ENTERTAINMENTS Opera House

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 July 1947, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS Opera House

Tonight: “I Didn’t Do It,” starring George Formby and “Burma Victory.” We have been following George Formby through his many and varied screen - roles; it therefore comes as a pleasant surprise to find him in “I Didn’t Do It,” portraying his own natural self as a vaudeville artist. The story moves around a Bloomsbury boarding establishment run especially for vaudeville artists, and when George arrives as the new guest, expectation runs high, especially when it is rumoured he has capital to back a super cabaret show. Actually George is practically penniless. Drama enters the plot when a vaudeville agent living at the boardinghouse exterminates a rival as, a means of paying off an old score —George is implicated because he knows “whodunnit” and becomes a suspect of the police. Anyhow, following some hilarious scenes in the true Formby style, George eventually gets a backer for his super cabaret. “BURMA VICTORY”

Unlike any film you have ever seen, “Burma Victory” is the true story of men who experienced, and made sacrifice for the greatest love of a ii—love of their country and their fellow man. This film showing at the Opera House tonight shows no lines of endlessly marching men, duels between gun and gun, or ’plane and ’plane, for this is the stark drama of men who fought in foetid swamps against Japanese enemies they seldom saw. Blood, toil and sweat were true of the whole war, but never so true as when applied to the experiences of those who fought, not only the enemy, but disease and madness in the twilight which is the jungle. Their guts in holding on, in doing the impossible, in conditions indescribable, makes their name one which will go down in history.

Regent Theatre Tonight: “Holiday in Mexico,” starring Walter Pidgeon, Jose Iturbi, Roddy McDowall, Ilona Massey, Xaxier Cugat. Beautifully photographed against a background of rich Mexican scenery, the new technicolour musical, “Holiday in Mexico,” tells the story of the widowed American ambassador to Mexico, played by. Walter Pidgeon and his ’teen aged daughter, portrayed by golden voiced Jane Powell. During a holiday in Mexico, the ambassador meets his one time love, Hungarian aristrocrat Toni Karpathy now a refugee and revives the old romance, which started at her father’s castle. This happy, heart moving story is rendered additionally enjoyable by the rich musical background. Jane Powell sings many delightful numbers, including “Les Filles De Cadiz,” “Italian Street Song” and “Ave Maria,” Jose Iturbi plays superbly such fine music as Chopin’s “Polonnaise” , and part of Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto. Xavier Cugat and his orchestra give many pleasing selections —it’s fun, itjs colourful, it’s delightful entertainment!