ENTERTAINMENTS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 109, 7 April 1934, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

NEW PALACE THEATRE

PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF SIR HUBERT WILKINS. The personal appearance of a notod polar explorer lecturing on his own unique lilms of Arctic and Antarctic exploration, comes to tho Palace to-day. Sir Hubert has had adventures aplenty in the frozen wastes ■ which prove an irresistible lure to the cxplo. c.. and ho recounts some of these, modestly yet vividly. Strange conditions of human and animal lifo come to pictorial lifo again amid surroundings surpassingly grand and supremely lonely. Tho presentation of tho film, or rather the assembly of films, is preceded by chatty remarks from the explorer, who explains how ho came to bo drawn into polar exploration, and important features associated with this realm of dangerous adventure. Then follows a series of “shots” of tho recent ill-fated Ellsworth expedition, of which the lecturer w T as a member. Tho southward journey ot the ship is shown, the trial flight of tho great monoplane of which Ellsworth expected so much, is finely visualised, and tho disastrous icc-crack which ruined those hopes is brought homo to the audience. In the series of Arctic films, one meets the famous Southern Cross in her original rolo, and sees her meet with early, though not irreparable, disaster. Eskimo life, Arctic settlements, where the white man keeps his farthest north trading posts, the grandeur of the end of tiio mighty Rockies as they pass below, all of tlieso are magnificent pieces of film work, and all havo their tale of risk, of disaster or ot achievement, woven by the voice of the lecturer, so that ono cannot but admire tho indomitable spirit which refused to accept crash after crash as failures, and thus eventually went across from Alaska to Spitzbcrgen. Then comes tho third section of the talc—tho initial submarino venture under tho ico. Foolhardy it was termed, but Sir Hubert soon disillusioned this idea, and shows how such an effort was but a pioneer of what is to come. The voyage of tho Nautilus, dogged by ill-luck as were tiic first aeroplane efforts in the north, is shown in all its stages, showing that such an achievement ,is not merely a Jules Verne fantasy. It is ideal entertainment for father and son, . this Wilkins film, and the supports with it are in keeping. An excellent supporting programme includes a Bathe Gazette, British Nows, “Let’s Taik Turkey,” and “Golden Fleece.” Blans are at the Contral Booking Office, ’phone 7178. KOSY THEATRE. “COUNSELLOR AT LAW.” “A perfect gem in a perfect setting” best describes the flawless “Counsellor At Law,” Universal’s gripping and at the same time humorous picturisation of tho threo day crisis in tho life of the greatest criminal lawyer in New York City, starring John Barrymore. “Counsellor At Law” opened this afternoon at the Kosy Theatre. With Barrymore is an excellent supporting cast, including Bebe Daniels, Doris Kenyon, Onslow Stevens, Melvyn Douglas, Isabel Jewell and Mayo Methot of the screen, and ten players who originated their roles in the sensational Elmer Rice stage play which was presented for two years on Broadway. The story concerns a successful lawyer who camo to America as an immigrant. At the height of his career, he is laced with disbarment and the loss of his selfish socialite wife, whom he loves dearly. How he manages to solve his problems must remain with tho reader who undoubtedly will want to see tho splendid performance. The picture has the knack of perfectly characterising each player, no matter how small tho part may be, leaving the audience with the feeling that all is known about overyone in the cast. This is partially due to tho fact that Elmer Rice wrote the screen play for Universal as well as the original stage production and that William Wyler, tho director, understood every value. A very enjoyable selection of short subjects includes a musical revue, “Vaudeville On Parade”; an item of the “Strange As It Seems” series, and the seventh chapter of the Buck Jones serial, “Gordon of Ghost City,” entitled “Entombed In the Tunnel.” BULLS TALKIES. A British comedy, “Night of the Garter,” will be screened at tho Bulls super sound picture house this evening. Winifred Shotter, Sydney Howard and Elsie Randolph, well-known comedy stars, head the cast. An excellent supporting programme will be shown.

REGENT THEATRE

“THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII.” Writers for the stage, from Shakespeare to George Bernard Shaw, have exploited royalty with a freedom that is possible only in England. Such a subject therefore presents a fascinating and expansive paletto for those who paint pictures for the most modern and expressive medium—the screen. This is exemplified in the altogether remarkable and intriguing English picture, “The Private Lifoof Henry VIII.,” coming to tho Regent Theatre to-day. Its authors, Lajos Biro and Arthur Wimperis do not pretend to represent the majesty' of England in Henry’s time. They have simply seized on tho King’s six marriages as a theme, and with bold strokes and liberal imagination trace the progress of England’s stoutest monarch through life, with his wives as milestones. Magnificently caparisoned and set in convincing scenes, which take in Hampton Court, tho Tower of London and Hatfield House, tho play is dominated by the brilliant performance of Charles Laughton as Henry. This sterling actor so loses himself in tho role of tho much-wived Merry Monarch that ho becomes the King himself —in his truculent independence, his sturdy bestiality, his generous laughter, his fierco amorousness, his loud, breezy humour and his rough wisdom. Yet with all his faultfl, Mr Laughton makes Henry VIII. a great personality, a man to be loved almost as much as to be feared. The picture commences with the execution of tho second wife, Anno Boleyn (the first, Katherine of Arragon, is omitted as being too respectable to bo worthy of notice). Jane Seymour (Wendy Barrio) wins him with a song; Anno of Cloves (Elsa Lancester) jeers him into the divorce she desires, by an assumed ropulsivoness. Katherine Howare (Binnie Barnes), loving another* yet yields to ambition, and pays the price of infidelity on the block; and Katherine Parr is left to nag at and fuss over an ageing monarch. Some excellent performances are given in support of tho star, apart from those of tho wives. Lady Tree is admirable as tho royal nurse; Mr Robert Donat makes a handsome lover as Thomas Culpepher, and Mr Franklin Dyal a strong Cromwell. The programme also includes nows, gazettes, a scenic gem, “Glorious Gloucestershire,” and a coloured Disney cartoon, “A, Night Before Christmas,” in which the toys, at the behest of Santa Claus, hold high carnival. Also on tho stago Lynetta Stewart will give a complete change in novel fashions, demonstrating the art and boauty of Max Factor screen mako-up. Plans for tho season are now on view at the Contral Booking Office; or phone theatre after 6 p.m. STATE THEATRE. “I WAS A SPY.” A great and moving dramatic story is told in “I Was a Spy,” commencing at tho Slate Theatre to-day. It recapitulates the daring deeds of Marthe McKenna, who was a Belgian nurse in a German hospital during the war. Gaumont-British adapted the film from the woman spy’s own reminiscences, and Victor Savillo has directed a British picture that has been acclaimed as a triumph of realism. It is a war-timo story, intensely dramatic, suspenseful and thrilling. One of tho chief features of the production is tho reconstructed market place of Roulcrs on a scale sufficicnly largo to accommodate almost a battalion of infantry, together with tho units which go to form a fighting regiment, and tho usual stalls, which are part of the everyday busy life in tho centre of a little country town. The brilliant cast is led by Madeleine Carroll, tho most callable and popular British screen actress of to-day; Herbert Marshall, a strong favourite; Conrad Voidt, the Continental actor, famous in two continents; Gerald chi Maurier, ' one of England’s greatest stago artists; and Edmund Gwenn. a screen favourite, whose character studies are always excellent. “I Was a Spy” is a real life story and is told in the ideal way—it is lived not acted. The people concerned arc living their lives, not acting upon the stage. Hence the human reality of the whole production. The story is simple, but full of daring and heroism; full of humanity and of the war-game at its worst; pity for the wounded, death for the enemy. Marthe, impelled by her humanity to act as a nurse in a German hospital, also accepts the call of patriotism, spies upon the Germans, and works to defeat their aims. Day in and day out, she lives t. life that will bo forfeited if she fails. Information leaks out of the town, but tin Germans fail to discover its source. Marthe works hand in hand with Stephan a hospital orderly. They deal tin enemy a heavy blow when they de stroy a dump of cylinders containing poisoi gas. When the gassed Allied soldiers pou; into tho hospital, Marthe determines 1 avenge the enemy’s brutality. News tha a church parade is to be held on the to lowing Sunday is passed on to British heat! quarters, and the service i<s bombed Next she sacrifices her honour to obtau information of the projected visit of tin Kaiser and then—Marthe is trapped. No de scription can convey the poigancy of lln endless emotional scenes, the tenseness o i the accumulating drama, the tragedy c j the trial, or tho magnificence of the sp; c tacular side of a truly great British film.