AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21599, 21 March 1932, Page 9

AMUSEMENTS

EMPIRE THEATRE “ A Honeymoon Adventure,” a mystery drama, which keeps the audience in suspense until the last moment, is the mam attraction at the Empire Theatre this week. Many of the scenes are enacted in Scotland, and make a fine setting for the fast-moving drama, which revolves round the trials and tribulations winch beset a young inventor. On the eve of his wedding, the latter perfects a scheme which will revolutionise the world, but decides to postpone broadcasting the news of his astounding discovery until after his honeymoon. His secret leaks out, however, and he is pursued by a particularly astute gang which desire the invention for a foreign Power. No sooner does he arrive at an out-of-the-way spot for his honeymoon than he is enticed back to London by a clever ruse. He is drugged and made prisoner, but thanks to a particularly sagacious dog, Which had assisted to pack his bag, the plans do not fall into wrong hands. Outwitted, the young inventors enemies turn their attentions to his wife, and one is even sufficiently audacious to enter the home where she is staying on the pretext that he is a friend. Footsteps in the night awaken the disconsolate wife, and an investigation reveals the true character of the guest. Just how_ she turns the tables on the would-be thieves makes an absorbing story. Harold Huth adds further to his laurels as the master-mind of the villains. The part of the kidnapped bridegroom is played by Peter Hanuen, and Benita Hume does fine work as the wife. There is a good programme of supporting pictures. The box plans are at the theatre and the Bristol.

ST. JAMES THEATRE A fine picture telling the story of the career of Tommy Boy, a colt bred in the great American racing centre of Kentucky, is told in “ Sporting Blood,” now showing at the St James Theatre. It is not “ just a racing picture." but is a film of absorbing interest which will appeal not only to followers of the sport, but to all who appreciate beautiful scenery and an exciting plot. The human cast is one of considerable ability, but the players and, indeed, the story itself, will not have created a more lingering impression in the minds of those who saw the picture than the horses and their doings amid the beautiful setting of the Kentucky stud farms. The story tells how Tommy Boy, who is born _ under pathetic circumstances, develops into_ a colt who shows every sign of becoming a champion. After early successes he falls into bad hands, and a gang of “crooks,” making as much money with him as they can in a short time, leave him almost a wreck. How he returns to his former owner and recovers to win a great race makes a fine story with a remarkably exciting climax. . Ernest Torrence, as the breeder, is the most impressive member of the cast, and he is well supported by Clark Gable and Madge Evans. A Laurel and Hardy comedy is also shown. The box plans are at the theatre, the Bristol, and Jacobs.

"THE YELLOW TICKET.” As a wolf of the Czarist Secret Service, with two young lovers marked as bis special prey, Lionel Barrymore is said to excel his performances in “ A Free Soul ” and “ Guilty Hands ” in his latest triumph, “The Yellow Ticket,” in which he has with him no less a star than Elissa Landi, who appears in what is undoubtedly the most suitable part the talking films have offered her. _ The third featured player, Laurence Olivier, created the role of Captain Stanhope in the London stage production of “ Journey’s End.” which won him a role in the New York production of " Private Lives ” and in turn a Hollywood contract. "The Yellow Ticket,” enacted against a background of mystery, intrigue, oppression, and cruelty in a setting of pre-war Russia, details the tragic adventures of a beautiful and wholesome peasant girl, who by circumstances becomes the possessor of a yellow ticket, which brands her as a social outcast and the victim of the brutal and merciless head of the Czar’s secret police. “ The Yellow Ticket ” will be commenced at the St. James Theatre on Friday,

OCTAGON THEATRE Two highly entertaining pictures, “Personal “Maid,” with Nancy Carroll in the leading role, and “Behind .Office Doors,” featuring Mary Astor, Ricardo Cortez and Robert Ames, are being shown at the Octagon Theatre this week. The first picture is a story of a young girl who, seeing the ways of high society from the standpoint of a serving maid, is keenly desirous of becoming a lady and moving in the, to her, exalted altitudes in which her employers are stationed. Before her wish is realised, and her disillusionment is complete, she passes through several experiences which shake her belief that, because a man wears evening dress as if he were born to it, he is necessarily a gentleman. The second picture, “ Be; hind Office Doors,” is a comedy-drama of considerable merit. Mary Astor assumes the role of a private secretary to a young, successful business rpan to whom, unknown to him, she has given considerable assistance in his career in the business of which he ultimately gains control. The man treats her as merely an efficient piece of the office machinery, and appears blissfully unaware that her interest in him is far from impersonal. At times he appears more human, but it transpires that his more personal attentions to her have been inspired by somewhat copious applications of alcohol. When she discovers that he is about to become engaged to a daughter of a wealthy house, she is almost tempted to throw in her lot with a young married man, whose wife does not understand him, but in the last few minutes of the story the tangle straightens itself and a happy ending is achieved. The box plans are at the theatre and the Bristol.

REGENT ■ THEATRE

“ Street Scene,” a remarkable picture depicting in a dramatic, yet simple, fashion a cross section of human life as it appears every day, is the principal attraction at the Regent Theatre this week. The entire action of the film takes place in one street —practically on the steps of one house —and is confined to 24 hours. During this time a remarkable story is unfolded, and the onlooker sees many different aspects of life in a typical middleclass residential district in New York. The occupants of the house form a very cosmopolitan array, and their views on life —from the sweeping ideas of the communistic Jew to the malicious gossip of a particularly detestable type of woman—present a varied and absorbing background, against which the swift action of the picture is depicted. The play is concerned with a family living in an apartment house, and the assortment of foreign tenants whose principal occupation is to tell others how they should conduct their lives. The cast includes Sylvia_ Sidney, and plaving opposite her is William Collier, jmi. Estelle Taylor’s return to the talking screen is marked by a sympathetic role, which, although short, is of vital importance to the success of the picture. She has the part of Mrs Marraunt, whose

tragic philandering forms the subject of this poignant drama, and David Landau is seen as her husband, a man without feeling or sympathy for those with whom he is living and whose actions are indirectly responsible for the tragedy which eventuates. There is an entertaining supporting programme. The box plans are at the theatre and the Bristol.

STRAND THEATRE Two pictures, different in type but both of considerable interest, are shown at tna Strand Theatre. “Girls Demand Excitement ” is an entertaining story of school life in America. John Wayne and Virginia Cherrill are the principal players. The story tells how, at Bradford College, at the commencement of term, there is to be a poll to decide whether the college will remain sacred to men or whether “ co-eds ” will be permitted. There is a strong faction, known as the Spartans Club, which is very much against mixing/’ and the story concerns the methods used by the girls to induce tlie_ majority of the voters to support their claims, “Fair Warning,” the other picture, is adapted from Max Brand’s novel Ihe Untamed,” George O’Brien playing the principal role in a thrilling Western story. He is famed for these roles, in which he gives remarkable displays of horsemanship. The story tells of the meeting of “Whistling Dan” and Jim Silent, leader of a small gang of outlaws. Dan earns the lasting hatred of Silent by bis superior ability. The. arguments become intensified as Silent drinks, and the attair becomes serious when the two men come to grips. By a trick. Silent overcomes Dan who is left unconscious in the burning saloon, while all ride after the desperadoes who have robbed the till before setting fire to the building and escaping. From this point the story works up to an exciting climax. The box plans are at the theatre and the Bristol.

KING EDWARD THEATRE Marion Davies, whose popularity is almost unequalled in moving pictures of the brighter type, has the leading role in “ Five and Ten,” which is the principal picture on a doublefeature programme which began at the King Edward Theatre on Saturday. There is an air of smartness throughout the production, and Miss Davies and other feminine players add to this atmosphere with a gorgeous display of gowns designed by Gilbert Adrian. There are numerous spectacular scenes, and a vast number ot settings are seen in the swift action, Barticularly imposing is the supporting cast with which Miss Davies has been surrounded in her initial dramatic elioiT. Leslie Howard, distinguished young British stage star, plays opposite her as Berry, the architect of proud ancestry but impoverished purse. Howard w'lll be remembered for his stage and screen work in “Outward Bound.” He last appeared in films in “ Never the Twain Shall Meet. This film is of particular interest because it afford the star new latitude for her talents, supplying' her with a more dramatic vehicle than the light comedies in which she recently _ appeared. Miss Davies’s characterisation in the new production is a striking one, demanding emotional intensity as well as the comedy flair for which she is famed. The story was adapted by Edith Fitzgerald from the Fannie Hurst novel of a newly-nch family, first appearing in serial form in Cosmopolitan Magazine, later attaining best-seller prominence in book form published by Harpers. It is a distinctly modern story, dealing with the futility ot piling up wealth and the fight of two very modern young women of opposite ideals for the affections of a man. The second film on the programme is entitled The Pay Off,” a particularly thrilling production, in which Lowell Sherman and Marion Nixon are the principal players.