ENTERTAINMENTS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 78, 1 March 1938, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

RiGENT THEATRE. ‘TRISONER OF ZENDA.” Right on tlio liocls of hio sensational hit, “A Star is Bqi'ii,” David Sclznick Has ushered in another magnificent piece of entertainment. The picture is ‘ llic Prisoner of Zenda,” Anthony Hope’s swashbuckling tale of love, intrigue and adventure in the courts of Europe, which screens at the Regent Theatre to-night, with Ronald Colnian, Madeleine (Jarroll and Douglas Fairbanks, junr., in the leading roles. (Johnan plays the dual role of King Rudolf V and the adventurous Rasscndyll in this tale of love and intrigue among the courts of Europe, which John Cromwell directed front a serccn-pluy which John L. Balderston and Wells Root based on Edward Rose's dramatisation of the Anthony Hope novel. Miss Carroll plays the beautiful Princess Flavia and young Fairbanks is seen as the dashing Rupert of Hentzau. Lavishly mounted with some sixty-odd breathtaking sets, including a cathedral, a castle and the sumptuous castle ballroom, designed by Lyle , Wheeler, “The Prisoner of Zenda” offers some of the most impressive and beautiful scenes ever filmed, notably the coronation ceremony and the coronation hall. John L, Balderston and Wells Root have made a grand scene play, and all the members of the imposing cast turn in uniformly fine performances under the expert direction of John Cromwell. The eye-filling costumes were designed by Ernest Dryden, and the splendid photography is credited to James Wong Howe. STATE THEATRE. “THINK FAST, MR MOTO.” “Mr Moto,” the new kind of sleuth who astonished millions of Saturday Evening Post readers, proves even more astonishing on the screen as IPeter Lorre, the ono star who could portray J. P. Marquand’s diffident Japanese to the life, undertakes the role in “Think Fast, Mr Moto,” Twentieth Century-Fox picture, which opens at. the State Theatre tomorrow. Not since he startled the world with his sensational triumph in “M,” has Lorre given the screen such an amazing performance—the strange Mr Moto, whose eyes are as mild as his timid smile, but whose mind is as quick as his trigger finger. Strange events in Frisco’s Chinatown place the amazing detective on the trail of a criminal band that has the international police at their wits’ end. From the Golden Gate he follows mysterious clueß across the pacific to Shanghai, nest of a thousand iniquities, harbourer of a thousand evildoers. Enmeshed in the tragic toils of the gang that is the objQct of Lorre’s search. Virginia Field and Thamos Beck find their romance fearfully beset by all manner of dangers, and so welcome the advent of the mysterious little Japanese. Foremost among the Shanghai group is Sig Rumann, the burly proprietor of a waterfront gambling den which is the headquarters of Lorre’s enemies. Norman Foster, who directed the picture in addition to collaborating with Howard Ellis Smith on the screen play, introduces the mild-mannered Oriental to a series of rough-and-tumble jujitsu combats that climax the film by exposing the members of the gang. Executive producer Sol M. Wurtzel, of Twentieth Cen-tury-Fox, announces “Think Fast, Mr Moto’’ as the first of a series involving fiction’s most unusual sleuth.

STANLEY McKAY’S “GAITIES.” VAUDEVILLE FOR PALMERSTON NORTH. Stanley McKay’s “Gaities” vaudeville and revue productions of a year ago will be remembered with pleasure by Palmerston North theatregoers, and their return from Australia with a big now company will be most acceptable news. The season of threo nights and a matinee opens at the Opera House on Saturday, March 5, with a spectacular revue “The Navy’s in Town.” which proved an unqualified success : in Christchurch and Dunedin quite recently. The popular whistling and singing comedian, Joe Lawman, is still with the company, and promises something novel in skits, songs and sketchy. Assisting him in the merrymaking arc F.Jtan Black, Scottish comedian; Goo. Corelli, character actor; Wyn Edgcrton and Alice Bennctto, clever revue artists; the two latter artists and Lcs Trennctte, Australian tenor, are prominent in many delightful song scenes, backed up by the “Gaities” sun-kissed ballet and May Brooke’s orchestra. The specialities arc varied, the outstanding offerings bc- ! ing Lcs Diamonds, from the Folios BorI gc°cs, Paris, in brilliant statuary posing, ! their’ bodies being covered with diamond dust- Freda Frcres. Continental acrobatic , violinist; Heather Wright, New Zealand’s I champion eccentric dancer and contortionist- Elvy Ferguson, solo violinist; James, jthft man with the cigarettes; and the popu- . Ear Hilo Duo and Wchi Greig, Hawaiian entertainers. “The Navy’s in Town is to !be staged for two nights only a complete ! n ew revue following on luesday, March 8 The only matinee of the season is on j Tuesday afternoon. Scats may be reserved lat Collinson and Cunningliamc s from to--1 morrow.