Palmerston Picture Programmes

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 66, 19 March 1936, Page 5

Palmerston Picture Programmes

REGENT THEATRE “MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION” ' FINALLY TO-NIGHT “All my life I shall loathe Bobby Mer/ick,” says Helen Hudson (Irene Dunne) in "Magnificent Obsession,” an outstanding picture now showing in Palmerston North at the Regent Theatre. But little does Helen know that what was iormerly an-unreasoning hate is later to blossom into love. The story of "Magnificent Obsession” .is one of the strangest romances ever written; vet it is a lifelike, poignantly human story, the philosophic note of which is unselfishness. Apart from the serious theme, however, there is comic relief supplied by the inimitable Charles Butterworth. “IF YOU COULD ONLY COOK.” REGENT TO-MORROW “If You Could Only Cook,” Columbia's new romantic comedy,, which is schedule! to open on Friday at the Regent Theatre, brings to the screen a new love team, Herbert Marshall and Jean Arthur. And it also marks Miss Arthur’s initial appearance as a full-fledged star. Her name joins Marshall’s above the title. This is Marshall’s first picture since “Dark Angel,” in which ho gave a performance that was widely hailed. \. Miss Arthur has been rewarded with stardom by her home studio for the fine work she did in “Passport To Fame,” with Edward G. Robinson, in -‘Public Hero No. 1,” and in “Diamond Jim.” In “If You Could Only Cook,” Marshall is seen as a disgusted millionaire. Not disgusted because he does not know what to do with his money, but because he is about to marry a girl he does not love and who does not love him. And further, because his board of directors has been annoying him. Instead of getting drunk, he goes and sits in the park. Here he meets Miss Arthur, who is scanning the want ads. for a job. .She mistakes him for another unemployed member of society and invites him to go with her ,to answer an ad. for a mar- , l-ied couple, a butler and a maid. Marshall, on the spur of the moment, accepts, and off go the millionaire and the young lady and get the job. They find themselves working for a notorious tacketeer; Leo Carrillo plays this role. When both Marshall and Carrillo fall in love with Marshall’s ‘wife,’ things happen. Especially when Marshall has a previous commitment to marry a society girl on a fast-approaching date. From this point on, the tale is filled with complications that promise much in the way of merriment. AVilliam A. Seiter, a master at directing light comedy, guides “If You Could Only Cook” to a conclusion that proves satisfactory to all concerned. In the supporting cast are Lionel Standtr. brassy-voiced poet of “The Scoundrel,” Alan Edwards, Frieda Inescourt, Gene Morgan, Half Harolde, Matt McHugh and Richard Powell. KOSY THEATRE “THREE ICIDS AND A QUEEN” The luxurious New York home of the richest woman in tho world is the scene of part of the action of “Three Kids and a Queen,” Universal's lively comedydrama, which shows at the Kosv Theatre m-day with May Robson in the starring role. But the greater part of the story takes place in a simply furnished basement in the East Side tenement district, with’an Italian barber shop in the front room and a motley assortment of youngsters in the rear. It is here that Miss Robson, the wealthy, crabbed old maid of the story, is taken When she is injured in a runaway, and it is here that she determines to stay in spite of the fact that the temperamental barber prefers her room to her company. Tho police are making a frenzied search for the irascible old woman, and Barber Henry Ar-. ,metta has no ambition to be arrested as a kidnapper, in spite of the fact that he is as innocent as a new-born babe, so to speak. Finally the wealthy woman actuary is kidnapped, and tho scene is transferred to the country hideout of the gangsters who have perpetrated the crime.

Exciting events in this picturesque location lead up to the old woman’s eventual return to her Fifth Avenue mansion—but even this does not last. The scene changes again, and the erratic Mary Jane Baxter travels down The Avenue with her entourage, bent on life’s greatest adventure. In addition to Armetta, Miss Robson’s supporting cast in “Three Kids and a Queen” Includes Frankie Darro, Charlotte Henry, William Benedict, Billy Burrud, John Miljan, Laurence Grant, Hedda Hooper, Herman Bing, Henry Kolker and many others, and the picture was produced under the direction of Edward Ludwig.