FILMS AND STAGE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 154, 30 May 1940, Page 10

FILMS AND STAGE

Gay and Romantic. , ... ' Gay -comedy and romantic revelry are the keynotes of “Day-Time Wife,” coming to-morrow to the State. Theatre with Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell co-starred. The film presents Tyrone Power in the light, carefree roles in which he excels and the selection of Linda Darnell to play opposite him is a genuine sensation. It marks her second screen appearance, hut her

performance in her dehut in “Hotel for Women” well justifies the choice. The story tells of the hilariously romantic carryings-on of a husband who goes on whistling under the wrong balcony (his secretary’s) and a perfect wife who rests on her oars (but not for long).'. Featured in the cast are Warren William. Binnie Barnes, Wendy Barrie and Joan Davis. Queen of the Skates. An array of entertainment, talent seldom equalled on the screen makes Irving Berlin’s “Second Fiddle” big news to Palmerston North “picture goers, who will see, when it opens tomorrow at the Ivosy Theatre, Sonja Henie and Tyrone Power starred, ltudyv Yallee and Edna May Oliver featured,-new-star Mary Healy, and an eyeful of dancing and romancing to Berlin’s six. new song hits. Big surprises in the film include Miss Henie skating with; a partner for the first time on the screen, a tropical rhumba and tango on ice and a new ballroom dance craze, the “Back to Back.” Irving Berlin songs, ’which will be board in the picture, include: “I’m Sorry lor Myself,” “An Old Fashioned Tune Always is

New,” “Song of the Metronome,” “When Winter Comes” and “I Poured My Heart Into a Song.” i Wayne Morris, Jane Wyman, and Dennis Morgan have been assigned roles in “Flight 8.” Virginia Bruce and Ralph Bellamy have also been signed for the picture.

Song Hits Aplenty. Remember “In My Merry Oldsmobile,” “School Days,” “Jimmy Valentine,” “If I Was a Millionaire,” those grand Gus Edwards tunes? Bing Jproeby sings them and many others, ’and such grand new tunes as “An Apple "For the Teacher” and “A, Man and His Dreams.” in “The Stai .Maker,.” which will have its local premiere on Saturday at the Meteor Theatre. The story is doubtless’ the greatest Bing Crosby has ever had, for it is based on the amazing career of the famed showman, Gus Edwards. It shows Crosby, starting out as a

penniless song writer and fighting his way to the top in show business by presenting kiddie'•shows. It finds him losing out, then trying to make his way back to the top on the radio. Bing Crosby is supported by a great cast including Louise Campbell, Ned Sparks, Laura Hope Crews, and Linda Ware, sensational fourten-vear-old singing discovery.

Screen's Favourite “Mr and Mrs.” Mr and Mrs “Thin Man,” 'alias Mr and Mrs Nick Charles, alias William Powell and Myrna Loy, will be seen St the liegent Theatre to-morrow in “Another Thin Man.” The title role is taken by the eight months old William Poulsen,' whq was chosen from 49 babies to be the film baby of these famous parents. As usual, the Charles’s beloved terrier Asta is an important member of the east, and, as usual, ho causes slight trouble to his detective owner. Others include Virginia Grey, who recently scored in the feminine lead of “Thunder Afloat,” Otto Kruger as the district attorney, C. Aubrey Smith as the New York financier whose murder starts the mystery rolling, Rutli Hussev, recently seen in “Maisie” and “The Women,” Nat Pendleton as the New York homicide detective (the role ho created in the first picture of the series), Patric Knowles, and Tom Neal. River Plate'Battle.

When the war news is grim and the enemy gains a few points on the great wfirlii chequer board we are inclined' to forget the achievements of our own side. There is a film which comes very soon to the State Theatre which will help to jolt us into a realisation that there are two sides to Hitler’s bid for world power. It is called “For 'Freedom,” and it stars the Battle of the River Plate, with New Zealanders participating, and the rescue by H.M.S. Cossack of the British prisoners on the German hell-ship Altmark. ’ “For Freedom” is not a newsreel, nor a mere “March of Time” film. It surpasses even the best of these. It might be called a cavalcade of great world events — the evente directly leading to the present war —told in a dramatic and in-

tensely exciting manner. The high light is the Battle of the River Plate, followed by the capture of the Altmark and the release of the British prisoners. These two incidents are most impressively told, and the comment by Yi^e-Admiral J. IS. T. Harper, the New Zealander, with the actual men of the Exeter, Achilles and Ajax participating. gives the film a special significance in this country. Why Killers Kill. Piercing the mysteries of a killer’s mind, “Blind Alley” opens to-morrow at the Mayfair Theatre, with Chester Morris, Ralph Bellamy and Ann Dvorak heading the brilliant cast which tells a sensational story of a man who could not be destroyed by bullets and a fearless doctor -who took the gunman’s brain apart, piece by piece and before his very eyes, to blast his career of slaughter. The film has been hailed as the most wierdlv fascinating drama of the season. Others in the cast include Joan Perry, Melville Cooper, Rose Stradner, John Eldridge, Marc .Lawrence and Scotty Beckett.

Spencer Tracv lias been announced for the title .foie in “Cyrano de Bergerac,” Edmond Rostand’s famous character, who was the possessor of the world’s most grotesque nose.