A Greater Epic Of the Empire Than “Convoy”

Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 108, 8 May 1941, Page 4

A Greater Epic Of the Empire Than “Convoy”

METRO-GOLD WYN-MAYER PRESENT “CONTRABAND” (Regent: Coming on Friday week.) In the tradition of the great stage , and film'success “The Luck of the Navy,” which played long seasons in the war of 1914-18, is the M-G-M British film, “Contraband,” a rattling good thriller, full of tho twang of the sea. Swiftly the action changes from contraband detection methods of the Royal Navy in the English Channel to pulsequickening encounters with a nest of Nazi spies, concealed in the night haunts of war-time London, following ; tho outbreak of war in 1939. Stark realism is the keynote of the film in ' consequence of the assistance given the ] British National-American producers by the Royal Navy. The actual methods employed in blockade running, as the 3 Navy keeps its vigil in the Channel, are faithfully and#thrillingly portrayed. As f the story unfolds in the fashionable section of London, scenes in the completely black-outed streets, hazardous with a ! torrent of traffic, add a note of autenticity. Tall, handsome Conrad Veidt, as Captain Andersen, skipper of a Danish liner, plays convincingly the part of an adventurous seafarer following a i beautiful British girl spy into the coils of underground Nazidom. As the spy Valerie Hobson is fascinatingly piquant Investing the part with the courage and 3 resource for which secret service agents are notably famous. Ida Lupino has started to write, as a hobby, and is preparing a biography of her famous father, Stanley Lupino, the British comedian. Shirley Temple’s debut at M-G-M J will be as co-star with Judy Garland ' and Mickey Rooney •in “Babes on | Broadway,” a musical. One number will be a Topsy and Eva duet by Shirley and Judy which promises to be a sensation. With Mary Beth Hughes, Betty Grable. Alice Faye and now Carole Landis on their studio list, Twentieth seems to be favouring the blondes—particularly blondes with lots of sex appeal. Certainly there is no quartet at any other studio which compares with these girls in that quality which has come to be known as “oomph.” <