ENTERTAINMENTS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIX, Issue 97, 24 March 1939, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

STATE THEATRE. “MOTHER CAREY’S CHICKENS.” Bubbling with the humour and naiuralr ~9 's d M'al made the original Kate Douglas [ M iggin story one of the best-sellers of its _ day, the Jilin version of “Mother Carey’s Chickens” opens to-night at the State , Theatre. Closely following the book, the • lilm deals with the interesting careers of the Careys. The head o£ the family, a , naval officer, dies during the war with ■ Spain, and Jiis wife and lour children, left - penniless safe for a scanty pension, try to carry on as their fattier would have ' > wished. Through the efforts of a young school feather who is in love with the 1 older dangler, the Careys leave (lie tone- • . ment in which they are living and take' i over !| n old tumble-down house in the country. They remodel it as a teachers’ ; hoarding ]iou«o, but unforeseen eomplica- ; lions arise just as they complete the task. I tile climax is charged with hilarity as the family adopts a unique method of dispus-1 dossing an unpleasant couple who claim : their house. Against tin’s background aro , played interlocking romances between the two daughters and their respective admirers, all thoroughly steeped in the colourful atmosphere of the late nineties and enriched with Miss Wiggin’s sparkling comedy. Anne Shirley and Ruby Keeler, as the daughters, are cast romantically opposite Frank Albertson and James Dili- , son, respectively. Fay Bainler portrays the highly sympathetic mother. Jackie Moran and Donnie Dunagan as the other two “chickens.” Ralph Morgan as the illfated navy captain-father. Walter Bren- ( nan as a typical New England storekeeper , and Phyllis Kennedy, Margaret Hamilton, ' George Irving and other well-known play- ' ers contribute lo the film’s realism. First ■ appearing in 1910, “Mother Carey’s Chick- 1 ens” proved to be one of the most popular stories ever written. METEOR THEATRE. 1 “IX OLD MEXICO.”

> Paramount’s first “llopalong Cassidy” ; story to continue the action of a former “Cassidy” picture is “Jn Old Mexico.” j now showing at the Meteor Theatre. ’ Taking up the thread of the tale where the popular “Borderland” of a season ago left off, the picture tells what happens in 1 the romantic Mexican ranch when “the !Fox” breaks out of prison and swears revenge on “llopalong Cassidy” and his , friends, who put him there. Cast in the title role, of course, is filmdom’s most popular outdoor hero, William Boyd, who rides again with his two traditional companions, George liayes and Russell Hayden. J “ILLEGAL TRAFFIC.” A thrill-packed story written around an amazing shakedown "racket—the transportation of fugitives-f rom-justice across Blare and national borders for exorbitant sums—is. told in Paramount's “Illegal Traffic,” now showing a t the Meteor Theatre with a tine cast of character players. ,J. Carrot Naisli, playing flic leader of a gangdom making * its last stand, will be seen the chief of a racket going on all over the nation today m spite of all the efforts of the Government to rout it. Naish meets his match in the personof Robert Preston, a slick G-man, who joins the gangsters as an aeroplane pilot anc turns the tables oh them m a smashing climax.