Entertainments

Manawatu Times, Volume 65, Issue 120, 22 May 1940, Page 9

Entertainments

STATE THEATRE-TO-DAY "NINOTCHKA" Garbo laughed, Garbo cooked, Garbo also sang, danced to modern swing music, rc whistled tunes from "The Wizard of Oz,” . . and even helped write the scenario of a Western picture in her spare time during the filming of her first sophisticated ro- . mantic comedy, "Ninotchka.” She was happy. She had long wanted to appear in this type of story. She and Director Ernst Lubitsch had long wanted to work to- ' gather. As a result the making of the “ picture took on a festive air. -Ninotchka” >' gives the Swedish star her first modern “ role in some years as a stern commissar, from Soviet Russia who, sent to Paris on a mission, blossoms out as a glamorous creature and finds romance with a gay French count, played by Melvyn Douglas. The picture is laid In Paris, Russia and ” Constantinople. An elaborate Paris hotel lobby, Royal suite, corridors and street frontage, a reproduction of the Eiffel . Tower, a gorgeous apartment In Constan- .* Unople, the Red Square in Moscow, Mos- i. cow workers’ tenements, Paris streets, are among the settings. Footage filmed in Paris by Dr. Arlc Locke figures in the;*. Eittel Tower sequence. It shows Paris as . seen from the tower on which the camera £ was perched. j w K KOSY THEATRE—TO-DAY h E "MAD HOLIDAY" cl That perennially popular form of cn- “ tertainment, the murder mystery, takes - c its first real "kidding" in M-G-M’e thriller. * "Mad Holiday," which, despite the fact J’ that it pokes fun at the Philo Vances and the S. S. Van Dines and even at previous mystery pictures, winds up as a real mys- ° tery itself, full of suspense and melo- 11 drama. The picture is tho first for both Edmund Lowe and Ellssa Landi and both ' of them, curiously enough, practically ~ impersonate themselves in their roles. 1 Lowe plays the part of a movie star who - specialises In detective roles. Miss Landi * plays a writer of detective fiction, the r creator of the character, Selby James, in which Lowe has starred. ■, "General Spanky." ! If you enjoyed Jackie Cooper in "The Champ" (and legions of grown-ups and ( ' children did) this reviewer recommends j that you go to the Kosy Theatre, where the latest juvenile star, Spanky McFar land scores a complete triumph in the . Hal Iloach l'eature-leugth comedy, “Gen- c < eral Spanky." Spanky as tho “Little Gen w oral" in the war between the North and s] South is in full command of the thrilling |ir action, romantic interludes and hilarious C( fun of a most enthralling "boy and his ' , hero" screen play. The other youngsters , r from Hal Roach’s famous "Our Gang’ c j also distinguish themselves in tho pic- ~i ture. Billy Thomas, a little four-year-old , v coloured lad, carries the comedy relief | c( with a portrayal of a tiny slave that is outstanding. Carl Switzer adds to liis te reputation of the boy with the funniest r c face and weirdest voice on the screen. The talented juveniles are the centre of t j grand, wholesome entertainment billed for w tho whole family. s j joi METEOR THEATRE—TO-DAY at "A WOMAN IS THE JUDGE" |« Brilliant characterisations by Frieda Inescort, Otto Kruger and Rochelle Hudson make Columbia’s "A Woman is the ‘ Judge," which heads the new programme 1V at the Meteor Theatre Theatre to-day, one of the most convincing dramatic f films of recent months. The engrossing story shows problems confronting a woman jurist who is called upon to de- 2, cide the fate of her own daughter, who is before the Court accused of murder. Jl 1 This character, played with dignity, tern- 1 pered with quiet humour and sincerity, by Frieda Inescort, is honoured in her community for the fairness, courage and intelligence with which she interprets the law. At the height of her brilliant legal career she resigns to conduct the defence of her daughter. Her speech provides bl some of the most dynamic and intensely Z. moving drama ever depicted on the in screen. Beginning wtih a straight-for , ward recital of the legal facts of the case, |’ T the speech takes on a dramatic moiuen- 77 turn until at its conclusion Frieda Ines- , csrt Is pleading as a woman and a mother p with all the emotional resources at heri^ r command. Rochelle Hudson's perform- I - c ance the girl is marked by sincerity fr and appropriate naturalness, while Otto °! Kruger is always convincing as the pro- 1)1 secuting attornoy in love with the woman n( judge. cc "Queer Cargo." The second attraction on this excellent double-feature programme is an exciting M drama, "Queer Cargo.” starring John H Lodge, Judy Kelly and Keneth Kent. T ..... ■ -in

STATE THEATRE - TO-DAY ‘■THAT'S RIGHT-YOU’RE WRONG" Right-You've Wron E ,' T which r?v Kvser with his orchestra and Adolphe cess-story Aherns on which ban* leader films have been ba^d. praging candour, the Pi uceis develop hilarious but futile efforts of a WB wmt d Ky?er CO andT, band an? in SO doing "if. «£ Iray^Giemselves^!lu-oughout and Menjou has the role of the luckless, producer os l°wfs are g y Menlou°discovers that his tested pair of scenario-writers have concocted an utte; 1 ICyser to t'earup''ids^Tntract. 1 ' The batona,7i h m^.nsf i o°fJ |v new music, Hollywood satire «-nd iipioarinua noveltv entertainment into its root age As part of its plot action the flint wisents "The College of Musical Knowthe radio audience-participation show* vyhicdi lias earned renown over the air 1 nes. Kyser scores notap y hi his initial effort and with Menjou easily grabs the laugh-getting honours of 1110 film Cucille Ball is excellent os the glamour girl and May Robson furnishes much of the fun as Kyser’s redoubtable grandmother. Edward Everett Horton, Roscoe Karns, Dennis O Keefe and Mor oni Olsen, along with the Kyser soloists, Ginny Simms, Harry Babbitt, Sully Mas°>' and Ish Kabibble, earn abundant comedy I laurels, David Butler produced and directed “That’s Right—You're Wrong" for RICO Radio Pictures. ‘‘Married and in Uove. ■ "Married and in Love," the associate feature, proves to be a highly worth-while film drama of the other woman and how to handle her. The picture presents a clever newcomer, Barbara Read, along with three well-known players, Alan Marshal, Helen Vinson and Patric Knowles, lin the principal roles. Indeed, save for a !coloured maid and a butler, there are practically no other players in the picture, and the resulting unity and dramatic effect gains immensely from this compact plotting. Marshal, a successful doctor, Is 'married to Miss Read. Miss Vinson, his I college sweetheart, is married to Knowles ;_a step she has always regretted! And ten vears after their collego days the two former sweethearts meet in Central Park, get together to talk over old times, and the trouble begins! Selflsnly deciding she will never be happy unless she has Marshal on her string, Miss Vinson endeavours to talk him into abandoning his wife and running away with her. And the more Marshal objects the more the temptress urges, with dramatic results when Knowl&s discovers what is happening, and hastens to Miss Read with his story. Tho consequences make for an unusually absorbing climax to this timely offering, which is bi'illiantly played and directed throughout. Miss Read’s performance is especially notable, and the polished work of the other three principals adds greatly to the picture’s power and conviction. John Farrow’s direction of the S. K. Lauren screen play, and Robert Sisk’s production mounting, are both excellent. The picture was xm c by RKO Radio. MAYFAIR THEATRE—TO-DAY "TOO HOT TO HANDLE” Thrills of war and aviation, hairbreadth escapes in the South American wilds, and a love story of two thrill-crav-ing souls combine in an action packed piece of entertainment in "Too Hot to Handle," co-starring Clark Gable and Myrna Loy at the Mayfair Theatre. Gable plays a newsreel cameraman, Miss Loy an aviatrix. She pilots him in an ancient "crate" while lie films a blazing liner from the air. There is a hoax expose and out of it a romance. Waiter Pidgeon plays Gable’s principal rival, Walter Connolly and Leo Carrillo the two important comedy roles "Block-Heads." In "Block-Heads," new Hall Roach-M-G-M comedy starring Laurel and Hardy, now showing at the Mayfair Theatre, the comedians find themselves in a swank, modern apartment house. The dignity of the surroundings, however, offers no bar to their continuous merriment, and the current comedy contains an abundance of side-splitting incidents. Jn addition to the active imaginations of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, who can endow the most trivial of incidents with laugh-compelling qualities either in real life or before the camera, they have been assisted in the new venture by a group of Hollywood’s best known comedy creators. The supporting cast includes Patricia Ellis, Minna Gombell, Billy Gilbert, one of filmdom’s outstanding dialect comedians, and James Finlayson. 9.53: Albert Sandler Trio. 10.0: Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra, with vocal interludes by Bing Crosby.