsome, and vigorous Ronald Reagan. In the course of the story the group of youngsters portrayed by the “ Dead End Kids ” are not only consistently on the side of the law, but are mainly responsible for bringing to justice as.foul a group of adult malefactors ak' has over perpetrated cruel and heartless deeds of villainy in any motion picture. 4 Arson is just on"? of- the crimes to which this band, headed by Ciannelli, has recourse as a means of making easy inonev. The kids set out to gather evidence against this sinister gang for two reasons—first, because oue of their number has perished in a tenement fire set by the arsonist-, and. second, because the real criminals manage to have the blame for the blaze pinned upon Frankie Thomas, who has been admitted to the kids’ club and is a pal of theirs. Frankie, who is the young brother of Ann, is a likely suspect because he has served a term in a reformatory. • He has, however, left that institution thoroughly reformed. The boy and his sister have convinced Reagan, who is an investigator for the district attorney's office, that Frankie is innocent. Meanwhile Reagan has also fallen in love with Ann. but nevertheless Frankie is arrested, tried, and sentenced to a prison term. Based on an idea by Jonathan Finn, the screen i>lay was written by Michapl Fessier. Niven Busch, and Robert Buckner, and the production was directed by Ray Enright. .Supports are particularly interesting on this new programme. They include •_;p i;i'"ut's of real eomedv. recalling the Mack Scnnett Beauties, Andy

Clyde, Charlie Murray, Louise Phyllis Haver, and Ramon Novarro. These old fa'v.ourites are all to be seen in ‘ Small Town Idol,’ a Ben Turpin comedy. Then there is a “ Looney Tune ” cartoon entitled ‘ Porky’s Movie Mystery,’ and a technicolour cartoon, ‘ The Major Lied at Dawn.’ To cap all, newsreels feature the latest oversea developments. MASTERPIECE CF FANTASY DISNEY'S BRILLIANCE IN ' PINOGGHIO ' The first showing in this city of Walt Disney’s 1 Pinocchio ’ at the Octagon last night was the really big movie event of the year. ‘ Pinocchio ’is Walt Disney’s challenge to his own work—‘ Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ’ —his former feature-length Eicture, which during two years has een the peak of achievement in the motion picture world. That pinnacle is certain to be now topped by Pinocchio.’ Never satisfied that he reached a state of perfection, Disney and his staff work tirelessly to develop new methods and devices for improving the artistry and technique of their productions. ‘ Pinocchio,’ photographed in the new multiplane technicolour, is Walt Disney’s latest word on what can be done in the field of art in entertainment.

Walt Disney’s magic medium brings to tho screen a strange array of new characters for ‘ Pinocchio.’ Humans, animals who might as well be human, and a live puppet without strings rub elbows in an exciting series of adventures. These strange fusions of animal, human, and whimsy are convincingly presented in the superb production. ‘ Pinocchio ’ tells the story of an old w-ood carver who wished that his little wooden marionette could become alive. Tho wish comes true, and plunges the old man and In's friends into gaily hectic adventures.

The Disney imagination found plenty of inspiration in the adventures of ‘ Pinocchio ’ as written by Carlos Lorenzini, who wrote under the name of 0. Cnllodi. 1 Pinocchio ’ was a puppet show popular for centuries in Europe before Lorenziui penned the story, which lias been reprinted so many times in America that some of tho publiclibraries carry versions.

The characters required to tell I’inocchio's story range from reality to fancy. The wood carver, Geppctto. and the puppeteer. Strom boll, are human. Among the animal figures Jimmy Cricket plays the lead. It is prophesied ho, like Dopey, will steal the show her cause of his gay personality, his conscientious efforts to be Pinoechio’s conscience, and his red umbrella, Jiminy has a large speaking vole, and the villains (the Fox and the Cat) are also endowed with speech ; hut the two pots of Geppetto, Figaro the blaek kitten and Cleo the goldfish, find silence with gestures more telling than words. Nor does Alonstro the whale need words to help him create terror. Another important character is the Blue Fairv. The adventures of Pinocchio are animated against backgrounds of a toymaker’s fascinating workshop, a waterfront inn where thieves and rogues hang out, and an island where the mountains are made of ice cream cones and the rivers of lemonade, and where pie. popcorn. and other dolectablcs children never get their fill of grow on trees Climaxing these are the marine gar dens, where weird fishes lurk in tangled sea jungles and where Monstro Iho

whale sends all the sea creatures scurrying in terror when ho is looking for his dinner.

As with all Walt Disney productions, whether feature or short length, the music for ‘ Pinocchio ’ follows the pattern of the light opera. All of the songs further the plot rather than furnish a musical interlude. Leigh Marline wrote the music and Nod Washington the lyrics for six songs. They are ‘ Little Woodenhead,’ sung by the wood carver Gcppettn when he demonstrates the dancing ability of the toy puppet he has just created; ‘When You Wish Upon a Star,’ sung by Jiminy Cricket at the opening of the picture, acting as a theme strain; ‘ Got No Strings,’ sung by Pinocchio when he becomes an actor in Stromboli’s puppet show ; ‘ Give a Little Whistle,’ another song by Jiminy; ‘ Hi-diddle-dee-dee, An Actor’s Life for Me,’ sung by J. Worthington Foulfellow, the Fox, who dangles alluring temptation before 'the puppet; and ‘Turn On the Old Music Box.’ Besides these six songs the story and music collaborate on some novelty effects, such as the symphonies of the clocks and the music boxes. There are excellent supports. SOUTH AMERICAN COWBOY HOPALONG CASSIDY GOES SOUTH ‘ Law of the Pampas,’ which'opened its Dunedin season yesterday at the Strand, where it is billed witli ‘ Seventeen,’ carries the renowned “ Hopalong ” Cassidy to the South American plains to new and even wilder adventures. “ Hoppy,” in the petsou of William Boyd, and his best pal “ Lucky,” .Russell Hayden, turn gaucho temporarily when they travel to faraway Argentina to deliver a herd of prize cattle to a wealthy rancher, and find that members of the rancher’s family are being killed off one by one, for no apparent reason. Never one to sidestep adventure or the chance to help a pal out of difficulty, “ Hopalong ” prolongs his visit to see what he can do. The “ Bar 20 ” foreman’s newest enemy is Sidney Blacknicr, who is cast as the unfriendly son-in-law of the Argentine family. Suspecting him immediately, “ Hoppy ” soon learns that lie and a pair of European gangsters arc the men behind the killings. In the absence of his loyal “ Bar 20 ” boys, “Hopalong ” enlists the aid of the daring ganchos and fights it out with Blackmer’s gang on the wild pampas. In addition to its six-gun action and romantic setting. Producer Harry Sherman’s ‘ Law of the Pampas ’ boasts an exceptional supporting cast, including Sidney Toler, Steffi Du«a, Pedro de Cordoba, and the popular radio quartet. “The King’s Men.” The story of a young man who suffers all the trials and tribulations of a great love, only to find that at 17 be is not yet a man is told in Paramount’s screen adaptation of Booth Tarkington’s famous classic. ‘ Seventeen,’ which is the supporting feature. Jackie Cooper plays the role of the lovestricken youth with a delightful touch of humour, without losing for a moment the audience’s sympathy in his time of trouble. The picture opens with Jackie rapidly approaching the status of manhood and very conscious of the position. The age is awkward enough, but the condition is aggravated when a flirtatious young miss from the big cifv arrives in the small town. There follows a period of utter

confusion when the love-stricken lad juggles his financial resources and loses friends and family sympathy in a desperate effort to make a hit. However, a reconstruction is effected and comes the realisation that 17 is, after all, just a boy’s age. With Jackie Cooper in the cast are Betty Field, as the fickle miss, Otto Kruger, as the lad’s father, and Ann Shoemaker as the understanding mother. OUTSTANDING SEA SAGA GRAPHIC BATTLE OF STSAH AND SAIL ‘ Rulers of the Sea,’ now showing at the Regent, is a seafaring film of outstanding merit. Taking its title into consideration, one might mistake it for a navy picture, but, in fact, it is based on the story of the bbttle between sail and steam which raged early in the nineteenth .century. One of the most remarkable features of a fine film is the beauty and realism of the scenes at sea. There is nothing more appealing on tile screen than the sight of tall ships under canvas, and ‘ Rulers of the Sea ’ shows both sailing ships and early steamers in calm and storm. Despite all this, and despite the fact that some of the action takes place in tho engine room of a steamer of 1838. there are no anachronisms. 1 Rulers of the Sea 1 is set in tho days when steam was first appearing as a rival to the windjammer, The story opens on board tho windjammer Falcon, bound from Row York to tho Old Country with a cargo of apples. In order to get the cargo to its destination in good condition and also to see if he can boat his own record, the skipper of the Falcon (George Bancroft) claps on all sail in spite of a storm which he knows is brewung. When the storm is at its height men are ordered aloft to shorten sail; one man is killed, and Chief Officer Gillespie (Douglas Fairbanks, jun.) accuses the skipper of murder. The day the Falcon arrives at Greenoch-on-the-Clydo is a memorable one, for it sees tho little paddle steamer Dog Star setting out on her maiden voyage.

Among tho .staunchest of steam’s adherents is Shaw, an ugly, vital little Scottish engineer (Will Fyffe). Shaw maintains that not only can steam take boats round the homo coasts, but that it can drive them across the Atlantic. After a great deal of hardship and disappointment, Shaw and Gillespie get a hacker for their scheme to build a steamer and set up their foundry. A lire ruins their hopes, and when it is heard that another firm intends to use steam and will probably cross tho Atlantic before them it appears as if their case is hopeless. Then the idea of using the paddle steamer Dog Star is mooted, and it is with this inadequate craft that they ultimately set off. having first emptied the lockers of sail and replaced canvas with coal. At length they reach New York, and their task is ended—or, if you prefer it, just begun. Some of the tensest moments in this film are in the engine room of the Dog Star, where, good as the actors are, tho engines themselves steal the picture. The—to modern eyes, at any rate—antiquated pistons and levers move up and down in a rhvthmic pattern against the sweat-stained and smoke-begrimed men., who move in u shadowy atmosphere of steam and beat. Then (here

1 are tlie exciting moments when the ; stunted prow of the Dog Star creeps up, comes alongside, and passes the , more majestic and picturesque Falcon i in the- middle of the Atlantic. To pick . out individual scenes in a film like this, however, is too hard a task, for they follow one another in quick succession and are linked up in such a manner as to make-a completely satisfyiug whole. The acting is on a par with the general “ feel ’’ of the film. Will Fyffe'e performance as Shaw, the whisky-loving, steam-minded fanatic, rivals his own portrayal in ‘ Owd Bob,’ and Margaret Lockwood and Douglas Fairbanks fit easily into their parts. Among the minor characters George Bancroft, as the rough, tough, but good-humoured skipper of the old school, gives a good performance, and Donald Meek, in two all-too-brief scenes, presents another of his inimitable character studies. Frank Lloyd was the director, and he should bo congratulated on a film which might be described as “ one out of the box.” Featurettes include 1 Blue Danube Waltz ’ (the National Philharmonic Orchestra) ; ‘ Catching Whoppers,’ a Grantland Bice sportlight; and a Popeye cartoon. MAD MARXES MERRY CIRCUS FAROE A laugh riot, even more mirth-pro-voking loan ‘ A Night at the Opera ’ and ‘ A Day at tlie Daces,’ is the Metro-Goldvvyn-Mayer comedy, ‘ At the Circus,’ featuring the three "inimitable Marx brothers, which heads the new programme »t the Kmpiro. It is a veritable circus of entertainment in which Groucho, Chico, and Harpo Marx turn the “ big tent ” upside down with their appearance as trapeze artists, wild animal trainers, and clowns quite unlike any clowns ever seen in a circus. This picture is easily the most spectacular and uproarious of any by tJio three famous brothers. The story—or riot, as it should bo termed—concerns the three Marxes principally. Groucho is a crackpot lawyer, J. Cheever Loophole by name, who has never won a case. Chico is a rouscaboiit, and Harpo enacts the assistant World’s Strongest Man. Then there is Kenny Baker, of the radio soiigways, as part owner of the circus; Florence Bice as the star equestrienne and his sweetheart; Fve Arden as tlie Upside Down Girl; Nat Pendleton as the Strong Man; Margaret Dumont as the usual society dowager, and many others. The Strong Man, the Upside Down Girl, the Midget, and the crooked cireus manager connive to trick Kenny out of his share of the circus. They demand ]o,ooodol from , Kenny, although they have already stolen that amount from him and j hidden it in the gorilla’s cage. Harpo : and Chico summon Groucho to the circus to fight Kenny’s cause. That’s , where the riot begins. But, after a continuous rapid-fire of comedy sequences, a happy solution is reached. Kenny wins the love of Miss j Bice and gets his money back, saving j the circus, Groucho also helps by sur- f prising Mrs Dukesbury, played by Mar- 1 garct Dumont, when lie pitches the circus on her front lawn ns a society function. And all the culprits are cap- I. hired. Among tlie many humorous ‘ highlights of the comedy are Harpo"s c

strong man act, Groucho enticing the stolen money from the Upside Gown Girl by doing a rhumba with her upside down on the coiling, and the climactic scene in which all the principal characters, including a gorilla, chase each other all over the liying trapezes at the very top of the circus tent Kenny Baker and Miss Rice are both starred in the unusual musical number featuring the white and black Arabian horses with a chorus of beautiful riders and in other musical interludes. Also, llarpo and his harp and Chico and his piano introduce new musical hits. Mervyn Le Roy is producer and Edward Ruzzell directed, meriting commendatiohs for his direction of one of the grandest laugh-provokers the screen has shown in many a moon. Supports are of the Empire’s usual high standard. In ‘ Maintain the Right,’ Pete Smith makes the first authentic pieturisation of the famous Canadian North-west Mounted Police; ‘ Miracle at Lourdes ’ tells a strange storv of Divine intervention at the historic shrine of Lourdes, while the sixth episode of the popular serial, 1 The Green Hornet,’ is as thrilling as its predecessors. DRAMATIC ACTION KEYNOTE OF GRAND FARE In Columbia’s ‘Fugitive At Large,’ which is screening at the Grand, the ramifications of mistaken identity are thrillingly explored. For the picture concerns itself with a reputable engineer, played by Jack Holt, who is so unfortunate as to bear a striking resemblance to a certain gangster. Taking advantage of this resemblance, the criminal manages to frame the engineer for a 20-year prison sentence. Jack Holt plays the dual role of both engineer and gangster, and, like so many Holt films, the picture is a great deal nearer fact than fancy. Only recently, in a Brooklyn criminal court, witnesses positively identified a certain young man as the participant in a robbery. On the basis of this testimony the supposed robber was sentenced to a year and a-half term in the penitentiary. After almost a year had gone by a well-known police character confessed to the burglary and the young man was freed. On comparison of his photograph with that of the real perpetrator of the crime, the two were found to j bear an amazing resemblance. !

‘Two-fisted Rangers,’ the support, has for its theme the efforts of a band of range racketeers'to push into election a crooked sheriff and the counterefforts of the honest range riders to elect a good man and to solve the mystery of the death of the previous sherriff. There is plenty of incident, with hard riding and hard fighting. For the climax there is'a pitched gun battle in the best tradition, diaries Starrett and Iris Meredith both give good performances, and the “ Sons of the Pioneers ” contribute several typical musical numbers.

SPECTACULAR MUSICAL SONJA HENIt AND TYRONE POWER Tyrone Power and Souja iienic ara the stars of ‘ Second Fiddle,’ a brilliant musical ud skating spectacle that heads the new hill at the Mayfair. Rudy Vallee and Edna May Oliver are also iu the cast. The skating sequences are among the most colourful and ingenious ever attempted, aud Sonja Henie, as usual, gives her polished performances on the ice. Tyrone Power, her new leading man, is at the top of his form, aud the film is a masterpiece of nuisio and romance. ‘ Mutiny on the Blackhawk,’ which supports, is a slave ship drama, featuring Richard Arleu, Andy Devine and Noah ■ Beery. There are thrills enough for the most avid action-seeker, and the film rounds off an excellent bill nicely THRILLS OF THE AIR BARRY BARNES ESPIONAGE DRAMA There is plenty of varied entertainment in ‘ Spies of the Air,’ showing tonight at the Municipal. The story deals with the leakage of secrets from a lonely aerodrome where vet another super-fast plane is being nursed to completion for the Air Force. Barry K. Barnes is the very attractive test pilot, who is in love with his designer’s wife, played by Joan Marion in her effectively intense maimer. Also screening is George Formby in ‘By George,’ a riotous comedy; and a further issu* of the ‘ March of Time ’ series.