Entertainments

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 132, 5 June 1937, Page 7

Entertainments

REGENT THEATRE—TO-DAY

“BOSE MARIE" In a production sweeping with song!and scented with romance, Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, those celebrated co-stars of “Naughty Marietta, come to the screen of the Regent Theatre to-day in their well-known characters oi light opera, “Rose Marie.” magic spell the full beauty of The Ind an Dove Call,” “Rose Mane. I Hove You, “Song of the Mounfcies,” and ° t J\ er x> sics from the Herbert Stothart-Rudolf Friml score, live again. More cnarming even than they were In the recordhreakinir “Naughty Marietta, nose mSo” is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer I triumph. Filmed almost entirely out-of- ’ doors, in the mountain-like country of the Sierra Nevadas, the production is a pictorial sensation. Glimmering lakes, towering peaks, dangerous passes, all tne | beauty of nature serves as[background 1 for the romantic saga of the Great North,ve*i It was given full benelit of ljirec ™"vf s. Van Dyke's proven talents, and ..lagnlficently mounted by Producer Hunt otromberg tne successful collaborators oi “Naughty 'Marietta.” “Rose Marie’ is the story of a Canadian grand ope.a singer who travels incognito into sack woods regions In .search of her brother, a criminal from J’fstlce. Also searching for the brother is Sergeant I rlruce, of the ltoyal Canadian Mounted Police. They meet and fall in love, until 'she realises the mission of the other. The crashing climax and poignant ending oi -he story will be remembered long after most pictures are forgotten. One of the outstanding sequences is the Totem Pole -ndian Dance, the grotesque set mounted on a sandpit extending into a broad lake. ,'eopled by more than a tflousana.d&nce™. ,uvisit in costume, with music thrlUingly oeautiful, it sets a new high for effect photography and spectacular direction. A strong supporting cast assists Miss Macioniid and Eddy in ’ ’Rose Marie '’ among I them being James Stewart as th? crim 1 ,nal brother, Reginald Owen as the star s manager, Allan Jones who scored so de„ t isiVteiy in “A Night at tire Opera, Jeorge Regas, Robei t Greig. LJna O Gonhot fnd Louden Littlefield. Also present i (vilda, Gray of “Follies” fame, whose new version of her celebrated “SWmmy "ance is one of the highlights of a string cafe scene. I MAYFAIR THEATRE—TO-DAY “STOLEN HOLIDAY" For several excellent reasons “Stolen uoliday” Is a fine film. It is stiong «nio uonal roman lie drama, and ** .star. Kay Francis, with a most unpres aive series of dresses to wear. Ultra modern costumes and gowns attract attention continually, but fortunately for , tlio male element, the plot is t»trong enmieh to more than retain interest, apart from any other consideration. Then there I i actmg which is at times magnificent. ££.«!: forgets 11 her C ctotiufs **£|K ! , performance’may and* she does not disappoint her admirers in this production. Although the him be.ongs to Miss Francis, she does not monl oDoiise it, and, conversely, therein lies much of the charm of “Stolen. Holiday, “wo leading men divide male nonours—the handsome, quiet, restrained lan HunI ter so quiet that he dodges most of the I limelight which is rightfully his. and vJlaudo Rains, the unforgettable Invisible *uan ” The romance and drama of the I plot'is engaging, located an it is in a I Paris modiste's shop.. Nicole rises to eminence with the financial backing of Or- , ioff. to whom she is intensely loyal. DurI ing a stolen holiday from him, following a ueiightful interlude on the Riviera, she meets and falls thoroughly in love with a .British diplomat, Antnony Wayne, iahe sticks to Orion, however, despite her discovery that ho is an audacious crook and that he is forcing her into a loveless marriage, until his death at the hands ot the police leaves her free io pursue her romance with the handsome Englishman, but reduced once more to the status of a mannequin. All' of which conveys little conception of the setting and staging ol the story. Throughout, backgrounds appear to have engaged especial attention from the producers, and iho result is a harmonious effect which sets f he drama off to perfection.

STATE THEATRE— TO-DAY

“SEA DEVILS” Riding the swirling waves of adventure and romance, Academy Award winner Victor McLaglen as a Chief Bo’sun's Mate in the Coast Guard and Preston Foster as his rival score a .bull's eye in stellar entertainment in RICO Radio’s drama, “Sea Devils,” is Showing to-day. Sharing the spotlight honours with McLaglen and Foster in this thrilling vignette of an unsung but heroic branch of the Government service, is Ida Lupino with Donald Woods heading the supporting cast. Seaman Foster, an adventurer, no sooner joins the crew of McLaglen’s ship than trouble starts between the two. Boasting of his prowess with the weaker sex, Foster begins courting McLaglen’s daughter, Ida Lupino. Foster is about the last man in the service McLaglen would choose as a son-in-law, but it happens that lvis daughter has a mind of her own, so McLaglen initiates a bitter feud with the sailor. Terrific combats between this pair of Titans vio with thrilling rescues from storm-battered ships as dramatic highlights of this action-cram-med photoplay. Using the United States Coast Guard cutter Tahoe and its crew, perilous rescue of passengers from a burning vessel is effected, and later other lives are saved from a hurricane-ground-ed boat, in wiiich full beach equipment, including surf boats, a Lyle gun, a breeches buoy and other apparatus, Is brought into play in a revealing demonstration of life-saving technique. An authentic reproduction of Coast Guard procedure was assured by the retention of Lieutenant H. C. Moore as technical adviser throughout the production. Both Mc-uaglen and Foster played together in RKO Radio s prize-winning film of 1935, “The Informer,” and it was as the result of his performance in that film that McLaglen won the Academy Award for the outstanding male performance of the year. Miss Lupino, attractive English actress, and Donald Woods, popular leading man, add histrionic lustre to the screen drama. KOSY THEATRE—TO-DAY “PENROD AND SAM” Playing a bank robber with a blank stubble of beard on his face was putting a sad handicap on Craig Reynolds, one oi Hollywood’s handsomest young men-about-town. The night spots were threatened with suffering, too, as a result of Craig’s role in “Penrod and bam, tne Booth Tarkington classic which comes to the Kosy Theatre to-day as a First National production. Time was when a stubble of beard was just a make-up problem. A smear of dark grease paint did the trick. But modern photography make it the one sort ol false haur that cannot possibly be duplicated by tne make-up man. It represents a three-day growth, and is kept at one “level' by the application of clippers. Reynolds, who likes to do me ritzy spots of evenings, got away with it by means of a desperate expedient. After consulting his current girl friends he donned a false Van Dyke beard to cover the stubble, and successfully braved his well-known haunts in that guise! “Penrod and Sam is Booth Tarkington’a long-famous comedy-drama of a group of adventurous small-town bo ys_brought right up to the 1937 minute by having their interests what the boys’ interests of to-day are. “Girl Overboardl” Set against the spectacular background of a ship fire at sea, “Girl Overboard, a fast moving Universal picture opens at the Kosy Theatre to-day with Gloria Stuart and Walter Pldgeoa in the leading roles. Tne screen play teUs the story Of a beautiful New York girl who flees from the sinister influence of the pro-rfi-ietor of an exclusive Manhattan gown shop. Just before she sails, the man is killed and the finger of suspicion is pointed at the girl. By this time, however, she is at sea, aboard a ship on which a disastrous fire breaks out. Consumed i the blazing inferno of the ill-fated liner is the only evidence of the true killers identity. When the accused girl, by a queer twist of fate, is given shelter in the home of the district attorney whose job it is to prosecute her ,the picture advances to a swift, smashing climax. Supporting Miss Stuart and Walter F dgeon are such favourites as Billy Burrud, Hobart Cavanaugh, Gerald Oliver Smith, Sidney Blackmer, Jack Smart, David Oliver, Charlotte Wynters, Russell Hicks, It !E O’Connor and Edward McNamara.