ENTERTAINMENTS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 288, 2 November 1934, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

PALACE THEATRE. “THE SONG OF THE PLOUGH.” “Song of the Plough” is artistically one of the finest films that has yet come out of an English studio. It will bo screened at the Palaco to-day for the last time, there being three sessions for the convenience of show visitors. Its background, of the windswept uplands of Sussex, is ideal for such a story as this, which tells of the struggles of the English fanning community, and the excellent photography which is manifest in every foot of the film adorns tho simple labours of the farm and idealises them until they seem on tho level of tho arts. Tho story tells of the struggles of an honest farmer to exist and hold his lovely homo together while besot by the problem of falling prices and harassed by the incessant draining of his resources by tithe dues. “Song of the Plough” should have a strong appoal to New Zealand audiences, as it shows how closely akin the Dominion is to tho sound stock ot the Old Country. It is almost an apotheosis of the yeoman farmer, and should not be missed. “WE’RE NOT DRESSING.”

A cast m full accord with tho tradition ot the musical screen is given “We’re Not Dressing,” in which Bing Crosby, the popular radio tenor, is starred, which will commence to-morrow evening at tho Palace Theatre. Carole Lombard, who far a time was filmdom’s favourite victim in “horror” pictures, has a most acceptable role as the feminine half of tho romantic team of which Bing Crosby is the other portion. Miss Lombard takes the rather satirical role of Doris Worthington, millionairess, who is cruising with friends and . two foreign princely suitors in her palatial yacht in the South Seas. Crosby is cast as a sailor aboard the yacht. The guests are Ethel Merman, Leon Errol, two comic players, and the two .fortune-hunting princes portrayed by Jay Henry and Ray Milland, Shipwrecked in the Pacific this band finds haven on a South Sea island, where George Burns and Gracie Allen are hunting big game. llow Bing puts his “guests” to work and bow George and Gracio get involved in the situation create a climax of love, song and laughs. The song numbers include “May I?’ L° v ,f Thy Neighbour,” “Once in a Blue Moon, “Goodnight Lovely Little Lady’ and “She Reminds Me of You.”

REGENT THEATRE. “STAMBOUL QUEST.” Myrna Loy and George Brent appear together for the first time as . a romantic team in an intriguing and exciting tale of international espionage in . “Stamboul Quest,” finally screening to-night. “DULLDOG DRUMMOND STRIKES BACK.” A wedding, a London fog by night, an apparently deserted housu with the body of a murdered man which disappears in two minutes, and a beautiful girl in distress who falls fainting into tho arms of the hero, mark the opening incidents in “Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back,” which commences at the Regent Theatre tomorrow. And in an air of mystery, intrigue, of killing and being killed, the events of that night whirl on. It is rather a tantalising night for one man, the bridegroom of the evening before, but it ends happily as the wedding morn of Drummond himself. It is the detective thriller do luxe, crammed with tense, dramatic scenes, but never far round tho corner lurks tho infectious comedy that wins through in the end. Hugh Drummond (Ronald Cohnan) has sworn off adventure for life, and decided to go down to Sussex to raise hollyhocks. Ho has come back from South Africa to the wedding of his friends Algy (Charles Butterworth) and Gwen (Una Alorkel). Out into the night lie gets trapped in a typical London fog, wanders into an apparently deserted house, finds the body of a murdered man there, returns with a polico•man, and 10, the body is gone, and the sinister Hindu Prince Aehmcd (Warner (Hand) appears. Puzzled, Drummond returns .homo, to summon Algy from nuptial couch for the job in.hand. The lady in the case, Lola Field (Loretta Young) staggers into his room, faints in his hands, and immediately two tilings becomo evident—that Sussex and hollyhocks have disappeared from Drummond’s mind for good, and that he is up against a tough proposition. At this stage the gruff and unimaginative Inspector Nielson (C. Aubrey Smith),-of Scotland Ya,rd, comes on the scene. Arclimod is playing a dosperato game—half a million pounds is in the balance, tho value of a cargo of furs from tho Orient. Drummond is fooled, outwitted, and cornered time and again, but his irrepressible good humour and self-assurance is equal to all demands. A radiogram is the clue to the mystery. Drummond secures it; Aehmed’s valuable cargo goes up in flames, and the Hindu commits suicide- in tho face of utter defeat And the hero’s reward Is tho hand of the beautiful Lola. Ronald Colman takes tho lead in his stride, and is the perfect counterpart of the famous detective of fiction. Warner Gland as tho villain of tho piece takes on the sinister mystery of the Orient. The supporting cast is good, and tho main picture is supplemented’with a number of fine shorts.”

STATE THEATRE. “EVERGREEN.” A picture of unusual merit is now being shown at the State Theatre to the delight of tremendous crowds. . Jessie Matthews and a strong cast, including Sonnie Halo, Betty Balfour, Barry Machay and many more, appear in “Evergreen,” a Gaumont-Brilish adaptation of the famous O'. B. Cochran’s brilliantly successful stage production. “CHANGE OF HEART.” Eighteen months ago the world-famous team of Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell dissolved on the completion of “Tess of the Storm • Country.” To-day, after an interlude marked by a flood of protests against the separation from screen fans and screen exhibitors throughout the civilised _ world, these two favourites arc appearing in their twelfth co-starring vehicle, “Change of Heart,” which opens at the State Theatre to-morrow. With them appears a brilliant supporting cast, headed by James Dunn and Ginger Rogers. Beryl Mercer, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Fiske O’Hara, Irene Franklin, Shirley Temple, Jane Darwell and Nella Walker also have important roles. In the new offering which brings the stars back to >bo screen, however, there has been introduced two significant changes. “Change of Heart” is the first picture definitely to present Janet in a grown-up role, and it is the first to reveal the two stars in a realistic setting. Ever since the immortal “7th Heaven,” the celebrated duo appeared in films of a purely idealistic typo avoiding anything of a “depression” complex. But with the country cheerfully on its way back to prosperity, and the public now in a mood to look back over the past four years with real relief, Janet and Charlie abandon idealism and present brand-new portrayals to their admirers. It is a new and more mature Janet who appears in “Change of Heart/’ a Janet who has laid aside the juvenile aspects of her former films in favour of a womanly characterisation. And the story, taken from Kathleen Norris’s vivid novel of romance during the, depression, “Manhattan Love Song,” gives her a perfect vehicle in which to make this transition. Dealing in very human fashion with the joys, and sorrows of four young people who, after leaving college, struggle against the trials and vicissitudes of a greatcity, the theme and its trenchant handling of common problems, make the picture a unique one in the Gaynor-Farrel annals, and one that promises to become an outstanding screen hit of the year. John G. Blystone, wlicso long list of successes includes such films as “My Lips Betray” and “Tol’ablc David,” directed the production. Sonya Levien and James Gleason collaborated on the screen play, with Samuel Hoffenstein furnishing additional dialogue.

KOSY THEATRE. “ALIAS THE DEACON.” “Half a Sinner,” adapted from the world-famous play “Alias the Deacon,” will be finally screened at the Kosy Theatre to-night, with Berton Churchill, Broadway stage and screen star, Joe McCrea and Sallie Blane in the principal roles. “A PASSPORT TO PARIS” AND “FREEDOM OF THE SEAS.” One of the most outstanding: doublefeature programmes ever seen in Palmerston North will be presented to-morrow at the Kosy, when “A Passport to Paris” and “Freedom of the Seas” will be screened. The former is a brilliantly conceived burlosque and runs the whole gamut of all that is delightful in espionage stories. Ben Lyon and Sally Eilers star in this British International picture, and popular as these two stars are, they have seldom appeared to better advantage. A nautical comedythriller, with Clifford Mollison giving a breezy portrayal of a timid clerk who becomes a naval officer and foils a German sea plot during the war, entitled “Freedom of the Seas,” is the second feature. Adapted from the play by Walter Haekett, “Freedom of. the Seas” relates the adventures of a certain Smith, .a timid clerk who, although in love with his employer’s charming daughter, Phyllis, has not enough spirit to win her. When he loses his job, however, the “worm” turns, joins the navy and obtains a commission, much to the surprise of Phyllis. At sea ho receives instructions to board a tramp steamer suspected of trafficking with German submarines, and finds there are passengers on board—Phyllis, her father, and an American chorus girl, who have been picked up shipwrecked, after their ship has been torpedoed. Then things begin to happen. For the children at a special session to-morrow morning, Randolph Scott will be seen in “Heritage of the Desert.”

BULLS PICTURES. On Saturday, Universal’s gripping story of the Arctic “S.O.S. Iceberg” will bo screened at Bulls. Rod La Rocque. who has the leading role, stages a welcome return to the screen. The story is written around an expedition composed of five men who set out to recover some valuable data, lost with the ill-fated Wegener Expedition, The equipment _ needed to film this remarkable picturo included motor sledges, three Junker aeroplanes and special electrical dovicos, designed for use in the extreme cold to insure perfect recording. Among the spectacular sequences is the birth of an iceberg, the Aurora Borealis in full light, the crashing of a ’plane on an ice island and the explosion of two million tons of mass icc. Supports include news reels, cartoon and comedy. See Monday’s “Standard” for details of Albert Russell’s return visit to Bulls.