TALKIE ATTRACTIONS

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 8 March 1935, Page 2

TALKIE ATTRACTIONS

OPERA HOUSE “THE LOST PATROL” There’s an old hit of philosophy to the effect that it isn’t whether you are dead but how you die. The heroic figures in RKG-Radio’s “The Lost Patrol,” which had its initial screening in Hawera last night at the Opera House, proceed along those lines. Trapped in a desert oasis of Mesopotamia by ruthless Arabs, the small cavalry unit faces certain death as the Arab circles close in, and one by one of the colorful soldiers find a last resting place beneath a little mound of sand from which a sabre j protrudes. . J How they live and how they die. forms the basis for the tense, stirring drama with a plot evershifting like the sand dunes of the desert immensity. They fight among themselves. They use every resource taken from their respective backgrounds of hardship to down the cunning Arab. Struggle within their souls is written on their drawn faces. Sun and sand and storm intensify the drama and the scenic splendour of the bleak wastes adds to the picture’s appeal. Without a woman in the cast, and its storv concerned with the final fortunes of doomed fighting men in thal desert, “Lost, Patrol” is reminiscent of that other all male fighting drama, “Journey’s End.” Unaware of their exact location, not knowing where their brigade may be. hopeless of getting any aid, the patrol waits for death, hut repulses it with a hail of lead whenever the besieging Arabs attack openly. Olne soldier 1 goes mad. Another is killed at his sentry post—and another and anothei. Some talk of women—the girls they left behind them, and one wails of being a Jonah who brings bad luck to all around him. The grim faced sergeant, however, remains the soldier, iron willed, steel nerved, unconquered. . The last scene is the best piece or acting McLaglen has ever done. His impressive, convincing performance throughout comes to its natural conclusion. Supporting players are all excellent, with Karloff building up an eerie, sinister character. • Wallace Ford! Reginald Denny, Bill Bevan, J. M. Kerigan, Sammy Stein, Brandon Hurst, Paul Hanson and Douglas 'Walton being especialy noteworthy. All give genuine effect of fighting men, playing with forceful repression and some sardonic humour.

“BARRETTS OF WIMPOLE STREET.” Met r o-G ol d wvn-M oyer’s proudest achievement, “Barretts of W impolo Street,” .starring Norma Shearer, Charles'''"Laughton, Frederic March, will open at the Hawera Opera House to-morrow for a season of three nights with special matinees daily at 2 p.m. In view of the limited season, and owing. to the heavy demand for reserves already to hand, intending patrons will be wise to book well in advance. The following are a few criticisms from leading newspapers: Smith’s Weekly, which made an A.A.A. award plus gold cup: “The Barretts of W-impole Street’ must he numbered with the greatest pictures of the year”; the New Zealand Herald: “A personal triumph for each of the three principals ; it will undoubtedly be classed as one of the most notable screen offerings of 1935.” The associate programme includes, “The Discontented Canary,” the first of a series of Metro-Goiciwyn-Mayer coloured cartoons, and “Roping with Bears,” which is about the most exciting ten minutes an audience has over been through. The commentary is by Pete Smith.

grand theatre

“CIRCUS CLOWN” AND “DEFENCE RESTS.” The famous awning-lipped comedian, Joe Brown, will appear on the screen of the Grand Theatre to-morrow at the matinee and at 8 p.m. and finally on Monday night in his latest First National comedy, “The Circus Clown/ Brown started his career at. the age of of nine with a- circus and travelled with ; ifc for several years before he gave it up to become a baseball player and later a theatrical and screen performer.. Once famed as an aerialist, Brown is said to perform almost entirely under the “Big Top” at the winter quarters of the Al. G. Barnes circus, near El Monte, California, where the company spent several weeks on location. The circus is used throughout a.s a background for the hilarious stunts of the picture, which, however, has its own well-defined plot and romance. The picture deals with the intimate lives of the circus folk behind the scenes and also during the .show. The tangled love affairs of the circus folk come into play, in which Joe becomes so involved that his plight, becomes ludicrous. “The Defence Rests,” starring Jack Holt and featuring Jean Arthur, is the second attraction, and is the story of a sensation-seeking lawyer who gets more sensation than he wants. Also showing is another episode oi “Pirate Treasure.”

“HTS GREATEST GAMBLE.” In his latest starring vehicle, Richard Dix is said to essay the most difficult role of bis career as a neer-do-well father who turns hero, and in. a sensational manner ensures bis daughter’s happiness after dt seems that .she is doomed to a life of suppressed hopes “His Greatest Gamble,” which screens finally to-night at the Grand Theatre, pictures Dix as a gambler devoted to ei^ht-year-old Alice, but he is separated” from her when he unintentionally causes a. death, which sends him to gaol for fifteen years. Under the heartless custody. of a social-mad mother, Alice evolves .into a, wishy-washy debutante in ten years. When the mother menaces the girl’s romance with a> worthy young man, hoi father sheds the law’s fetters to come to her aid. He accomplishes her rescue in a powerful and sympathetic climax.