AMUSEMENTS

Grey River Argus, 29 September 1949, Page 7

AMUSEMENTS

Opera House Finally to-night: “Against the Wind.” Commencing to-morrow: ‘‘Red Canyon,” (in technicolour), starring Ann Blyth and Howard Duff. Thrills ride high, wide and handsome in the special screen attraction “Red Canyon,” commencing at the Opera House to-morrow. The technicolour drama is high in high-handed adventure, the breaking of wild horses and fighting desperadoes. Wide are the colourful open spaces of Southern Utah where the picture was filmed. And handsome are its stars, Ann Blyth, Howard Duff and George Brent. Universal-International has adapted Zane Grey’s novel “Wildfire” to the screen in the same tempo of •excitement and on the very locations described by the author. The film shows popular Mr Duff in a romantic role for the first time. But he is still the he-man of action which brought him screen attention in “The Naked City” and Brute F'orce.” His capture of the wild horse as well as his gun battles with a murderous gang of horse thieves, keep him in the kind of portrayal his fans admire. Miss Blyth is more attractive than ever in her first technicolour picture, and has an entirely new assignment as the madcap sagebrush queen who rides the dangerous black stallion in a race for love. George Brent has an unusual starring role, sans romance, as the bard and relentless Mathew Bostel, father of Miss Blyth, whilst others of prominence are Edgar Bullianan and June Darwell. Regent Theatre Finally to-night: “The Shop at Sly Corner.” Commencing to-mor-row: “Julia Misbehaves.” It’s Greer Garson you’ve never seen before in M.G.M.’s rip-tickling romantic comedy, “Julia Misbehaves.” Reunited with Walter .Pidgeon, with whom she shared many of previous triumphs. Miss Garson now goes on an all-out comedy spree as a woman determined to win back her estranged husband, Bill, and marriageable daughter, Susan, by any means—fair or foul. It takes some completely daffy doings on the part of ex-Lon-don, music hall queen, Julia Packett, to convince Bill that he can’t live without her —among them a screamingly fully bubble bath sequence,. a performing seal, an encounter with a picnicking bear and an unexpected emersion into a freezing lake —but aided by a soft-hearted pawnbroker, a skirt-chasing English lord and a riotous family of acrobats, she not only recaptures BiTT but steers Susan smack into the arms of the young artist she loves. Miss Garson is a pure delight as the conniving Julia, proving herself as much at home in light comedy as in her more familiar emotional roles, while Pidgeon, as usual, is admirably cast as her fencing partner—this time the duel being one chiefly of laughs. Elizabeth Taylor is the appealing young Susan, with Peter Lawford as the recklessly romantic artist with whom she elopes. Cesar Romero has a field day with the role of the “Flying Ghenoccio,” an acrobat with plenty of brawn but something short on brain, and Mary Boland adds to the hilarity as the champagne-loving Ma Ghenoccio who can never keep out of trouble. Then there are Lucile Watson, representing the snobbish British uppercrust Nigel Bruce as the philandering Col. Willowbrook and Reginald Owen as the gullible pawnbroker—all of them excellent.