AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21983, 19 June 1933, Page 14

AMUSEMENTS

GRAND THEATRE " Marry Me," the musical comedy production which features Reiiate Muller, is still attracting good houses to the Grand Theatre, where it is in its second week. Renate Muller has the leading female role, that of a recordist in a-gramophone factory, and she is ably supported in the principal male parts by George Robey and Harry Green, both of them comedians of special merit. George Robey presents all the variety and colour which have characterised his rise to stardom on the music hall stage, and as a rough and ready Hungarian farmer in " Marry Me " he linds endless opportunities for the display of his admirable talents. Harry Green appears as a very. excitable but exceedingly shrewd Jewish marriage broker and the pursuit of. his calling brings him face to face with many complications and humorous adventures.' lan Hunter and Charles Hawtrcy, jun., also have good parts in this production and they give a very good account of themselves. The musical features of " Marry Me" are of a most popular order, and all the song "hits" are well recorded and reproduced. " Will Somebody, Somebody Marry Me," " The Early Bird," " A Little Sunshine," and "You're So VVonderful to Me," are some of the best of the tuneful melodies which punctuate the production. " Marry Me" is a film that will be generally enjoyed and those who like light, inconsequential amusement with plenty of variety could not do better than spend an evening during the present week at the Grand Theatre. There is can excellent supporting programme, comprised of a highly interesting and graphic pictorial record of scientific investigations and research in the Arctic Circle. The picture is eutitled " Northern Lights," and covers interesting phases of the work of the British Arctic Air Expedition. The box plans for the season are at the theatre and at Messrs Charles Begg and Co.'s. STRAND THEATRE Heading the current bill at the Strand Theatre is " Hot Pepper," one of the most laughable pictures seen there for some time. Once again, the familiar characters, Quirt and Flagg. of "What Price Glory" and " The . Cock-eyed World." are to the fore this time wrangling their way through an orgy of wealth in New York. Flagg first achieves success and sets up as a rum-runner, but it it not long before his pal finds him and mulcts him of a goodly portion of his ill-gotten gains. From first to last Quirt is the care-free gambler who succeeds at the expense of those he meets. Edmund Lowe and "Victor M'Laglen are again cast in the chief roles and Lupe Velez has been assigned the task of playing the nart of a fiery little dancer from South America, and she is eminently successful in giving trouble to all who come into .contact with her._ There is a laugh in the first scene and it is repeated with every foot of film. The supporting programme includes several excellent pictures. The box plans are at the theatre and the Bristol. " PEACH 0' RENO." , Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey have characterised many types, including funeral directors, gamblers, etc., but it remained for their latest picture, " Peach o' Reno," to show what they could do as lawyers. In this film, which will be the next attraction at the Strand Theatre, the celebrated comedy team appears as Reno's most popular pair of divorce lawyers, and from start to finish Reno; its divorces and divorcees and gambling and night life, are colourfully depicted—and satirised. The fun is hilarious and ridiculous, but just real enough to give one who hasn't seen Reno a very good idea of- " America's bright spot." REGENT THEATRE ! The dramatic story of Judy Carroll, the actress whose love for ehildren leads to her great unhappiness, is well portrayed in " Rockabye," which is now being screened at the Regent Theatre, by Constance Bennett, : with Paul Lukas and Joel M'Crea in the principal supporting roles. The story, though essentially of an emotional nature, is not without its leavening of humour, tastefully presented, but the film will be remembered principally for the masterly fashion in which the chief role is enacted by Miss Bennett. As the successful actress, as the foster-mother of a delightful child, as the victim of her lover's jealousy, she lives the part assigned to her. Considerable praise is also due to Lukas and M'Crea for excellent work, and the settings, photography, and sound reproduction also play their part in making " Rockabye " "one of the year's most successful films. The supporting programme is an unusually good one. The box plans are at the theatre and the Bristol. EMPIRE THEATRE An exceedingly interesting reproduction of life behind the scenes in a great broadcasting station is embodied in "The Big Broadcast," the current attraction at'.the Empire Theatre. In effect this film is a huge revue, which has the added distinction of possessing a coherent and attractive plot as a background, while the cast is composed of most of the more prominent radio performers in America. The entertaining programme of music, song, and variety is provided by Bing Crosby, the Boswell Sisters, Leila Hyams and Stuart Erwin, Kate Smith, Cab Calloway, and his fine orchestra, Burns and Allen, and Vincent Lopez, to name but a few, whose contributions to this delightfully novel entertainment assist very materially towards its success. " The Big Broadcast " is a light-hearted and excellently varied production, which should make an instant appeal to theatre patrons during the coming week. There is an entertaining programme of short subjects. The box plans are at the theatre and the Bristol. " STATE FAIR." Presenting Janet Gaynor Will Rogers, Lew' Ayres, Sally Filers, Norman Foster, Louise Dresser, Frank Craven, Victor Jory, and other members of an albstar cast in a prize-winning story, Fox Film's " State Fair " will be screened next Friday at the Empire Theatre. Based upon the best selling novel by Phil Stong, which relates the adventures of a middle-western family at a state fair, the film combines romance with comedy. Against the colourful backgrounds of a big state fair with its sideshows and concessions, its teeming crowds and spirited competitions, the absorbing story unfolds. In book form, "State Fair " won the Literary Guild prize, attained seusational best-seller circulation, and was syndicated for millions of newspaper readers. As a picture, and directed by the veteran Henry King, it should prove even more popular. OCTAGON THEATRE The ever-popular Jack Buchanan and the vivacious and dainty Irene Bordoni have the leading roles in the bright and spectacular revue "Paris," which is now being shown at the . Octagon Theatre. Breezy and amusing dialogue, the extremely competent work of the principals, and the lavish nature of the settings combine to make this production one of the most enjoyable ever seen in Dunedin, arid despite the fact that the plot is of the slenderest, so deftly are the various roles handled that this fact is completely lost sight of. The story is woven round the adventures of a staid society matron who goes to Paris for the purpose of rescuing her son from the attentions of an actress, and who subsequently astounds her intimates by entering into the life of the gay capital with great abandon. It is « n extremely amusing production, and is probably Jack Buchanan's most successful effort to date. There is a good programme of supporting pictures. The. box plans arc at the theatre and the Bristol. ST. JAMES THEATRE The famous mutiny of his Majesty's ship Bounty, one of the strangest sea dramas of the last century, is presented in pictorial form in "In the Wake of the Bounty," an extremely interesting production which is at present being shown at the St. James Theatre. The story of the fate of Lieutenant Bligh, whose harshness with the crew brought on himself a terrible doom, the seizing of the ship by Fletcher Christian and the subsequent disappearance of the ship and the mutineers until their descendants wore found on Pitcairn Island, is admirably reproduced,

while the scenes showing the activities of the inhabitants of Pitcairn, their daily occupations, and the community life generally, arc excellent examples of expert photography "In the Wake of the Bounty " is an intensely interesting film, historically accurate and attractively constructed. There is an entertaining programme of short subjects. The box plans are at the theatre, Jaoobs's, and the Bristol. . KING EDWARD THEATRE" "Sideshow" is the attraction at the King Edward Theatre at the moment, and it is proving unusually popular. It is an absorbing story of circus life, and as a film it is distinguished by many novel and interesting features. The stars are Winnie Lightner and Charles Butterworth. The second film is "Igloo," which deals with the life of the Eskimo in the Frozen North.