ENTERTAINMENTS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 256, 26 September 1940, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

REGENT THEATRE

“YOUNG TOM EDISON.”

All suspicion that . Mickey Rooney is strictly an unusual. personality rather than an actor will vanish when “Young Toni Edison” is seen at the Regent Theatre. Playing the great inventor as a youth. Mickey clearly establishes himself in the ranks of.;-Hollywood’ “top .notchers.” The picture tells a vivid story ol the triumph of a typical boy and is so down-to-earth and human that it will oring a warm glow in the heart oi many a boy and former boy and a tear to the eye of every .sister and mother in the audience. There is a generous portion of .-omedy in ilia story, comedy which Rooney dc*-.s to perfection because it is genuine ucyhood comedy. And the story has its dreams, its' tears, its thrills and, above all, its triumplis*-lhe sort that brings an exultant lump into your throat. Mickey, of course, is superb, directed by the genius of childhood 6tory director, Norman Taurog. The man who made “Skippy” certainly has topped the Academy winning effort of a few years ago. The cast with Rooney is outstanding.- First, there is Virginia Weilder, who again proves she’s Hollywood’s leading child actress. As Edison’s sister she is a superb teammate fer Mickey. Fay Bainter is a perfect selection as Edison’s mother and is magnilicent. George Bancroft playing Edison’s father, has a role totally unlike anything she has ever dono and one which may well spell “new career” for this grand actor. Eugene Pallette. Victor Kilian, Bobbie Jordan. J. M. Kerrigan, Lloyd Corigan, John Kellog, Clem Bovans, Eily Malyon and Harry Shannon round out an excellent supporting cast..

STATE THEATRE

“RINOCCHIO.”

In bringing his version of the' childhood classic ■ “Pinocchio,” to the screen as his second 1 uil-lungt\h feature, Walt .Disney has happily combined the most outstanding characteristics of the original book with the unique appeal which the world audience has conic to look for tu every Disney. character. The film shows at the Stato Theatre to-day. In tho original story of Pinocchio, tho marionette who came to life, the title character was a brutish little rascal who not only tormented the kind old wood-carver who created him, but killed a wise talking cricket that had lived in the house for over a hundred years, when the .cricket tried to give him some good advice. He was selfish, and had practically no likeable qualities at all. lie was bad for the sheer fun of being bad. Walt Disney’s little puppet character, as dramatised for R.K.O. Radio release, lias been endowed with all the typical Disney appeal without losing any mischievous qualities. Walt’s “Pinocchio” is bad more from an . innocence of what is right and wrong than from anything else. In appearance, too, the Disney Rinocchio is different from tho puppet who generally appears in old book illustrations. The original was generally depicted as a long, lank marionette, very simple in construction, with a face almost . totally devoid of charm. - The Rinocchio of Walt Disney’s artists li.xs a loveable little boyish quality not only in appearance, but in his voice and in his sincere but blundering effort to learn right from wrong.

METEOR THEATRE

“THE EARL OF CHICAGO.”

Given a story that defies all Hollywood formula, Rofcert Montgomery scores a spectacular success in the most unusual and exciting motion picture of the year, “The Earl of Chicago,” now showing at tlie Meteor Theatre. Tho film is bused on a situation as unique, dramatic, humorous and surprising as any ever brought to the screen, the story of Silky Kilmount, a Chicago gangster, who becomes an English Earl by inheritance. Tlie characterisation is an adventure for Montgomery,; who gives an always convincing and fascinating portrayal in a new rolo lor him. His .Silky start's out as a straight gangster character,, diffeient only in Montgomery’s interpretation of the criminal mind. But in the latter English sequences of the picture, the gangster undergoes a subtle transition as lie learns the meaning of noblesse obligo, that nobility of birth demands' nobleness of character. The' gangster is not regenerated, hut kills a pal who double-crosses him and is tried for murder in tho House of Lords- by his peers and is convicted. While lie remains the gangster to .tho end in language and mannerisms, he goes to his death like a gentleman. An oddity of this picture is the fact that -while every scene is played for drama it .is often hilariously funny, as is the scene when Silky rehearses ancient English ceremony and tradition for his introduction to the Elouso of Lords, and his bewilderment when confronted with English ritual. Sharing honours with Montgomery are Edward Arnold, who plays Silky’s pal and subsequently turns the tables on him, Reginald Owen as the English solicitor, and Edmund Gwenn as Silky’s English butler who tenches him the meaning of true democracy. ,