ENTERTAINMENTS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 24 November 1938, Page 14

ENTERTAINMENTS

CURRENT ATTRACTIONS ! MAJESTIC FINALLY TO-NIGHT: NORMA SHEARER IN “SMILIN’ THROUGH” GALA OPENING TO-MORROW AT 2 P.M. DANIELLE DARDIEUX IN “TIIE RAGE OF PARIS.” To-night the final screening of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer masterpiece “Smilin’ Through” will be given. Nor- ' ma Shearer, Fredric March and Leslie Howard head the superb cast in this ! haunting and unusually beautiful film. Acclaimed by audiences throughout , i the world for her superb artistry in J both dramatic and comedy roles, Danielle Darrieux, radiant idol of the i European screen makes her Nelson i debut in “The Rage of Paris,” the j cc medy romance, which opens at the : ; Majestic to-morrow at 2 p.m. The pic- ! ture was filmed by Universal studios at ; a cost of more than one million dollars i | under the same director, Henry Koster, 1 | and with the same technical experts | who worked to perfect Deanna Durbin’s first tw'o screen hits. The story presents jMiss Darrieux as the heroine of a whirl- ! wind romance which involves both a | handsome advertising man and a rich I playboy. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., whose ! recent performances have added new 1 brililance to a famous theatrical name, |is co-starred with Miss Darrieux. The | top flight supporting cast is headed by two comedy favourites, Mischa Auer and Helen Broderick, and features i Louis Hayward. The gay story is said ! tc create a brand new formula for ro- ! mantic adventure films. It was written by the famous scenario team of Bruce Manning and Felix Jackson, who did the screenplay for Deanna Durbin’s latest hit, “Mad About Music.” Mischa Auer’s genious for comedy is given full 1 play- in the role of a Russian waiter, j Helen Broderick appears as a quickwitted ex-actress who talks Mischa out of his bank-roll. Louis Hayw r ard as the ; third member of the romantic triangle, j competes with Fairbanks for the hero- ! ir.e's heart. Miss Darrieux’s costumes, for sequences in which she takes a | fling at smart society after her rise ! from poverty, represent the most lav- ; ish array of feminine finery seen on any j actress in recent years. STATE: FINAL SCREENING OF “THE PLOUGH AND THE STARS.” TO-MORROW AT 2 P.M.: P. G. WODEHOUSE’S RIOTOUS “A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS, | STARRING FRED ASTAIRE Sean O'Casey's world famous play. ! "The Plough and the Stars.” attracted j |an appreciative audience last night I i when the story, concentrating mainly j ;on the “Insurrection of 1916” in Irej land, unfolded itself. Brilliant perform- ; ances by Barbara Stanwyck and Pres- ; 1 ton Foster assure patrons of an enter- ; ' tainment that will be remembered for j I a long time. The associate feature is a 1 ! stirring tale of “prison” life entitled j ! ‘Condemned Women.” To-night is the j j final, screening of these pictures. i j Sparkling from start to finish with n I merrily romantic story, a group j spectacular dances and captivating j; Gershwin tunes. Fred Astaire's and j Burns and Allen’s new starring vehicle for RKO Radio. ‘'A Damsel in Distress.” opens to-morrow at the State Theatre. The story is based on one of P. G. Wodeliouse’s best-known humorous tales of English life, with Astaire in the role of an American dancer who seeks to rescue a titled British girl from her impending marriage with a man she detests. It is complicated in uproarious fashion by the activities of ' ja half dozen other principals. Much of | the tangle evolves from the conflicting 1 j loyalities of the servants, of whom a stately butler and a romantic young j page-bov are the most active, while Asi taire’s press agents endeavour to free i him from the affair and get him off to ’ ! Paris to fill a dancing engagement. And ' i the result is a continuous panic for the ' j audience. Bums and Alleh, as the j busy publicists, are at their hilarious best, and Miss Fontaine is both loveiy , and convincing as the distressed dam- ! sel. Montagu Love. Constance Collier. | Ray Noble. Reginald Gardiner, Young Marry Watson and Jack Carson help to 1 make the film a brilliant piece of screen fare. The catchy Gershwin songs, At- ! taire’s several spectacular dancing rouI tines, and the picturesque settings, including a huge reproduction of T*vi..r I castle, arc big features of the produ? ( tion. Producer Pandro S. Berman’s i handling, and the telling direction of j George Stevens, contribute to the picture's excellence. In their deft screen . play. Author Wodehouse and Ernest j Pagano and S. K. Lauren have added '< the final touch to make “A Damsel in • *j Distress” a really notable offering. | g I H

REGENT: I INAL SCREENING OF t “YOUR UNCLE DUDLEY” AND » “HUMAN CARGO.” COMMENC- I ING TO-MORROW AT 7.45, “CAS t SIDY OF P.AR 20” AND “TIP-OFF GIRLS” r s Another Clarence E.. Mulford western t with William Boyd in his original role j

of Hopalong Cassidy. Paramount’s "Cassidy of Bar 20,” follows the usual ! adventurous paths of this series, al- j j though this time the hero's activities set j him riding along the “Camino Real,* the King’s Highway of the old New j Mexico cattle country. A number of ' fine “shots” of the latter made the mus- ! tering scenes doubly fascinating. With j Lucky and a new off-sider in old Pappy ! (who takes the place of the popular ' Windy J n this production). Hopalong Cassidy solves a couple of mystery j murders and routs the rustlers led by j the perpetrator of these crimes. Nora : ; Lane, as an attractive ranch owner, and j Robert Fiske, as a dour and ruthless i killer, lend good support. The veteran ! I Gertrude W. Hoffman is a rugged and I j colourful Mr Caffrey. and Frank Dar- j j len an amusing Pappy. A fifty-million- j j dollar-a-year racket, which uses beauti- I i ful young girls ft) trap its victims, is | | exposed in "Tip-Off Girls." With Lloyd; : Nolan. Mary Carlisle, Roscoe Karas and Larry Crabbe heading a talented j dramatic cast, the picture tells an ex- • citing story of what happens when a j detective tries to break up a gang of I highway racketeers by becoming one of; them but becomes more entangled than j be expects when he loses his heart to the boss's beautiful secretary. Chapter ; 7 of the serial. “Radio Patrol.” will \ conclude another of the Regent’s out- ; standing week-end entertainments. A , matinee will screen as usual on Satur- j day at 2 p.m. PICTURES AT RICHMOND To be screened at Richmond on Sat- j urday, is “The Mighty Treve,” based on j the novel by Albert Payson Terhune.! an appealing human story, with beau- i tiful outdoor scenes. "Tuffv,” the Australian sheep dog, plays the title role.