AMUSEMENTS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 280, 10 November 1934, Page 10

AMUSEMENTS

RECENT THEATRE A GAY BRITISH COMEDY Film producers’ puffs of their own pictures may or may not be justified from the point of view of those who take them at their face value, and the management of the Regent Theatre, where “That’s a Good Girl,’’ featuring the handsome, gay and sprightly Jack Buchanan, is to be shown to-night, gave local critics an opportunity of forming opinions for themselves by allowing them to see a private screening of this British picture yesterday. It is most emphatically a good picture, and the writers of “advance puffs’’ about it could quite justly be allowed to say something pretty complimentary in its praise. Jack dances; Jack sings; Jack plays the fool, and puts his foot in it, and nearly loses half a million pounds, and does aud says with all hie old gaiety and attractiveness all the things that his admirers have come to expect from him. Ho is, as everyone knows, one of the very best of comedians and a most attractive fellow also. In “That's a Good Girl’’ he is just as good as' ever. Photographically the pietilre is ti flue production, as it is in every other respect. The scenes in the Riviera are especially good. Jack Buchanan sings a number of songs both solo and with Elsie Randolph, who is also his dancing partner. It is a story of gay comedy linked up with the escapades of a. lovable ne’er-do-well (Jack Buchanan); a hot-tempered opera singer; a female detective; and a rich and rather sporting aunt. As a play with Jack Buchanan taking the leading part, “That’s a Good Girl’’ ran for more than a year in London. One of the most interesting features of a fine supporting programme is one of the Regent's special shorts dealing with tennis. This will be shown at 7.30. Ring 3843 for reserves.

STATE THEATRE “HAT, COAT AND GLOVE’’ Combining romance and the suspense elements of a well-conceived murder mystery, “Hat, Coat and Glove,’’ the attraction which commences its season at the State Theatre to-day, is a most entertaining picture with something for every type of film-goer. The story depicted by a strong cost of splendid players, including Ricardo Cortez, Barbara Robbins, John Beal and Dorothy Burgess, involves u great criminal lawyer and his beautiful wife and a young artist, the “other man.’’ The story assumes sinister proportions when a girl from the artist’s past is found dead in his apartment. A hat, a coat and a glove are the only clues to the real murderer. The lawyer is induced by his wife to defend the artist. Tho drama rises to tense heights in the courtroom scenes, where surprise follows surprise. Cortez is at hiu best us the lawyer in “Hat, Gout aud Glove,’’ and has added another success to his already long list. Barbara Robbins, vivid new personality from the New York stage, plays the leading feminine role as the wife and makes a convincing debut in films which promises to make her a firm favourite. Beal, another brilliant young stage player, portrays the “other man’’ and makes a decided hit. Altogether “Hat, Coat and Glove’’ is an excellent picture and under Worthington Miner’s direction the result is entertainment of a dramatic nature which should thrill the audiences at the .State Theatre during the season of this feature. COSY THEATRE “TAKE A CHANCE’’ AND “ABOVE THE CLOUDS’’ Two fine features are on the bill for tho season which commences at the Cosy Theatre to-day. “Take a Chance,” the new Paramount musical film, is a gay bit of nonsense concerning the careers of four carnival side-show entertainers who become tired of smalltown life and decide to snatch fame and fortune on Broadway. James Dunn and Clift Edwards, who just can't keep from pocketing other people’s watdlies and miscellaneous valuables, make a splendid team. Dunn, who has played romantic leads exclusively in the past, steps over into farce comedy as though born to it. June Knight and Lillian Roth support them well. “Take a Chance” has a much stronger plot than the usual musical film, besides boasting of a chorus of Broadway’s prettiest girls and at least five hit songs. Tho other picture is “Above tho Clouds.” The story of u picture-hawk’s life must bo thrilling, fast-moving and unusual. “Above the Clouds” is tho first of the Hollywood product revolving around the exploits of tho newsreel fraternity. In this film, made under tho direction of Roy William Neill, are packed a wide gamut of thrills and adventures that are part of the daily life of men in this unusual business. In “Above the Clouds,” in which Robert Armstrong plays the part of tho ace cameraman, “Scoop” Adams; Richard Cromwell, Dick, his assistant, and Dorothy Wilson the part of Dick’s sweetheart, there is a big range in episodes all highly ilustrative of the camera hawk’s life.

ARCADIA THEATRE “SHE WAS A LADY” By a woman . . . about a woman . . . for all women! Thus briefly is summed up “She Was a Lady,” the new Fox Film drama by Elisabeth Cobb, which commences its season at the Arcadia Theatre to-day with Helen Twelvetrees hi the outstanding role of her career. Based on tho struggle of a girl to surmount the handicap bf a family skeleton and win tho right to life ami love, the film moves against the multiple background of a Montana ranch, a trrvelling circus, New York night life aud a stately old English castle. And with each successive change of scene, it is said, its emotional appeal grows apace. As the ill-starred heroine of the drama. Miss Twelvetrees is credited with a performance which surpasses all her previous contributions to screen history. In the early scenes on the ranch and later as a circusrider she demonstrates her skill as an equestrienne; then undergoes a transition which reveals her as the dramatic actress by which audiences have come to know her. She herself is quoted as pronouncing her part “tho perfect, picture role.” Appearing opposite Miss Twelvetrees as the romantic leading man is

Donald Woods, and his performance, too, has been heralded as a fresh triumph for him. In chief supporting roles are Monroe Owsley and Ralph Morgan. Owsley is often referred to as “the screen’s champion sneerer,” because of the many captivating villains he has played; and in “She was a Lady” lie again appears as a menace to threaten the happiness of the heroine. Morgan handles the sensitive, sympathetic role of Miss Twelvetrees’ father. “She Was a Lady,’’ the novel bv Elisabeth Cobb, daughter of Irvin S. Cobb, which Fox Film has transferred to the screen, has been described by McCall’s Magazine editors as “one of the most unusual stories wo have ever published.”