ENTERTAINMENTS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 9, 9 December 1936, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

MAYFAIR THEATRE. “TO DAY WE LIVE.” The first joint appearance in «a talking film of Joan Crawford, and Gary Cooper in “To-day We Live ” screening today at the Mayfair Tnoatro, is a happy event for movie-goers. For here is a picture which combines romance of a stirring order with a clean-cut, forceful story of the war, with the emphasis laid on the part played by the commanders of the dangerous British two-man torpedo boats, known as the “skeeter fleet.” Miss Crawford, who seems to grow more exciting in appearance with each succeeding vehicle, lias a striking role as the aristocratic English girl who cannot stand remaining at home whilst her brother and the two men who love her are at the front. Franchot Tone, the brother, and Robert Young, the childhood sweetheart, are members of the torpedo squad, while Gary Cooper, who is closest to her heart, enrols in the flying forces. In order to be near these three, Miss Crawford becomes a member of a British ambulance unit. Cooper is reported killed, and his unexpected return precipitates a stirring dramatic climax. I lie picture is brought to a smashing close when two men give up their lives in the sinking of a ship in order to save Cooper for the girl whom they all love. In “To-day We Live,” Miss Crawford offers what is probably the finest work of her entire career, and she is ably seconded by Cooper, the scenes between these two rising to a new high level in the way of fervid romance. Robert Young as the lover who loses out offers a distinctive and sympathetic portrayal, and Franchot Tone as the brother proves to be a new talkie “find.” Excellent performances are contributed by Roscoe Karns, the inimitable Louise Closscr Hale, Rollo Lloyd, and Hilda Vaughn, This is the first story to come to the * screen by William Faulkner, the muchdiscussed author of “Sanctuary” and Light in August.” The unexpected touches of this remarkable writer aro prevalent throughout the picture. Considerable credit also must go to Howard Hawks, who has given “To-day We Live the same intelligent discerning direction which marked this director's previous success, “Scat-face.”

KOSY THEATRE. “BORDER FLIGHT.” The staccato rattle of machine-gun fire, the roar and whine of speeding ’planes dog-fightmg” high above the Pacific, and tiuilJing hand-to-hand battling of guardsmen anc! smugglers run through Paramount’s Border IMight,’’ which screens to-day at the Kosy Theatre. The film tells a dianiatic tale ol high adventure and dangerous muttons of tho United States Coast Guard air corps. Officers of the air corps aided in the filming. The crack-up of two ’planes and the pancake landing of a third which has lost its landing gear add to the thrills of the story. Two members of the corps, John Howard and Grant Withers, become rivals for tho attentions of the same girl, Frances Farmer. In the course of the story, one i* discharged from the service and joins a band of fur smugglers with which it has been fighting. The dramatic finish comes in a pitched battle of the forces of the coast guard and the smugglers, closing in to hand-to-hand fight. Last breath-taking shot is of a power dive of a ’plane directly on to the smuggler*’ chip, bringing the wreckage of both in an explosion. .“Border Flight” sustains its pace as a top fight thriller and gives ail insight into a little-known branch of Government service as well. “PALM SPRINGS.” Frances Langford portrays a pretty heiress whose heart is won by Smith Ballew, a guitar-plucking, torch-singing cowboy, in Walter Wangcr’s “Palm Springs,” produced for Paramount and screening to-day at the Kosy Theatre. In the comedy Trances discovers that her once wealthy father is penniless and she is forced to give up the man she loves to marry another wealthy enough to provide both for her and her parent. In tho process of fortune hunting, she pretends to be an English noblewoman and almost succeed* in marrying a wealthy playboy when her devoted father discovers she is sacrificing herself to save him from poverty. He denounces her a* an imposter, and frustrates the marriage, leaving Frances high and dry and husband less.