AMUSEMENTS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21242, 24 January 1931, Page 17

AMUSEMENTS.

PRINCESS THEATRE. Of late there have been several pictures presented to Dunedin audiences which, by reason of their production, their acting, or their dialogue, have achieved distinction, but rarely have these three attributes been so perfectly blended as in “Holiday,” the Pathe feature which opened at the Princess Theatre yesterday to a crowded house. In the first place, the picture is built around a very welldefined plot, in which every sequence has a perfectly logical bearing on the one preceding it. There are no side issues to distract the attention from the main theme, and no scattered threads to draw together before the fabric of the story can be understood. Throughout, the dialogue is crisp, witty, and sparkling, and in the hands of the small, but extremely capable, cast, it becomes a sheer delight. What one is compelled to realise immediately is the extraordinary realism with which the various characters are drawn, and as the play goes on the fact that one is watching a screen production becomes less and less apparent—so much so that it is only when the final fade-out takes place that one suddenly comes to a realisation that one has not been the privileged observer of a story of real life. In entrusting Ann Harding with the leading role, the producers made a fortunate and happy choice, for there can be no question that as the wealthy young girl, the daughter of a family whose only God is wealth, she scores a veritable triumph. It must not be thought that the part she is called on to play is that of the conventional type of screen heroine who, backed by her parents’ riches, pursues her heart-break-ing way until her spirit is broken by an equally conventional hero. She has to portray a very natural modern girl with all a modern girl’s whims and fancies, who is at heart a rebel against society, and who is not afraid to let the world know it. So completely has Miss Harding identified herself with her part, that it is almost impossible not to forget that she is acting. Her very voice, which reproduces perfectly, is a thing of joy, and her every tone) every look carries conviction. Not for many a day has such a perfect and finished piece of character acting been presented to a Dunedin audience, ana it is safe to say that Miss Harding’s performance in “ Holiday ” will be remembered long after the picture itself has been forgotten. Of course, Miss Harding stands supreme in the cast, but the characterisations of the remainder of the players arc none the less arresting. There is, for instance, that inimitable funmaker Edward Everard Horton, whose puck-like humour and gay mock cynicism flash like a golden thread through the fabric of the story. Here again there is no forcing of situations —no straining after effect — all his work is perfectly natural and very human. One has only to listen to the story of his life as told by himself at Ann Harding’s party to be perfectly content if the picture close down immediately afterwards. Monroe- Owsley and Robert Ames also draw two accurate and very lifelike portraits as the father and the prospective son-in-law respectively, and William Holden is a complete succes as the somewhat weak-willed but entirely lovable son. Mary Astor is well cast as Ames’s fiancee, and makes an admirable foil to Ann Harding. To recapituate the theme of the picture would be useless; it is one of those altogether intriguing productions that, must be seen to be appreciated. None of the dialogue is hackneyed, and although Americanisms creep in here and there, they leave only the impression that they have been used quite legitimately. “ Holiday ” is decidedly one of the film features of the year, and it is one of those exceedingly rare pictures which one could witness a second time. Considering the length of the main picture, the supporting programme is an unusually generous one, and, moreover, is more than ordinarily entertaining. Two gazettes are shown, and a rather remarkable picture, “ Flying Feet,” is also screened, although the subject with which it deals —American football—is somewhat beyond the comprehension of the average New Zealander. “Give Me Action,” a laughable comedy, completes the short section of the programme. OCTAGON THEATRE. So great has been the popularity of “ Song o’ My Heart ” at the Octagon Theatre during the past week that the management has seen fit to exhibit the picture for an extended season. John M'Cormack, the world-famous singer, makes his film debut in the picture, and he proves his ability as an actor as well as a singer. The story, < with all its Irish pathos and charm, has been entrusted to a cast than which ope more perfectly fitted for the task could scarcely be imagined. They enter into the spirit of it with a sympathy and an understanding which are the hall-marks of the true artist, and they carry it with them in such a manner that one forgets one is looking merely at the flickering screen, and seems instead rather to be a spectator watching a drama of real life played out against a background of music and poetry. -From such a group of players it is hard to single out for special mention this one or that; rather would one crown them all with the laurel or success, and, stepping aside, introduce them to the reader. One can hardly allow to pass, however, the great performances of J. M. Kerrigan and Farrell Macdonald, who, as the two old Irish cronies emcerely attached to one another and yet preferring to show their affection ratner by quarrelling than by a more easily detected method, are responsible for so much of the humour with which the film abounds. For it must not be imagined that the production is one long succession of passionate lyrics interrupted only by emotional love sccneS; it is a typical genuine Irish story, and, with the Irish, laughter and tears ever go hand m hand. At one moment the audience is held almost spellbound by the beauty of M Cormack e voice or busy swallowing a lump in its throat after some pathetic scene; at the next it collapses in mirth controlled only by the desire to catch the next lines ot the comedian. The box plans are at the theatre and the Bristol. EMPIRE THEATRE. . “The White Hell of Pitz Palu” is the striking title of the main picture shown at the Empire Theatre yesterday. _ 1 he “ white hell,” it may be explained,’ is the name given to the fearsome crevasses so so realistically depicted by the photographer. The picture is not a talkie, but it loses none of its effect for that reason. In fact, its tense appeal would not be added to by the voices of the various artists who interpret this drama of the Swiss Alps, for the audience would not be able to hear them amidst the roar of the falling avalanches and the swirling snowstorms. The picture is a remarkable achievement from the point of view ot photography, and the story unfolded is not lacking in dramatic effect. _ It certainly catches and holds the imagination of the spectators. The locality in which the story is unfolded necessarily requires that the artists should be endowed with great physical fitness, and that being so, it has been necessary to enlist the services ot a cast of stars able to carry out the strenuous work allotted to them. Working at an elevation of 12,000 feet in tiie icy loneliness of the mountains Sepp and his assistant cameramen, Richard Angst and Hans Schneqberger, risked their lives numerous times, as’ did Dr Arnold Fanck, the author and director of the picture, and the featured players, Leni Riefenstahl, Gustav Diesel, Ernst Petersen, Ernst Udet, the famous German aviator, and B. Spring, celebrated Swiss guider The story tells how Hans and Maria, who have just been married decided to snend their honeymoon in a rest cabin on the lower slopes of the Swiss Alps. They are joined at the cabin by Dr Johannes Krafft, w-ho, when on a visit to the Pain when he himself had just been married, has had a most tragic experience, his wife being swept away in a big avalanche. Dr Krafft has returned to the Alps in another endeavour to find the body of his wife, and he is persuaded by Hans and Maria to let them accompany him in his hazardous climb. As the party ascends the mountains the weather conditions become worse and worse. Hans is badly injured in a fall down a crevasse, and in rescuing him Dr Krafft is also severely hurt. . No party could have been in worse plight, and they have practically given up hone when they are found by Udet, whose flight up the valleys and over the ice-covered slopes is a really remarkable achievement. Udet directs the rescuing band to the spot where the trio are lodged, and Hans and Maria are saved just in time. The self-sacrificing Krafft is, however, beyond mortal help. He leaves a note to say that he has gone to join his wife in death on Pitz Palu. The

supports include a diverting comedy of the Dark Town Fire Brigade type, entitled “Go to Blazes,” and the newsreel has many very attractive snaps. These include the yacht race for the America Cup. scenes showing the devastation wrought as a consequence of the blizzard at San Domingo, views of a carnival at Venice, of Amy Johnson and her plane “ Jason,” and of celebrations in the city , of San Francisco. These snapshots are certainly not the least interesting in an excellent programme. A pantomimic feature entitled “ Henpecked ” met’ with the fullest appreciation from the younger members of the audience. The orchestra under M. de Rose supplied some excellent music, the programme being judiciously selected. The box _ plans are at the theatre and at the Bristol. * REGENT THEATRE. So brilliant and so polished a playwright is 'Frederick Lonsdale that to criticise any of his better-known works would invite a charge of eccentricity. Lonsdale, in fact, is the, master humorist of the English stage, and it is through the talking pictures that New Zealand people are now enabled to see his works interpreted by the finest actors, of the day. “ On Approval,” which opened a season at the Regent Theatre yesterday, was favoured with an audience the size of which was a clear indication that the play’s reputation had preceded it. With such material as Lonsdale offers it remains only for the actors themselves to make of the play a work of art, something real and alive, and as the cast is confined to six actors it follows that their responsibility is no small one. However, with the thoroughness and the discrimination for which the English talking picture producers are rapidly becoming noted, the right people have been chosen, and anyone who knows anything of the English stage must readily admit that names like Tom Walls, Winifred Shotter, and Edmund Breon are more than household words. “ On Approval,” then, is but another triumph for English . pictures—a comedy of the first magnitude, magnificently presented. First and last, it is a play, and as such there are no brainstaggering, eye-searing scenes of extravagant production from which foreign producers seem unable to escape, even if they want to. Walls, of course, is the commanding figure as the Duke of Bristol, but he does not hold the stage to the exclusion of the others —that were impossible. As the sublimely selfish but nevertheless lovable duke he is a wonderful contrast with the equally, but really more conspicuously selfish Maria Wislak (Yvonne Arnaud), and the sparkling dialogue of these two who, hating each other like poison for the very quality they fail to see in themselves form the_ backbone of'the play.- The duke’s cynical attitude towards life, his cavalierly treatment of women who, to his notion, merely exist to please him, is in delightful contrast with the downtrodden demeanour of his bosom friend, Richard Wemys (Edmund Breon), _who loves the termagant Maria. The fact that Maria’s salary is £25,000 a year and his a pitiful £3OO, has prevented him from revealing his heart, but stimulated by the duke and helped considerably by Maria herself they 'come to an arrangement. No worthy motive inspires the Duke, who merely wishes to see Maria parted from a generous portion of her money. Incidentally, the duke himself is interested in Helen Hayle (Winifred Shotter), a beautiful heiress, whom he is willing to make the Duchess ?f Bristol, remembering that his estate is bankrupt. The arrangement is that Maria and Richard are to repair to Maria’s house in Scotland, and if they can stand each other’s company for three weeks they will marry. In spite of appearances the arrangement is made with a due regard for the proprieties, but complications ensue with the departure of the; scandalised servants (Robertson Hore and Mary Brough), and the arrival almost immediately after of the duke and Helen Hayle. Here they, are left to their own devices, and the comedy develops to a brilliant climax. Helen’s realisation of the amazing selfishness of the man she loves and Richard’s almost simultaneous perception that after all he is only "on approval,” and that Maria regards her shocking treatment of him as an example of her really good behaviour, results in a compact between these two. And so, one dark night when the snow is falling heavily, they sneak away, leaving the duke and Maria snowbound in each other’s company for three weeks; It is drastic treatment, but it works. “ On Approval" is one of the best and the most highlypolished comedies that has_ever been seen on the New Zealand talking screen. A few more pictures of this type and Eng-: land should control the market. / The main feature is balanced by a list of supports that do it credit. One number, “ The Blind Rhapsody,” is a vivid war scene, while in contrast with’it, there is one of those Walt Dizney ;i musical cartoons that all 'exhibitors are so’eager .to procure. This is an outstanding one, full of laughs, -A travelogue picture of Malay, embodying a Malayan love tragedy, is a novel and entertaining feature, and the! programme is well balanced by the Hearst Metrotone News. The music is also a pleasing feature. The box plans are at the theatre and the Bristol. STRAND THEATRE. , Set in Moscow and the great icy wastes of the Siberian prison camps, " Hearts In Exile,” which was screened at the Strand Theatre for the first time yesterday, can be described as one of the most dramatic pictures of the year. In this remarkable film the bleak and wind-swept steppes of Russia are pictured in vivid .scenes, witn Dolores Costello, one of the most beautiful and popular screen stars, in the . leading role. She emerges as a dramatic actress of great power and conviction. She has been seen in many fine roles, -but her followers will agree that in “Hearts In Exile” her beauty and unusual talent have full scope. In a Russian story, with a colourful background of both.beauty, and sordidness, she does some of the finest emotional acting of her career. Playing the role of a Russian peasant is a new departure for Miss Costello. In doing it so well she proves that there are no limitations for her in the field of emotional acting. In “ Hearts In Exile ” Miss Costello, as Vera Ivanova, is faced with the problem of marrying the man she loves and, remaining in the slums, of Moscow, or leading the life of a lady as the wife of a nobleman. Disgusted with her sweetheart, Paul, a reckless young student,she marries Baron Palma and spends a peaceful year in luxury. ■ Then. follows v a. period of strife, with husband, wife,_ and former sweetheart finally meeting ,in^ ; a Siberian prison camp. Realising that his beautiful wife still loves _ Paul, Baron Palma solves the problem in ah unusual and dramatic way. The other members of the cast do splendid work, particularly Grant Withers and James Kirkwood. Withers has a rugged and pleasing personality, and is given every opportunity to display it in the role of the irresponsible medical student who thinks it more important to serenade his sweetheart at dawn than to attend to his studies. "Hearts In Exile” is a film that lends itself to exciting action and melodramatic scenes, such as the exiling of Vera and her husband and lover, and the turbulent scenes that follow. -Diving the screening of the picture the audience hears the howling of the wind in the desolate, ice-bound country, the babble of the fish pedlars along Moscow s waterfront,'arid the gay irresponsibility of the poverty-stricken peasants. The picture has a dramatic climax in the dreary setting of Siberia. Several hundred extras were engaged when the picture was filmed, and a large proportion of these were necessarily native Russians, since the film records many close scenes of these people as a background to the main 'action in crowded streets. A song which is preying very popular with music-lovers ie “Like a Breath of Springtime.” This beautiful number is the theme song ot ‘ ‘Hearts In Exile,” and is one of the- features of this Vitaphone all-talking dramatic production. Other members of the cast are George Fawcett, David Torrance, Olive Tell, Tom Dugan, William Irving, and Rose Dione. “Hearts In Exile” is undoubtedly a Warner Bros.’ masterpiece. It is decidedly a picture, worth seeing. In addition to the feature picture, the Strand Theatre management presents an excellent supporting programme of short films. These include a song cartoon entitled “Jingle Bells,” a talking New reel, and an interesting variety of talking and singing features. The box plans are at the Bristol. ROXY THEATRE. The new programme at the Roxy Theatre, which was screened for the first time yesterday, has sufficient brightness, variety, comedy, and thrills to make an appeal to any picture patrons.. , The principal film is entitled “ Courtin Wildcats.” in which the leading role is taken by Hoof Gibson, whose name is so fami-

liar in picture circles. In this picture he fully upholds his reputation as a devil fighter and dare-devil horseman,- his. , / performance providing the audience with numerous thrills. He fills the character of Clarence Butts, a college student, who poses as a weakling in order to avoid having to work in his father’s foundry. He figures in a roadhouse- raid, in which-, he comes into conflict with the police, whom he leads on a wild chase in his racing roadster. The family doctor then gets into touch with Clarence, and _ the result is that the latter. is placed in a wild west show, where events move rapidly and with plenty of life .and excitement. Clarence sets to work to court “ Calamity June,” a good-looking performer, who is ■ > a confirmed hater of members of the male sex owing to the fact that a man had once robbed her father of their fortune. One day the miscreant responsible for the robbery puts in an at the wild west show with the police in pursuit of . v him. He promptly gets his desserts, for June shoots him, though, not fatally. Clarence takes June away from the mob in his automobile, and . his wild driving tames her to the extent that she agrees to marry him. Just- as the wedding ceremony is about to commence, the gratifying news arrives that the man who was , shot by June was only slightly wounded,' and is safe in police 'custody/ Hoot Gibson is ably supported by Eugenia Gilbert, Harry Todd, Joseph Girard, Monty Montague, John Oscar, Jim Corey, James Farlqy, Pete Morrison, and Joe Bonomo. ; ;i The supporting pictures are of an attractive nature, and can hardly fail to please. 41 Traffic Troubles ” is a delightfully humorous comedy film, depicting the numerous trials and adventures of an American youth who ventures into a city for the first time in a motor car. He " gets into a traffic block, and amongst, his .adventures is the exploit of running into the’ car of the President. Naturally, he incurs the wrath of all .the,traffis inspectors with whom ,he comes in contact, but eventually he emerges safely from the ordeal. Graham M‘Namee, the Universal News .talking reporter, describes in an interesting manner several films of general interest, including yachting, motor-car racing, golf, lawn tennis, etc. “Broken Statues, in which Benny Rubin, the Jewish comedian, is the central figure, is also a decided success. KING EDWARD THEATRE. The picture adaptation of Owen Winter's well-known novel, “The Virginian,” will be shown at the King Edward Theatre to-day. It enjoys the distinction of being the first all-outdoors play, to be recorded on the audible films. There is a cast including Gary Cooper. Walter Huston, Richard Aden, Mary Brian, Eugene Pallette, Chester Conklin, and Helen Ware. CIVIC GOLF LINKS. Good attendances have, been the rule at the Civic Miniature Golf Links during the past week, and the patrons have found the fare provided to be very much to' their liking. The best score made so' far has been 43, two more than bogey. The' children’s competition to be ;held at the. Civic. links to-day is bound to be very popular, as many young people are not only enthusiastic, but skilful players. Every juvenile competitor’s scores will be: marked by an attendant ‘or adult, and should there be a tie when the competition ends at 6 p.m. a play-off will be necessary; The Civic is losing no time .in - arranging a series of competitions, and the event for men, to be held throughout ' next week, is already assured of success. At the end of the week a draw will be made of players returning the 16 lowest scores.. ■ -