SCREEN AND STAGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21985, 21 June 1933, Page 3

SCREEN AND STAGE

BV harlequin.

FROM GREEN ROOM AND STUDIO

Regent Theatre Attraction The first joint appearance in a film play of Joan Crawford and Gary Cooper will be made at the Regent Theatre on Friday next. In “To-day, We Live, Missj Crawford oli'ere. what is probably the finest work of her entire'career, and she is ably seconded by Cooper, the scenes between these two rising to a new height in the way of fervid romance. Robert Young; as the lover who loses, oilers A distinctive and sympathetic portrayal, and Franchot Tone, as the brother, proves, it is claimed, to be a new “find.” Excellent performances are contributed by Roscoe Karns, Louise Glosser Hale, Rollo, Lloyd, and Hilda Vaughan., This is the first story by William Faulkner, the much-discussed author of “Sanctuary” and “Light-in August,” to be shown on, •the talking screen. The unexpected touches of this remarkable writer are prevalent throughout the picture. . Considerable credit also must go to Howard Hawks, who hag given “ To-day We Live ” the: same intelligent direction which marked this director's previous su’cccss, Sccirf 3CO At the Regent Theatre on Friday audi-, ences will obtain eomething different in the way of entertainment, as a portion of the programme will be presented by tbe Roland Sextet, a talented Te Aroha

family who have .just returned after spending five years , of musical study in Vienna; They have specialised in Strauss .and Schubert, music; and their repertoire on: their.. New Zealand tour, will ’include many of ~ the more, important ,’6f tfie ; latter’s woxks,.; as , well as 'lighter selections; The . tutors of , the chil-dren-included Madame. Weissbergen, Professor Malcher, and Professor Wittgenstein, whq,. although he lost one arm in the war, refused to give ,up his pianoforte worky and perfected a one-hand technique. Ravel wrote one of > his ..most interestingicompositions 'specially for him. Another person who took a gycat interest in the children was Madame Kreisler, wife of- the famous violinist.. Their: association with Johann Strauss, grandson of the famous composer, whose works they specially studied, was also a great honour. He expressed great 'hopes for their future success.

“ Alice in Wonderland ” as Film Following' the purchase by Paramount of the screen rights to the book, “Alice in Wonderland,” Lewis' Carroll’s beloved story which has entertained the world for several generations, will be produced with a musical background. An 1 all-star cast will bring to life the famous characters which Alice found in Wonderland and on her trip through the blocking; -glass, ;,To date, five'.players have., been cast; .Alison Skipworth will play the Duchess, Charles Ruggles is to be the Mad Hatter, Charles Laughton the Cheshire Cat or the Walrus. Mary Boland the Queen of Hearts, and Jack Oakie will have the dual role of Twecdledee and Tweedledum. Norman Tauroa. the director of Paramount’s A Bedtime Story,” who is preparing Maurice Chevalier’s next, “The Way to Love,” has been tentatively assigned to the direction of the picture

Companies for the Dominions < The London'management of Messrs J. C. Williamson, Ltd., have engaged Miss Tsobel 'Elsom; the West End actress, for a‘ tour of Australia and -Ncw Zealand. She will play lead in When Ladies Meet,” by Rachel Crothers, which has just been put on at the Lyric Theatre; and, also in “Double Harness ” (by E. P. Montgomery), and in “Another Language.” ’ • Miss Elsom (writes our London correspondent on May 12) will have as her leading man Mr George Barraud, wbo_was formerly in Australia. Mr Carl Harboard will also take prominent parts in the cast. The company will be augmented by artist's already in Australia., Miss Elsom, Mr Barraud, and Mr Harbord sailed by the Maloja last Friday. The season - will last for' about six months uj Australia, after which the company will ■go on to New Zealand. • ■ , . Mr J. N. Tait has engaged Miss Sylvia Welling to take the leading part in the musical play “ Freda.” She will also play lead in “Music in the Air,” a new musical play by Oscar Hammerstein, the music being by Jerome Kern. This has been a great success in New York, and it is to be put on shortly in London at His Majesty’s Theatre. ; Miss Welling took the leading part in “ The .Dubarry ” after the, death of Miss Anny Alders, the German actress. She will probably appear in this play and also in a revival of “ The Desert Song.” Mr Frank Sale, the operatic baritone from Covent Garden, will play leading parts in the same musical pieces. After a season in Australia the company will tour New Zealand.

“ Diggers in Blighty ” The title of “Diggers in Blighty,” the Australian talking picture which will be the feature commencing at the St. James Theatre on Friday, might give the impression that it is a war picture, but it is something more—a wholesome human comedy against a war background. The appeal of pictures of this kind is natural to New Zealanders, for the sentiment is wholly British, and it i s a 'comedy first and last. “ Diggers in Blighty ”is a Pat Hanna production. The star appears as “Chic” Williams, an Australian private. His friends are Dance-corporal MTavish (Joe Valli) and Private Joe Mulga (George Moon). The three, although they have a reputation for gallantry in the field, get up to a good deal of trouble behind the lines, largely at the expense of the proverbial war-time sergeant-majors. Their commanding officer is Captain Jack Fisher (John D’Arcy), and the love interest in the Sim is supplied by him and the sister at the hospital (Iza Crossley). The opening portions of the picture show something of the work of the Secret Service, and Norman French is starred in this. Thelma Scott is cast as his secretary., The real “high lights ’ of the picture arise when the three friends are sent to “Blighty,” and they are incongruously out of place in the home of a wealthy spinster. Prominent in the cast are Alfred Frith (who is so well known

A Palace of Pleasure

in. musical comedy), Field Fisher, Reg. ■Wykehara, John D’Arcy, John Dobbie, jnd Wernel Dehnel, who is a first cousin Ro Renate Muller, of “ Sunshine Susie ” fame. Tile supporting programme will include “A Night Out,” an hilarious comedy featuring George Wallace. A Divorce Comedy • Mixing , a brand new assortment of comedy “gags” with music and the ludicrously funny situation of two lawyers in the midst of the Reno “divorce mill,” Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, that inimitable pair of comedians, will be seen again at the Strand Theatre on Friday in their latest laughter film, “Peach o’ 'Reno.” The picture is the first humorous screen treatment of the Reno divorce situation, and provides the comedians with two of the most uproarious comedy roles in their varied stage and screen careers. As in former Wheeler and Woolsey comedies, Dorothy Lee provides the romantic interest in a story that is filled with budding romances and hectic young wives seeking release from marriage. The studio has made the picture more elaborate than is usually the case in comedies. Particularly is this true of the settings which include a courtroom with

hundreds of extras,. a bizarre , law office in which Wheeler and Woolsey handle the hundreds of divorce cases that come their way, and an unusual night club and office. The secretaries .in the office, incidentally, are the prettiest models on the Pacific Coast Paramount’s Scenario Staff ' A battery of brilliant writing talent is being lined up by Paramount to prepare the" new season’s product. . Jeanie Macpherjson, the author, of many of the'screen’s most successful motion pictures, has been signed to develop one of the several story ideas now being considered by Cycil B. De Mille as' his next picture. Leslie Charteris, the 25-year-old English author of 15 published novels, is to work on a story which Bayard Veiller will produce. Manuel Sefl and Frank Pantos have been assigned to work with Rian James in adapting “Identity Unknown,” B. P. Schulberg’s production, while S. K. Lauren and Ray Harris will prepare the screen play for “ Hock Shop,” a Schulberg production featuring Edward Arnold. Charles R. Roger's has selected Garrett Fort to prepare the screen play of “ The Baby in the Ice Box”. Harvey Gates and‘Malcolm Stuart Boylan will prepare the adaptation and treatment of “ Underseas,” the story by John Mikale Strong, which Rogers recently purchased. Harry Joe Brown is scheduled to supervise and direct the latter production, which will start shortly.

Maurice Chevalier’s Career , A review of Maurice Chevalier’s, career reveals that his claim to be described as “the international star ” is wholly justified (states a correspondent). His professional career began when he was 12 years old, a precocious gamin in a revue at the Casino des Tburelles,_ Paris. In the years immediately following he toured the French provinces with Boucet, a comedian of the day, but his real success came when he returned to Pans to appear at the Eldorado. When here he met Mistingliett, whose dancing partner Fie became. : . d , , , . At this stage the war interrupted his career. He was wounded, taken prisoner, and escaped after 26 months’ imprisonment at Alten, Grabow. With him went Joe Bridge, another Paris music hall favourite with who he had formed an act to entertain the camp. Incidentally, it may be stated that the escape was part of the act. . ■ „ Returning to Pans after the war, he made his new debut at the Casino de Paris. Next he appeared in London m a revue with Elsie Janie, and followed this lay starring in Buenos Aires, achieving tremendous success. Upon the completion of the filming of “ Innocents of Paris’,” his first picture at the Paramount Studios in Hollywood, Chevalier to New York, where Florenz Ziegteld starred him in a show on the New Amsterdam roof. There followed another appearance at the Casino in Paris, and then back to Hollywood for another picture, a tour of several large American cities in “one-man” concerts, and back again to Hollywood. He is now appearing in his ninth picture, “A Bedtime Story at the Paramount Studios in- Hollywood. Double Feature Programme

Kathleen Norris’s sparkling tale of a banker’s charming secretary who steps from his office into his heart,' only to find that her husband’s first wife and their daughter present unforeseen obstacles to her happiness, is the theme of “ Second-hand Wife,” the Fox h ilnis feature coming next Friday to the Octagon Theatre. Adhering with fidelity to Kathleen Norris’s novel, this offering is distinguished by its exceptional entertainment qualities. With Sally Filers m the title role, Ralph Bellamy as the banker, and Helen Vinson as the selfish wife, the cast is a notable one, and lends much realism to Mrs Norris’s characters. The other picture on the programme is “ Face in the Sky.” The theme revolves around a whimsical romance between two dreamers —one a little country girl, the other a swaggering young signboard artist who meets her on a Vermont farm. Airy and at times almost fantastic, the story has been handled in a manner that immediately places Lanchman in his first American screen effort among the foremost directors. Spencer Tracy is seen ns the self-assured “ artist,” while Marion Nixon the sweet little lady of “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,” is a perfect contrast as the heroine, and the inimitable Stuart Erwin as Tracy’s blundering helper. Sarah Padden and Sam Hardy head the supporting cast. This theatre is showing programmes on Saturday afternoons, every item /of which is entirely suitable for children. This policy has been adopted in response to the Icing-felt want for a children’s theatre. The programmes screened at these matinees consist of newsreels, cartoons, comedies, and Western features. Commencing bn Saturday next, there will

also be the added attraction of a new serial, “The Jungle Mystery,” which deals largely with the adventures of two explorers who arrive in Africa by aeroplane on a hunting and exploration expedition among the wild animals of Darkest Africa.

A building which Sir Oswald Stoll predicts will be “ the sensation of London ” may soon replace the outmoded but wellbeloved Alhambra Theatre, in Leicester square. Plans for an edifice to cost £700,000, and to be named “ The New Century,” have been drawn by Mr A. E. Stone, the designer of the numerous and very elaborate Astoria kinemas. Negotiations for the raising of the necessary capital are proceeding with some prospect of success, and an “interesting announcement ”, by the promoters is expected at any moment. It is claimed that “ The New Century” will be the finest entertainment centre under one roof yet conceived, for it will provide almost _ everything. from artificial sunlight to fisticuffs. The basement, with seating capacity for over 3000, will be sacred to boxing, billiards, gymnastics—and refreshment bars. On the ground floor an immense beer garden with a stage upon which non-stop performances will be presented, is to be built in the shape of a Tyrolean village. Patrons will be encouraged to dance as the whim seizes them, and if they desire to do some shopping there will be a “street of Stores” round the wall into which they can “pop.” Restaurants will be housed on the two floors above, that on the second storey to be known as the “Restaurant of the Nations.” It is to be divided into “national” sections, each with its own decorative scheme and special music (apropos of which there may be some trouble in selecting an appropriate orchestra for the Chinese section!). Half the roof space will be taken up by the'kitchens and other utilitarian de-

partments, but the other half —perhaps the better half—will be a solarium, where artificial sun-bathing will be available the whole year round. • : The work of demolishing the Alhambra is expected to start within the next three months,’and there will be many in. London to defilore it. It was originally opened in 1854 as the Royal Panopticon of Science and Music, but in 1871 .this high-sounding title wag dropped. Eleven years later the theatre was consumed in one of the most spectacular fires of the century, but immediately rose .again from its ashes, only—so it seems—to meet an undignified end by demolition. A Janet Gaynpr Picture

Janet Gaynor started by hitching her wagon to a star. L° n S ago she took Ralph Waldo Emerson’s classic advice to heart and selected a high goal for herself. She was going to succeed as a motion picture actress. She has. . To-day Janet Gaynor, the star, still has an objective. And she always will have one because she believes it to be essential to happiness and progress. Dressed in gingham and wearing _ a checkered apron, the petite star Was sitting in a kitchen setting at the Fox

studios awaiting a call before the cameras for a scene of “ State Fair” when she was cornered and ‘pressed to express her views op how success is captured and happiness won. “ I don’t pretend to be a philosopher and I wouldn’t attempt to expound theories of success,” she said when the issue could not be dodged. “ I do believe, however, that every person should have some goal toward which to work. “With a definite objective toward which to drive, one can concentrate upon attaining it. Maybe the goal is beyond reach but there is real satisfaction in striving for it. And in the long run, a person generally gets a lot further by travelling along one road steadily than by making spasmodic stops and, starts on a number of them.” “ But what is there to look forward to and work for when a goal is achieved?” she was asked. “Hoes that ever happen?” she countered seriously. “ I doubt if it ever does.”

“ How about yourself ? ” She shook her head. “ I’m a long way from ray goal. Once, when I was fighting for a foothold in pictures, I thought seeing my name in bright lights would be enough. Now, I have to think about keeping it there and there is always the incentive to give better performances. To be satisfied with one’s self is to be

ready for the scrap heap, and I don t care to be relegated- there yet.” “When I’ve played my last picture scene, I hope I’ll still have a goal,” she concluded. “After all, film work is only one small field, even though we of Hollywood are inclined to forget that occasionally.” “ State Fair ” comes to the Empire Theatre on Friday,

New Lupino Lane Picture Lupino Lane has completed his production for 8.1. P. of what promises to be a first-class comedy in “The Mummers.” The combination of Lane’s ingenious direction and the comedy talent of the new comedian, George Lacy, are a guarantee of the laugh-raising qualities of the picture (writes a correspondent). The story of “The Mummers” deals with the adventures of a travelling company in which Lacy is an ambitious actor and incompetent stage manager. For scenes showing the productions of these players, two complete melodramas have been performed in a fully equipped theatre built in the Elstree Studios. One is of the blood'and thunder variety with the typical squire, vamp, and, villain playing leading parts, and Lacy, wrong on his cues and 'mixed up in the effects, delivering his one line in every m anil ® r but the right one. The second play is a costume drama with an exciting duel as its climax. Happily Lacy is in the audience and in consequence no hitch occurs.

Apart from the theatre scenes, .there will, be many hilarious, moments, _ when the actors are seen in a ducal residence impersonating the absent family and servants to impress a visiting film magnate and his pretty daughter. This gives Lacy, disguised as the duchess, an opportunity of giving one of his inimitable female impersonations. ’ Clever casting has brought- together an excellent company to support Lacy, and the players include Betty Davie and Fred Duprez as the film magnate and his daughter; Dennis Hoey and Florence Vie as the actor-manager and his wife; Renee Macready and PatAherne, as the vamp and villain of the melodramas; Hugh , E. Wright, , a melancholy butler; Harry- Bright ■ and Daphne - Courteney as other members of the players.' Slavonic Musical Genius

What is it that gives the Slavonic peoples such outstanding ability in- the realm of musical performance,.? A case in point (says a writer in an exchange) is the Spivakoysky-Kurtz Trio, which is at present touring the Dominion, but they are only three of an army of Slavonic musicians who can claim to have the artistic world at their feet. One has only to hear them play to realise that for sheer dynamic concentrated, energy and force these people, When'the music calls for such effort, are truiiy remarkable; There is something in their make-up which is absolutely foreign, to the more reserved Westerner. , -■

There have been some very fine German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Austrian virtuosi, but these have been few and far between, -whereas the Russian and Polish flood of the last quarter of a century has given the artistic world something to think about in the demesne of music. i’ . , There have been such giants as Sarasate (Spanish),' Paganini . (Italian), Remenyi (Hungarian), /'Busoni; (Ital-ian-Germanic), LamondV “(Scottish), Schnabel (German), d f Albert". . (German), Liszt • (Hungarian), Joachim (German), Cortot. (French), Thibaud (French), Casals (Spanish), Franck (Belgian), and Tartini (Italian), to mention but a few, but even these names are scattered through.the last half century, and all could be matched, and sometimes more than matched, by the comparatively young school of Slavonic luminaries in music’s- firmament who are at present before the public. ” '“ / ’ There is a regiment of them in America every, .season,., some resident (now,, that their own countries have ceased to be either. lucrative or. comfortable), and others who make the world their playground, Almost every big orchestra in the United States is controlled by > a Slavonic conductor, but the consideration is for outstanding performers. - Among those who have this ability to delight audiences continually by their artistry, and whose names will be familiar to many, are Mischa Elman,.Jascha Heiftez, the veteran Paderewski, Ignaz Friedmann, Efrem Zimbalist, Mark Hambourg, Benno Moiseiwitsch, Brailovsky. Tosclia Siedel. Shura Chergassky, the Cherniavskys, Vladimir de Pachmann (who delighted London for nearly 4 AO years), Mischa Levitsky, Melsa, Jasoha Spivakovsky and his brother Tossy, Edmund Kurtz, Rachmaninov, Wieniawsky, and Tausig. With a few exceptions they are still hard-working executants, and are but a fragment.of the regiment of. Russian and Polish artists who are in the first flight of . performing musicians of the 'present day. , ' ;/, _ •■■ ■; - It is interesting; to note that almost invariably the musicians mentioned are Russian Jews. In Russia .suffering .has ever been the badge of their tribe;,and, perhaps, Out of the tribulations of centuries of oppression has been engendered this great gift of musical expression.,

“ The Love Contract ” Winifred Shotter and Owen Hares head the cast of “ The Love Contract,” which will be shown at the Grand Theatre on Friday. Other important players are Sunday Wilshin, Miles Malleson, Gibb : 1 ■ , v'

M'Laughiin, Frank Harvey; and Irene Groves.

“ The Love Contract ” is a light comedy, and Miss Shotter will be seen in it as a rich young woman who suddenly loses all her money and is subsequently employed as chauffeur by the man who buys up her house. The plot includes musical numbers, written by Ralph Benatzky, the famous composer of the music of “ White Horse Inn” and “Casanova.”. Herbert Selpin, whose work with F. W. Murnau, Alexander Korda, Bertold Viertel and Hr Czinner, has brought him into prominence on the Continent, directed. He was brought to Great Britain to make “ Love Contract,” as he directed the original German version, which achieved an instantaneous success in Berlin, and proved enormously successful throughout Germany. ‘

Owen Nares is a famous figure on the London stage. He has been playing with Madeleine Carroll in the comedy, “ Pleasure Cruise.” at the Apollo Theatre. He made his debut in British films in the silent days, and has been seen on the screen many limes. The talking innovation allowed him to give to his screen performances the full value of his stage training in perfection of diction. His talkie debut took place in the film “ Loose Ends,” and he has recently appeared in “The Impassive Footman,” “ Frail Women,” and “ Sunshine Susie.”