Entertainments

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 42, 20 February 1939, Page 9

Entertainments

REGENT THEATRE-TO-DAY “CRIME SCHOOL.” Sometimes amusing, sometimes tragic, and always exciting, “Crime School" con tains a powerful indictment of unthinking, brutal methods of dealing with juvenile crime. Effectively utilising the talents of six New York boys who became famous in both stage and screen versions of “Dead End," as well as such adult players as Humphrey Bogart and Gale Page, the latter a beautiful newcomer to the screen from radio, the new Warner picture makes a strong case for its basic theme—that the old type of boys' reformatory is in fact a “Crime School." The newer methods of dealing with juvenile offenders—designed to provent their developing into adult criminals—are effectively contrasted witli the old by basing the story on the determined fight made by an idealistic young official to introduce his ideas into a reformatory of the old type. The story makes the six "Dead End" boys the storm centre ax-ound which the fight rages. Bogart, for tho first time in his screen career playing a hero, is the idealistic commissioner, and he plays his role not only with sympathetic understanding but also with the vigour and aggressiveness demanded of a character who successfully battles not only stupidity and prejudice but also political hypocrisy and crookedness. .Remarkably true-to-life performances by the six boys have much to do with making the production both entertaining and moving. Dew Seiler, the director, evidently knew just when to let the boys take the bit in their teeth and when to rein them in. That he was a good choice for director is proved by the picture itself, and therefore it is not surprising to learn that he spent his own boyhood in an environment similar to the home neighbourhood of the boy characters in the picture. Box plans are now at Collinson and Cunninghame’s, 'phone 7178, and intending patrons are urged to make early reservations for this outstanding production. KOSY THEATRE—TO-DAY. “ MR. WONG, DETECTIVE.” Boris Karloff as "Mr Wong, Detective." Thrills! Thrills! And more thrills in the first series of baffling detective mystery dramas. The most seasoned follower ot the adventures of screen sleuths will get a real thrill out of “Mr Wong, Detective," which is now showing at the Kosy Theatre, for not only is it clever mystery drama, full of action and suspense, but it serves to introduce a new screen detective in the person of that ex-horror man and master of eerie characterisation. Boris Karloff. For this first in a series of mystery films, based on tho popular Hugh Wiley stories, Karloff dons t)u'celestial raiment of James Bee Wong, a hero well known to magazine fans. Wong, educated at Oxford and scientifically schooled in crime detecting, begins his career at Monogram by unravelling a triple murder that baffles San Francisco’s police. Three partners of the Dayton Chemical Company are killed, each alone in a room which lias no access. Wong is called in to help solve the crime and work with his lriend, Captain Street, of the San Francisco Police Department. With the help of test tubes and a physics book, Wong discovers the murderer’s method—the use of poison gas in a glass receptacle which Is shattered by vibration—but it i 3 not until after the third murder that he learns how the glass was made to break. With this dangerous secret in his hands, Wong sets off for police headquarters, but walks into the killer’s trap, where his two friends have preceded him. This tense situation leads to a thrilling climax, as Wong unmasks the killer and saves the lives of his friends by an ingenious trick. Karloff is excellent as James Bee Wong, and it is certain that he will become the screen’s No. 1 detective. Evelyn Brent, Bucien Prival and Frank Bruno are a sinister tno of international spies. Grant Withers, as Captain Street, makes the man intelligent, and therefore he is more of a person than the usual movie policeman stooge. John St. Polis contributes a fine portrait of a hysterical inventor; and Maxine Jennings as Myra, the secretary, is outstanding Other Wong pictures to follow include; "Mr Wong in Chinatown,’’ and “The Mystery of Mr Wong.” If “Mr Wong, Detective" is any indication, the series should be extremely popular. “She Asked For It.” The associate feature, “She Asked for It,” is a new mystery comedy with William Gargan and a beautiful new star, Orien Heyward, in the leading roles. It is the story of a young wife wno talks her husband into writing thrillers for big royalties. The fun begins when he goes looking for a plot and tangles with a group of real gangsters! The wife finds trouble on her hands when the gang gets busy, but after all, “She Asked for It.” It s a grand picture which you should not miss seeing.

STATE THEATRE—TO-DAY “ THE COWBOY AND THE LADY.” The first of the new season's pictures from United Artists is “Tho Cowboy and the Bady,” showing at the State Theatre to-day, which was produced by Samuel Goldwyn. wno lias in the past provided many of the screen’s finest achievements. It is a romantic love story richly endowed by the presence of two first-class cinema stars, Gary Cooper and Merle Oberon, Against a lavish setting of Washington drawingrooms and Florida mansions, contrasted with the pictorial beauty of the western plains, “The Cowboy and the Bady" unfolds a heartily-told story of the debutante daughter of a Senator, played by Merle Oberon, who is whisked summarily away to bask on the Florida sands while a night club scandal is brewing m which she is involved. Becoming bored with the conventions and restrictions of a socialite's existence, she goes out on a "blind date" with her maid and cook. The feminine trio land at a rodeo show, and there Merle is paired with bronzed and robust Gary Cooper appearing as a cowboy hero of the golden west. The romance between the two is spiced with comedy and farce and gallops on to an unexpected climax. Cooper, as the strong silent type of hero who drily sees through the sham and glitter of so-called cafe society, re turns to the kind of role which first made him famous. Back in a ten-gallon hat, liigh-heeleed bools, dungarees and X'oll-your-owns, America’s No. 1 he-man of the silver sheet turns in his most stirring and dynamic performance to date. Merle Oberon, cast as a gay and witty modern of the upper-crust, enriches her role with fine timing and a beautiful sense of comedy. METEOR THEATRE—TO-DAY “MANHATTAN MEBODRAMA” Starring William Powell, Myrna Loy and Clark Gable, "Manhattan Melodrama" is now showing at the Meteor Theatre. Newspaper headlines to-day are furnishing approximately one-half the stories that appear on the screen in motion picture form. For the screen has discovered in recent years that the greatest drama is the drama of modern everyday life, and the newspapers are the best media through which this is reflected. For in stance, the story, “Manhattan Melodrama,” is composed of headline stories that shocked, horrified and amused the world over a period of SO years. It begins in 1904 with the disaster to the excursion steamer Genei'al Slocum in New York Harbour—a fire which claimed more than 1000 lives. From that- beginning the screen play tx-avels through the DempseyFirpo fight and many other front-page news events down to the recent Arnold Rothsteln murder, with its attendant sensationalism. But tho public, I imagine, seldom recognises real-life news incidents when they are Actioned and dramatised for motion pictures—principally, perhaps, because coiTect names are not often* used. It is interesting to know that one of Cecil B. De Mille’s finest pictures, “The Golden Bed," was based entirely on a little newspaper clipping that told how a janitor in a little Ohio city had bought the candy factory where lie was employed for sevei'al years, and had married the daughter of liis former employei*.