ENTERTAINMENTS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 12 April 1939, Page 8

ENTERTAINMENTS

CURRENT ATTRACTIONS STATE: FINAL TWO DAYS OF "MY LUCKY STAR.” COMING FRIDAY “THE SAINT IN NEW YORK.” LESLIE CHARTERIS’S FAMOUS NOVEL. Huge crowds have paid tribute to the dazzling performance of Sonja Henie in her latest and greatest picture. “My Lucky Star'’ which is screening tonight and again to-morrow. With beautiful ice sequences, rollicking comedy and splendid romantic interest the film is an outstanding one. Newcomer Richard Greene is again excellent as the male lead. Cesar Romera. pleasant, whilst the comedy supplied by comedienne Joan Davis and Buddy Ebsen is rollicking. Altogether “My Lucky Star” provides entertainment too good to miss. Rarely has Hollywood offered a hero who is both a public enemy and likeable, but this seeming paradox is surmounted in ingenious fashion in “The Saint in New York” in which a campaign of killings is committed exclusively on the persons of various gangster barons. The result is a brand new type of film entertainment. “The Saint” is a suave, debonair crook with a sort of philanthropic code, who has devoted his career mainly to ridding the world of those criminals who have no redeeming features. When a civic leader finds the authorities unable to cope with the activities of a half dozen insolent racketeers he calls “The Saint” to his aid. gives him a list of Public Enemies and his blessing, and puts him to work. One by one "The Saint” goes after his victims with both the terrified survivors and the police arrayed against him. finds a [seventh super-racketeer or. I the scene .and falls in love with a I mystery girl who is involved with the | others. All these elements make for J plenty of surprises and tense situations, and a climax that is genuinely unexpected. MAJESTIC, NOW SHOWING: MELVYN DOUGLAS AND JOAN BLONDELL IN “THERE’S ALWAYS A WOMAN.” COMING FRIDAY, “SPAWN OF THE NORTH” “There’s Always a Woman," Columbia’s current contribution to the comedy cycle comprising “The Awful Truth.” “Theodora Goes Wild.” and “Mr Deeds Goes to Town.” is now in season at the Majestic. Co-starred in this gay new romantic comedy are Melvyn Douglas and Joan Blondell. A thin thread of mystery weaves through the story of “There’s Always a Woman.” The plot, briefly, concerns the mad antics of a bewildering young b'onde wife who starts out to prove to I her detective-husband that she, too. can be a Sherlockian sleuth. This wild-eyed situation arises when Douglas bequeaths his defunct private detective agency to his spirited wife and* returns to his former post with the District Attorney. Soon afterwards a murder occurs in which the husband finds his investigations considerably hampered by the counter-moves made by his wife, representing the accused. Affairs for the harassed Douglas reach such a state that he must obtain a warrant to search his own home for an incriminating letter obtained by Joan and wanted by the police. Mary Astor and Frances Drake are prominently featured in the supporting cast, which includes Robert Paige, Jerome Cowan and Thurston Hall. Another of the Ma ostic renowned “shorts” include news services, a Winter “Sports Thrill,” colour travelogue, “City of the Golden Gate.” a comedy minature and a colour rhapsody cartoon. On Friday next the eagerly discussed dramatisation of Barre'J Willoughby's famous novel of the Aiaskan frontier. ■ “Spawn of the North.” will be presentj id. Intending patrons are advised that plans for the season are now on view. I REGENT TO-NIGHT: “THE CASE OF THE VELVET CLAW” AND “MAN OF THE MOMENT” Two outstanding attractions have been secured for the ever popular guest nights. “The Case of I the Velvet Claw” is the most I novel of all the productions made from the famous series of novels by Eric Stanley Gardner. whose attorneydetective. Perry Mason, is known to every lover of fiction And. for once. Perry Mason has a genuine romance, for he is married to his secretary in the very first scene But it is a strange honeymoon, one that nearly drives the bride to the divorce courts, the bridegroom being kidnapped at th • point of a gun and forced to take over a criminal ease by a woman who has had a secret love affair and fears that her name is about to be dragged through the columns of a scandal sheet It is this woman’s husband who is mysteriously slain that very night. and strangely enough the wife believes herself guilty of the murder, although she accuses her own attorney of doing it There are eight persons who come under the suspicion c ‘ the police, all having various motives f or the crime. The cast includes Warren William. Claire Dodd and Winifred Shaw.