AMUSEMENTS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20378, 15 October 1940, Page 5

AMUSEMENTS

regent theatre “THE OLD MAID”: MEMORABLE FILM A drama that will linger long in the memory of all who see it is ‘‘The Old Maid,” which is being screened at the Regent Theatre with Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins in the starring roles. A deeply stirring story of the curious bond of hatred that binds two women together, it is matchlessly performed by the two stars and a brilliant supporting cast. Produced by Warner Bros., the film is a worthy successor to such triumphs as “Juarez," “Dark Victory,” and “Daughters Courageous,” from the same studio. “The Old Maid." written by Edith Wharton was first a best-selling novel, and then was made into a stage piay by Zoe Akins, winning the Pulitzer Prize of its year. It is the tale of two girl cousins of a proud old Philadelphia family, and its period ranges from the beginning of the Civil War in 1861 up to the 1880‘s. Across that stretch or years the two live under the same roof—hating each other, never achieving reciprocal sympathy or understanding until both are vvell into middle age, and the. young daughter of one is leaving the ancient homestead for matrimony. Miriam Hopkins is a widow, with two children ol her own. The old maid is Bette Davis. —Films of Bombed London To-Morrow Only— Moving pictures taken in London on August 23 and rushed by airmail across the Atlantic .and Pacific Oceans will be screened at the Regent Theatre only to-morrow, and the first scenes of the attack on London from tho air should attract great interest. The film was posted in London on September 5. Sent in two small wooden boxes, it carried £4B 4s in postage stamps, a sum which few New Zealanders have licked and stuck upon a parcel. Among them were 48 10/- stamps and four 1/- ones. Both boxes vyere covered with stamps, back and front, leaving only a few square inches of wood exposed. This remaKable film is called “London’s Reply to German Claims," and is a pictorial record, made by a neutral observei, of a tour through London on August 23, just after German broadcasts had asserted that the city was a mass of ruins and the morale of the people seriouslv upset. Needless to say, n proved these assertions false. Inc film which was received' at Wellington ’ by Sir Harry Batterbee, United Kingdom High Commissioner, travelled by .air mail across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, making the journey at a rate of more than 1000 miles a day. All who have seen the film so far have been profoundly impressed by it.