AMUSEMENTS

Northern Advocate, 6 November 1931, Page 3

AMUSEMENTS

“THE SPORT OF KINGS.” It,was singularly appropriate that the picture ‘ ‘ The Sport of Kings, ’ ’ a story of racing and betting, should have opened a season at the Town Hall last night on the first day of the Whangarei Racing Club’s meeting. Possibly, some people with lighter pockets would have been brightened by this amusing comedy of the turf. The picture is an English one, written by lan Hay, famous for his witty and clever conceptions. , A feature of British pictures is that the characters are always cast with extreme care and Leslie Henson in the the part of the president of the antibetting society, gives a flawless performance, as do the butler and the two men of the world, and in fact everyone connected with the film. The story briefly is that one ■ man bets another a level “hundred” that he will make the president of the anti-betting society place money on a horse within a week. He wins the bet. The picture can be recommended unreservedly as a brilliant comedy.

REGENT'S ROYAL FARE. Whether winners or losers, the large number of racegoers who attended the Regent last night went to rest fiecl. The early part of the programme was of a quality indicative of the good things to come. Universal News reels, a “Silly Symphony" cartoon* full of laughs, “Curiosities," another of the highly entertaining ‘ ‘ Strange as It Seems" series, and a Slim Summeryjlle comedy of the Army of Occupation, make strong supports. Rarely have the various aspects of the conquest of the air been presented so completely as in “Dirigible," one of the most spectacular films ever seen in Whangarei, The full co-operation of the United States Navy was given to the producers, who used the great airship, Los Angeles. The story hinges on a venture to the South Pole, in which two lifelong friends, Jack Brandon, commander of a navy dirigible, and “Frisky" Pierce, a Navy crack flier, are both involved. Pierce is married, and bis wife, although devoted to him, grows resentful of the way in which he places his love of fame and publicity before herself. It is a graphic tale of courage, high adventure and hazardous endeavour, carrying the audience from the thrilling scene of a Navy Day exhibition at the Government Air Station at Lakehurst, New Jersey, to the dreary wastes of the Antarctic, and then to the boisterous warmth of a typical reception which New York crowds accord a visiting celebrity. Every possible aerial thrill seems embodied in the picture, and there is no “faking." Perhaps the only discordant note is struck when the exploring party, having crashed at the Polo, is milking its way back to the camp. One, becoming footsore, and realising that lie is cumbering the progress of his companions, walks out from the tent into the blizzard, it was too much like a replica of Captain Oates’ immortal sacrifice to bo appreciated.