AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21648, 19 May 1932, Page 3

AMUSEMENTS

ST. JAMES THEATRE A thoroughly entertaining programme, headed by “Over the Hill," is at present being shown at the St. James Theatre. “ Over the Hill ” contains all the elements of simple drama adroitly blended with romance, comedy, and pathos, while the acting of the principals leaves nothing to be desired. Mae Marsh, James Dunne, and Sally Ellers are seen at the head of a strong cast, and all of them give competent renderings of their respective parts. An entertaining supporting programme is also shown. The box plans are at Jacobs’s, the theatre, and the Bristol. “THE CHAMP." Two outstanding characters of the screen —one a veteran, the other filmdom’s latest child “discovery”— are teamed in “ The Champ,” Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s vivid drama of snorting life below the Mexican border, which will start to-morrow at St. James Theatre. Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper share honours in the new picture, which King Vidor directed. Thrills, comedy, and heart throbs mingle in the drama, and much authentic detail was actually filmed in Agua Caliente and Mexican border locales. Beery plays a broken-down prizefighter, rearing his small son amid the surroundings of the border, while attempting to “come back.” The love of the two is great. Finally, the boy’s mother, who has married a rich man, seeks to take the boy that he may have better advantages. Despite his great love for the child, the old prizefighter resolves to make the sacrifice. But the child runs away from his mother and returns to him. The “ Champ ” then makes his great resolve and stages an attempted “ come back ” for money to send the child to school. Other parts ai’e taken by Irene Rich, who appears as the boy’s mother, Roscoe Ates, the “ stuttering comedian,” Edward Brophy, and Hale Hamilton. REGENT THEATRE Heading the current bill at the Regent Theatre is “ Her Majesty, Love,” in which Marilyn Miller and Ben Lyon have the leading roles. The supporting cast includes such well-known players as Leon Errol, Ford Sterling, Chester Conklin, and W. C. Fields. There is a decidedly aloof barmaid in a Berlin cabaret and a wager is made, early in the story, that Lyon will conquer her heart. An amusing story eventually reaches - a highly diverting climax. The supporting programme is an unusually strong one. The box plans are at the theatre and the Bristol. “24 HOURS.” The amazing sum of drama, suspense, romance, and adventure that is tallied in the big cities of to-day, and most frequently is enacted without the eyes and senses fathoming the ever-present clues and symbols, is projected energetically and eloquently in the new photoplay which will be shown next week at the Regent Theatre, “ 24 Hours." As a novel and Cosmopolitan Magazine story called "Shattered Glass,” this Louis Bromfield narrative of tangled lives and loves | treated within two turns of the clock as modern New York city sees it, proved highly popular. With a cast featuring Clive Brook, Kay Francis, Miriam Hopkins, Regis Toomey, and a number of other stage and screen performers equally talented, “24 Hours” presents excellent entertainment. STRAND THEATRE With Charlotte Greenwood in the leading role, supported by Bert Lahr, “ Flying High,” the musical comedy entertainment which forms the main attraction at the Strand Theatre this w r eek, is undoubtedly one of the most amusing pictures seen here for some time. As the name implies, the plot is baaed on aviation matters and the bulk of the scenes are set at an aero pageant where a humorous inventor is lured into matrimony with an elongated actress much against his will, but with a wealth of entertainment for the audience. There is an excellent programme of supporting pictures. The box plans are at the theatre and the Bristol. “BUSINESS AND PLEASURE.” Booth Tarkington’s novel, “Plutoprat," has been handed to that famous comedian, Will Rogers, for his current starring success, “ Business and Pleasure,” which will be commenced at the Strand Theatre to-morrow. Considerably lengthier and containing more of a serious nature than is usual for a Will Rogers’s production, “ Business and Pleasure ” nevertheless is redolent of his inimitable humour and wit. Will is the wealthy owner of a national line of safety razor blades. He sets out for Damascus to corner the market in this famous steel, thereby killing competition, and thus quietening his competitors. En route by boat, Will comes under the spell of a suave and lovely vamp (Jetta Goudal). and the adventures and escapades he goes through are too numerous to mention. Dorothy Petersen is very fine in the role of Will’s wife, and Joel M'Crea, Peggy Ross, Jetta Goudal all play excellently. OCTAGON THEATRE “The Beloved Bachelor,” featuring Paul Lukas, is the current attraction at the Octagon Theatre. The story is woven around the love of a young sculptor for a beautiful society girl, and Lukas gives a very convincing portrayal of his part. The supporting picture, “ Heaven on Earth,” is based on the struggle of an ignorant boy who is thrown on his own resources, the principal part being played by Lew Ayres. The box plans are at the theatre and. the Bristol. “ROAD TO RENO” AND “ COMPROMISED.” A double-feature programme, including “ The Road to Reno ” and “ Compromised,” will be shown at the Octagon Theatre to-morrow. The former, which shows many of the strange customs adopted by divorcees, is an especially entertaining film, and features Lilyan Tashman. Charles “ Buddy ” Rogers, Peggy Shannon, William Boyd, and Irving Pichel. “ Compromised ” is said to be one of those rarely human dramas which finds response in the heart of everyone. Ben Lyon and lovely Rose Hobart, for the first time cast together on the screen, are sincere and likeable in their roles — as the strangely-assorted lovers —who marry—have a son —and later meet opposition from- the young husband’s proud old father. Others in the cast are Delmar Watson, Claude Gillingwater, Juliette Compton, Bert Roach, and Emma Dunn. EMPIRE THEA'RE The film version of Ben Travers’s farce, “Mischief,” with the inimitable Ralph Lynn in the principal role, heads the current programme at the Empire Theatre. Lynn makes much of the role of a somewhat addle-headed friend of a married couple who attempts to unravel a complicated matrimonial tangle and merely succeeds in getting himself into some of the most amusing predicaments. The subsidiary roles are also capably handled. A strong supporting programme is screened, and Kir Paul Cullen provides an entertaining interlude at the organ. The box plans are at the theatre and the Bristol. “THE AGE FOR LOVE.” Billie Dove makes a triumphant return to tlie screen in “ The Age for Love,” the Howard Hughes production, which comes to the Empire Theatre to-morrow. The finest histrionic talent that money could procure was engaged for the cast, which includes Charles Starett. Lois Wilson, Edward Everett Horton, Mary Duncan, Adrian Morris, and Betty Ross Clarke The result has been a picture worthy of Miss Dove’s talents. Before she appeared in “ The Age for Love,” Miss Dove was generally conceded, by critics and public, the enviable distinction of being the most beautiful woman on the screen.” Now the critics are proclaiming her not only the screen’s greatest beauty, but one of the “greatest actresses” as well. “The Age for Love ” is gay. sophisticated, and modern to the core, reaching into the hearts and minds of every modern-day person with its graphically-portrayed problems of love and marriage. At the same time it is wholesome amusement — | the sort of entertainment appreciated by every age and class of picture-goer. An excellent programme of short subjects has been selected to accompany the main picture, and Paul pulleu has selected as

his organ solos: Overture, melodies from “ New Moon,” entr’acte “ A Few Moments with the Classics,” and as his song interlude his own composition, “ Come to Dunedin.” KING EDWARD THEATRE Tom Moore, an old favourite, has the role of a policeman in “ The Costello Case,” which is one of the features on the new programme at the King Edward Theatre. He plays the part of the prime mover in tiie solution of a baffling murder mystery. The leading; lady is Lola Lane, and Russell Hardic, a newcomer to the screen, is also cast in an important part. The story is of a type which is always popular, and the picture is well produced and attractively presented. The other picture is “ Sea Legs,” a Jack Oakie comedy. Oakie is seen in this film as a sailor who is shanghaied into a foreign navy as a substitute for a lazy millionaire, and gives his audience plenty of laughs. Lilian Roth is at her best as the Captain’s daughter, and the other members of the cast also acquit themselves with credit.