AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21601, 23 March 1932, Page 14

AMUSEMENTS

OCTAGON THEATRE “ Personal Maid " and “ Behind Office Doors,” two pictures of more than usual entertainment value, comprise the current bill at the Octagon Theatre. The first picture, which tells of a young serving maid with ideas above her station, features Nancy Carroll in the leading role, and the other has Mary Astor, Ricardo Cortes, and Robert Ames in the principal parts. The love of a stenographer for her employer and their ultimate coming to an understanding form the basis of the plot of the second picture. The box plans are at the theatre and the Bristol. “CHARLEY’S AUNT.” What is there to be said about the “dear old lady from Brazil—where the nuts come from ” that is not known already? Brandon Thomas gave to the world a farcical comedy that was destined to retain its popularity for years. Played over and over again year after year throughout the British Isles, it is looked upon as a hardy annual which never loses its lustre. Later on Syd Chaplin, the brother to the world-famous Charlie, made a silent version for the screen which broke world records. Recently Columbia Pictures offered to the screen patrons of the world the “ talkie ” film, with Charlie Ruggles as Charley’s Aunt. Dunedin patrons will remember that the Regent Theatre had crowded houses during the week it was screened, and it is claimed to have left behind a record which only George Arliss in “The Millionaire” has since broken. Upon the insistence of local theatregoers it has been arranged to bring the picture back to Dunedin for one special week, which will commence on Saturday next at the Octagon Theatre. “ Charley’s Aunt ” will be screened at the Regent Theatre on Easter Saturday and Easter Monday at special morning sessions commencing at 10.30. In addition to “Charley’s Aunt “ Daughter of the Dragon ” will also be screened. REGENT THEATRE “ Street Scene,” which heads this week’s programme at the Regent Theatre, is a remarkable picture in which, although the whole action takes place in 24 hours, there is presented an extraordinary impression of the cosmopolitan nature of life in New York. The picture is built round the old yet ever new theme of the love of two men for one woman, and the story is competently told by an able cast, which is headed by Sylvia Sidney, William Collier, jun., Estelle Taylor, and David Landau. An entertaining programme of short subjects supports the main picture. The box plans are at the theatre and the Bristol. “THE DAUGHTER OF THE DRAGON.” In addition to the usual series of films, the management of the Regent Theatre has engaged Arthur Frost’s Symphonic Dance Band to render musical items on the programme which will be screened at that theatre next Saturday, there being no performances on Good Friday. In conjunction with the orchestra, Mr Alee Regan will render several vocal numbers. The feature attraction will be the final adventure of that famous oriental. Dr Fu Manchu, in a film entitled “ The Daughter of the Dragon.” One of the most novel features of this picture is that it will serve to reintroduce to the screen that most famous of all oriental actors, Sessue Hayakawa. In a strong cast which the Paramount Corporation have gathered together for “ The Daughter of the Dragon ” are such famous stars as Anna May Wong, the beautiful Chinese girl, who speaks delightful English; Warner Gland, who will again be seen as the wily Fu Manchu; Bramwell Fletcher, and Frances Dade, the romantic lead of “ Grumpy ” and “ Mother’s Millions,” etc. The scene of action spins from Limehousc. London’s gay white way, and the murky Thames River, to luxurious estates of the titled. There are plenty of secret panels and passageways, ominous shadows, and a thrilling climax. Anna May. Wong has the charm of newness. She is the only Chinese girl of prominence in pictures, and her subtle appeal is refreshing. Her English is perfect. She achieved prominence in silent pictures, and three years ago went to Germany. Within a brief period she became the rage of all Europe, on both stage and screen. Berlin, Vienna, and London were at her feet. She returns to the screen in “The Daughter of the Dragon.” her first talking picture. Warner Gland, the creator of the screen character of Fu Manchu, once more enacts the part of this fascinating mysterious Oriental in “The Daughter of the Dragon.” Gland is an accomplished actor. He is'giving an effectively ominous portrayal of the Chinese menace of the picture. Special morning sessions will be given on Saturday and Monday at 10.30. The programmes to be presented for these children’s sessions will include “ Charley’s Aunt ” and “ Daughter of the Dragon.”

STRAND THEATRE “Girls Demand Excitement” and “Fair Warning” constitute the present bill of fare at the Strand Theatre. The first feature is an entertaining story of school life in America ; in which John Wayne and Virginia Cherrill are the featured players. “Fair Warning” is adapted from Max Brand’s “The Untamed, and features George O’Brien. The story is a thrilling narrative of the far west, the plot dealing with the rivalry between two outlaws. Their efforts to outwit one another provide a series of exciting incidents that culminate in an unorthodox but altogether satisfactory climax.

EMPIRE' THEATRE . “A Honeymoon Adventure,” a mystery drama which keeps the audience in suspense until the last moment, is the main attraction at the Empire Theatre this week. The story revolves around the trials and tribulations of a young inventor who, on the eve of his honeymoon, perfects a scheme which will revolutionise the world, but decides to postpone broadcasting the news of his astounding discovery until after his honeymoon. The secret leaks out, however, and he is by a particularly astute gang which desires the invention for a foreign Power. The manner in which the young couple succeed in outwitting their enemies provides excellent entertainment. There is a strong supporting programme. The box plans are at the theatre and the Bristol. “ MONKEY BUSINESS.” The plot of “Monkey Business,” which will be shown at the Empire Theatre on Saturday, is wrapped and twisted around the fantastic capers of the Marx Brothers —but it is a plot, just the same. It goes something like this: On a transatlantic liner bound for ’ New York the second mate discovers that there are four stowaways on board. The stowaways are Groucho. Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo. To elude pursuit they hide in the captain’s cabin. Groucho poses as the captain, runs the ship, and eats the captain’s breakfast. Then he threatens to put the captain in irons as a stowaway. His bluff finally breaks down and Groucho hides in the cabin of a gunman. He makes love to this man’s wife, and when the husband returns he wriggles out of the difficulty by agreeing to assist him. He is ordered to help Zeppo put an enemy “on the spot.” But Zeppo falls in love with the rival’s daughter, and complications increase when it is discovered that Chico and Harpo have been hired as gunmen protecting her father. When the ship reaches quarantine a crowd of reporters clamber abroad to interview the passengers. , But Groucho reverses the process by interviewing the reporters. By a clever ruse the brothers reach shore, only to separate—two accompanying the thug as bodyguards, the other two accompanying his rival in the same capacity. One of the gangsters gives a party in honour of his daughter. The rival gang kidnaps the girl—and the picture winds up hilariously in a big barn with the mad antics of the indefatigable brothers assisting finally in the rescue of the girl.

ST. JAMES THEATRE A film of absorbing interest to followers of racing is “ Sporting Blood,” this week’s principal attraction at the St. James Theatre. The story is based on the career of a colt bred in the great American racing centre of Kentucky, and tells of how, although it is born under the most adverse circumstances, it eventually assists its owner to recover his lost fortunes. Ernest Torrerfce, Clark Gable, and Madge Evans play the principal parts. A strong eup-

Eorting programme is also shown.' _The ox plane are at the theatre, Hall’s fruit shop, and the Bristol. “ THE YELLOW TICKET.” As a wolf of the Czariet Secret Service, with two young lovers marked as his 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 lie has with him no less a star than Ehssa Landi, who appears in what is undoubtedly the most suitable part the talking films have offered her. The third ieatured player, Lawrence Olivier, created the role of Captain Stanhope in the London stage production of “ Journey’s End, which won him a role in the hew York production of “Private Tfives 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 Saturday next. The box plans are at the Bristol. KING EDWARD THEATRE That splendid' film of savage African life, “ Trader Horn,” will be shown at the King Edward Theatre to-day. As drama it is engrossing, and as a chronicle of adventure it is amazing. One’s atavistic traits leap to life as the weird tomtoms usher in the death dance of the savage Isorgi; one thrills at their weird native chants to the accompaniment or thousands of bare feet pounding in unison on the brick-hard ground. One thrills at the dramatic battles between wild beasts out there in the jungle where everything eats something else to live. And through it runs the tender human love story of the boy and the girl, the young adventurer and the golden-haired priestess of a savage 'tribe. Harry Carey, in the title role of “ Trader Horn,” has a part which he portrays with that facile naturalness which gives it its charm. His dialogue is often that of the author of the book,_ and he seems fairly imbued with its spirit.