AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21828, 15 December 1932, Page 18

AMUSEMENTS

EMPIRE THEATRE Hilarious antics, fast action, and a bevy of beautiful chorus girls provide excellent entertainment in “ Speak Easily,” Buster Keaton and Jimmy “ Schnozzlo ” Durante’s new Metro-Gold-wyn-Mayer comedy which will commence at the Empire Theatre at tq-day’s matinee. The two comedians will send the audience into screams of laughter at their mad-cap antics during a wild theatrical venture in New York city. Keaton portrays the millionaire college professor who finances the show, and Durante is Jimmy, the eccentric piano player who is his companion through the venture. The two comedians are assisted in their antics by lluth Sclwyn and Thelma Todd. An excellent programme of short subjects lias been chosen to accompany the big picture and Mr Cullen will as usual preside at the console of the organ. Attention is called to the special Saturday morning matinee for tlie children. Arrangements have been made whereby a suitable programme will be screened headed by Colonel Tim M‘Coy in “The Western Code.” The box plans arc at the theatre and the Bristol.

STRAND THEATRE “ Fireman, Save My Child ” is the title of the principal picture on the current programme at the Strand Theatre, the featured player being Joe E. Brown. Brown is a fire brigade enthusiast, and lie causes great amusement when lie drops everything at the sound of a fire engine siren. He invents a fire extinguishing bomb, and, requiring money to exploit his patent, accepts an offer from a baseball team to pitch for them. When an important game is in progress “ Smoky Joe” gets into difficulties with the team manager because he drops everything when a fire engine goes by. Several interesting short films are also shown. The box plans are at the theatre and the Bristol. “SINNERS IN THE SUN.” A romantic drama played against a background of wealth and beauty will be the next attraction at the Strand Theatre, commencing a season to-morrow. Entitled “ Sinners in the Sun,” it introduces beautiful women in gorgeous gowns, lavish exterior and interior settings, and it expounds the old, yet ever-new, theory —marriage for money will not succeed. The leading roles are played by Carole Lombard and Chester Morris, famous for his work in “ Corsair ’’ and “ Cock of the Air.” OCTAGON THEATRE Slim Summerville has the leading role in “ Tom Brown of Culver ” at the Octagon Theatre. As may well be imagined, most of the comedy, action, and incident centre round the long comedian, whose absurdly humorous antics, grimaces, and utterances will prove irresistible to all types of audiences. “ Tom Brown of Culver ” is a bright and wholesome film that should not be missed on any account. The usual excellent selection of short subjects makes an excedingly interesting and worthy supporting programme. The box plans are at the theatre and at the Bristol.

“ THE BARGAIN.” There are so many examples for and against the idea that the necessity of earning one’s daily bread in the supposedly inferior marts of trade has crippled creative genius that_ it is evidently a question which applies to the individual. How it worked out in one family where both father and son are implicated is entertainingly told in “ The Bargain,” the First National picture, which commences at the Octagon Theatre to-morrow. Maitland White, the father in the play, lets his artistic ambitions go by the board when love and marriage come and force him to spend years in a soap factory where, though he becomes an executive, middle age finds him 'with the unquenchable desire to paint. Urged by his wife, he takes six months off for the purpose, and to the ultimate reception which his masterpiece received is a pathetic combination of victory and defeat. ST. JAMES THEATRE A gripping story is told in “ The House of Unrest ” at the St. James Theatre this week, and those desirous of seeing the picture should avail themselves of the last opportunity, which is provided to-night, of doing so. Malcolm Keen and Dorothy Boyd work together in the most effective manner in the unfolding of this absorbingly interesting tale, and among the more prominent of the supporting players may be mentioned Agnes Mayfren and Leslie Perrins. An unusually generous supporting programme includes an audio review, Pathe news, and “My Old China.” The box plans are at the theatre, at the Bristol, and at Jacobs’s shop. “ FRAIL WOMEN.” Radio British Pictures’ “Frail Women,” beginning at the St. James Theatre tomorrow, is a story that has given wonderful scope for character acting. The stars and players have taken every advantage of this and have given wonderful renderings of their parts. Mary Newcomb, Owen Nares, Jane Welsh, Athole Stewart, and Edmund Gwenn are featured in the cast. “ Frail Women ” is a tense domestic drama, using the theme of the stigma attached to illegitimacy in a logical and highly moving manner. In the hands of such capable artists as those mentioned, the drama of the situations is used to the full, and in the direction of this picture Maurice Elvey has surpassed himself, for he has created for the screen something more real and telling than has ever been achieved before.

REGENT THEATRE The picture which is offered for the entertainment of Regent Theatre patrons this week is “ Unashamed,” which tells the story of a man who elected to suffer tlie supreme penalty rather than expose to the world the story of his sister’s illicit relations with the man he has shot. The principal role is taken by Helen Twelvetrees, and Robert Young is cast as the brother. Those tevo inimitable comedians, Laurel and Hardy, provide a riot of laughter in an hilarious comedy entitled “ The County Hospital.” _ There is not a dull moment from the time Hardy arrives at the hospital until he is discharged. The box plans are at the theatre and at the Bristol. “BIRD OF PARADISE.” All the fascinations of the Pacific Islands, with their wondrous natural beauty and sharp contrasts of gaiety, music, and laughter switched into sudden tragedy by lightning strokes of savagery and natural cataclysm, are _ admirably mirrored in “ Bird of Paradise,” which is opening at the Regent Theatre tomorrow. The story, which is an adaptation of the original success of the same name by Richard Walton Tully, is kept interesting by the glorious island surroundings in which it has been made under the camera, the very fine acting of Dolores del .Rio and Joel M'Crea in an exceptionally romantic setting, the thrills of natives simulating the savagery, sacrificial rites, and barbaric customs of their ancestors, and the comedies of the primitive mind wrestling with advanced ideas of civilisation. The play is a simple story of a love that transcends

<all religions and laws. There is an intangible something to this tragic story of Luana who falls hopelessly in love with a white man, and as hopelessly sacrifices that love, that demands a setting in sympathy with the sublime character of her sacrifice. KING EDWARD THEATRE Perhaps the finest actor in out-of-door roles of the western type appearing on the screen to-day is George O’Brien, who is cast in the leading role of “The Rainbow Trail,” which had its initial screening at the King Edward Theatre yesterday. The story affords O’Brien ample 9PPortunities for the display of his amazing equestrian powers, and of these he takes the fullest advantage. The exteriors of "The Rainbow Trail,” filmed in the most inaccessible spots of the Grand Canyon, where the usual visitors do not dare to go, bring to the screen the full breath-taking beauty of one of the world’s most famous scenic spots. Supporting George O’Brien is a fine cast, including Cecilia Parker, Minna Gombell, Roscoe Ates, J. M. Kerrigan, James Kirkwood, Robert Frazer, W. L. Thorne, Niles Welch, Ruth Donnelly, Laska Winters, Landers Stevens, Alice Ward and Edward Hearn. In addition to “ The Rainbow Trail” a strong supporting programme is shown.