ENTERTAINMENTS

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 220, 18 August 1931, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

PALACE THEATRE. LAWRENCE TIBBETT IN “THE PRODIGAL.” Lawrence Tibbett., opera and screen star, presents to his fans his first rolo played strictly in tho garb of to-day in “The Prodigal,” Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’6 drama of love, divorce and tho inhibitions of society, which concludes at tho Palace Theatre tonight. Tibbett heretofore associated with the vivid trappings of “Tho Rogue Song” and “New Moon,” opens tho film in tramp garb. Later, he assumes the garb of a gentleman and finds himself catapulted into one of the most daring situations a playwright over conceived. Tibbett sings several southern songs. Esther Ralston, of “Fashions for Women” and “Peter Pan” fame, appears as tho heroine. “THE WIDOW FROM CHICAGO.”

Heading tho list'- at tho Palace Theatre to-morrow is First National’s melodrama hit, “Tho Widow from Chicago,” which begins its engagement with “Hot Heiress.” 1 Tho picture is entitled to bo labelled allstar, including as it does Edward G. Robinson, Neil Hamilton, Frank McHugh and Alice White. Neil Hamilton plays opposite Miss White in an interesting rolo that ends by making him a hero, though he just escapes tho villain class. Tho love story is said to bo very original. Outstanding in the cast is the figure of Edward G. Robinson, who created the unforgettable gangster role in the stage version of “Tho Racket.” He portrays an entirely different type of gangster, one more human, subtle and realistic, in “Tho Widow from Chicago.” “The Hot Heiress” is one of the most hilarious and human comedies of the year. There are three songs in keeping with the spirit of the piece. They are “Like Ordinary People Do,” “You’re the Cats” and “Nobody Loves a Riveter.” Ben Lyon, celebrated for his fine work in “Hell’s Angels,” is featured with beautiful Ona Munson. “The Hot Heiress” is modern, suffused with the gaiety of youth, and amusing in the extreme. AT THE REGENT. “EAST LYNNE” ATTRACTS LARGE AUDIENCES. If the Regent . Theatre this week establishes a new record for attendance it will be because “East Lynne” not only represents the fulfilment of the management’s promise, but because tho lovely Ann Harding, assisted by Clive Brook, Conrad Nagel, Beryl Mercer, Cecilia Loftus and other notable players.. gives the finest portrayal of her meteoric career. There is absolutely no doubting the fact that Ann Harding in “East Lynne” attains the highest mark reached by any emotional actress in her characterisation of Lady Isabel. Certainly, “East Lynne” of the movietone era is one of the most gripping entertainments the cinema has presented, primarily because it furnishes entertainment that, while making its strongest appeal to feminine theatregoers, cannot help hold the undivided attention of every typo of movie patron. The presence of such a brilliant galaxy of popular stare an Ann Harding, Clive Brook and Conrad Nagel in a single picture is in itself an event that stamps tho vehicle as one of exceptional merit. Noteworthy portrayals are also contributed by Beryl Mercer as Joyce, the maid, and by Cecilia Loftus in her Fox film debut as Carlyle’s spinster sister, Cornelia. Others in the cast deserving mention are O. P. Ileggie, David Torrence and Flora Sheffield. “East Lynne” can be put down a.s the season’s most powerful drama, one that will grip everybody— a picture that is tho new screen at its very best.

CHAPLIN COMPETITION,

PROMISES MUCH ENJOYMENT

As school “breaks-up” on Friday, more than usual, enthusiasm is evident among many students who, with the happy thought of “no more homework for a while,” arc busy preparing for the “Charlie Chaplin Impersonation” competition. School girls and boys are reminded that competitors must attend the Rogeiit Theatre at 1 p.m. on Saturday next. The Chaplin puzzle coinpetition is drawing forth many good solutions. Entries for this must reach the manager of the Regent Theatre before 5 p.m. on Friday. The first ten correct solutions opened will receive the prizes advertised. KOSY THEATRE. “IRON MAN” TALE OF BOXING ARENA. In “Iron Man,” concluding to-night at the Kooy Theatre, Universal has given Lew Ayres a picture of power, strength and sincerity, n is to the credit of the star — and it is Lew Ayres’s first real starring picture—that he rises to the occasion and proves himself an actor, and one which makes no concessions to the situations or solutions which are “typically movie.” It proves with inevitablencss from start to finish. Strangely enough, ibis story, taken from W. R. Barnett’s novel, is the love story of a man, but not of a woman. Perhaps, as such, it has more appeal to feminine audiences than to masculine,- although it is a picture that deals with fights and fighters, and resounds with the thud of punches in the squared arena. GARY COOPER IN OUTDOOR DRAMA. “Fighting Caravans,” the thrilling and spectacular drama of the battling pioneers who beat new trails across tho North American continent, is the tremendous attraction which the Rosy Theatre will show, starting from to-morrow, for three days. Gary Cooper and Lily Damita head an exceptionally large and forceful cast of well-known screen favourite, in this epic picture of the forefathers of the west. “Fighting Caravans” has been filmed on the same gigantic scale which made “Tho Covered Wagon” a never-to-be-forgotten screen presentation. The lives, the equipment the characters, even the dangers and privations of those forward-pushing days, have been reconstructed and brought to life on tho screen. Into the intense atmosphere of the frontier caravan is introduced a tender romance between Gary Cooper, the swaggering, devil-may-care junior scout of the expedition, and Lily Damita, a French girl immigrant whose father dies during tho gruelling march, leaving her 4 alone with a giant wagon and a valuable cargo to carry on to the land of gold. Her romanco with Cooper blossoms in danger and bursts into full bloom as the caravan straggles into Eldorado.