AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21990, 27 June 1933, Page 14

AMUSEMENTS

GRAND THEATRE " The Love Contract," which is at present attracting good houses to the Grand Theatre, is a novel and refreshing production with many original 'turns and an engagingly fantastic form and content. The story is a striking combination of improbabilities and surprises, and it is told with charming directness and effect by a very excellent cast of players. Winifred Shotter, easily one of the most generally popular of English screen actresses, has the leading feminine role, and playing opposite her in the male lead is Owen Nares, whose appearances are always welcomed by Dunedin audiences. The story which " The Love Contract" tells is disconcertingly unusual in its atmosphere, disturbing in its quick changes and recurring plots and counter-plots, and intriguing in its blissful disregard for conventional ideas of the dramatic and melodramatic, but it has been handled so delicately and deftly that the result is a highly enjoyable and delightful production. A young lady of great wealth, as a result of unusual and amusing circumstances, puts away all the symbols and pleasure of her position and masquerades as a feminine chauffeur. An even more wealthy young man finds himself in the equally unusual i*ole of an employer of labour. He proves a most unreliable and unsuccessful employer and thereby contributes greatly to the general confusion and complication of a love story that has the knack of taking the most unexpected turns without the slightest warning. A chauffeur who finds his job ,taken by the erstwhile lady of wealth reappears in a most amusing role. The story tells of a young lady who lost all her money in a Stock Exchange crash, and then hired herself out as chauffeur to the man whose manipulation of the market caused her financial downfall. An extraordinary contract is entered into under which each side is liable to heavy penalties if any clause of the agreement should be broken. If the young lady, now a uniformed chauffeur, breaks the agreement in any way she must marry her employer. If her employer does anything that might be construed into a breach of contract he is bound by the agreement to reimburse his employee for the; whole of her losses in the crash. Wha.t exactly happens with regard to this amazing contract makes a delightful tale, but it must be seen on the screen to be fully appreciated. There is an excellent supporting programme of short subjects which have. been selected with the usual care and judgment. The box plans'are at the theatre and at Messrs' Charles Begg and Co.'s. • - ' EMPIRE THEATRE "State Fair," the current attraction at the Empire Theatre, is notable for the excellency of the acting of the principals. The leading feminine role is taken by Janet Gayfor, who on this occasion is seen with a new screen partner in Lew Ayres. Theatregoers - have for so long been accustomed to seeing Miss Gaynor paired with Charles Farrell that a good deal of interest, has been aroused in the success or otherwise of the new "'team," but after seeing the acting of these two in " State Fair," it will be admitted that the experiment, of changing Miss Gaynor's partner has been justified by the result. The story round which the picture has been built is of the type that is bound to appeal to audiences, telling, as it does, of the.daily ljfe of a family on a farm in the American Mid-west. Miss Gaynor' is seen as the daughter of the family, and the title of-the picture is derived from the fact that it is mainly concerned with the romance '.which springs up between the country _ girl and _a young newspaper reporter while the family are at the State fair. The supportnig programme is well up to the standard that has been set' by this theatre. The box plans are at the theatre and the Bristol. "SECRETS OF THE FRENCH ;.:■', POLICE." . "Secrets of the French Police,", the R.K.O. Radio Picture coming next Friday to the Empire Theatre, with Gwili Andre, Frank Morgan, Gregory Ratoff,_and John Warburton in the leading, roles, 'is not only a revelation of the remarkable methods of crime detection used by the Surete, the French secret police, but it also deals with- that most tenacious business; the " Czarina racket." Paris, more so than other European capitals, has been a haven for Russian loyalists since the Bolshevist Revolution of 1917, at which time the Reds are believed to have slain every member of the reigning Romanoff family, from Nicholas 11, Czar of all the Russians, down. Yet a legend has persisted that Anastasia, youngest daughter of the Czar, was spirited to Paris. Various Russian royalist refugees, some sincerely) some as adventurers out to raise money, have attempted to find her. . , OCTAGON THEATRE .>' " Second Hand Wife," the screen adaptation of the novel.by Kathleen Norris, is the first of the pictures to be shown on,the double-feature programme at the Octagon Theatre this week. Ralph Bel l lamy and Sally Eilers- have interesting roles, arid another actress who is seen in a prominent part is Helen Vinson. The other picture on the programme is "The Face in the Sky." In this the principal players are Spencer Tracy and Marian Nixon. The former is cast as a young sign painter, who comes to the country side of Vermont, where he meets a farm girl, played by Marjan Nixon, and a romance speedily springs up between the two." Stuart Erwin gives a delightful characterisation as the sign painter's assistant, being responsible for most of the comedy, ana other important parts are taken"by Sara Padden and Sam Hardy. The box plans are at the theatre and the Bristol. ST. JAMES THEATRE The picture which heads this week's programme at the St. James Theatre is entitled "Diggers in Blighty," featuring Pat Hanna's well-known diggers. The principal roles are taken by Pat Hanna himself, Joe Valli and George Moon; and included in the cast is Norman French, whose performance is of particular interest to Dunedin theatregoers by reason of the fact that he is a native of this city. The picture is, of course, a comedy pure and simple, the theme of the production concerning the adventures of a party of Australian soldiers who have been given leave from the trenches, and who experience a riotous time in England. The most amusing scenes are witnessed when the Australians go to stay at the house of an elderly spinster, where they succeed in getting themselves into a variety of' awkward situations, all ot which provide the audience with the maximum of entertainment. Among the pictures on the supporting programme is a comedy, "What a Night," with George Wallace in the leading role. Ihe box plans are at the theatre, Jacobss, and the Bristol. "THAT NIGHT IN LONDON." Roland V. Lee. who directed " That Night in London," a British Paramount production to be shown at the St. James Theatre on Friday next, is one of the most painstaking directors in English studios. He is also one of the easiest to work for, as he shows each actor and actress in detail exactly how the part is to be played before he begins to rehearse. "That Night in London," which is Lees first film to be produced in England, concerns a young country bank clerk s desire to see something of life in London, am the extraordinary adventures that beta I him in the city during his short and almost disastrous stay. The whole of the action of the film takes place within two days. An interesting feature of the him is' the intimate scenes of London hie taken on actual location. Besides the dramatic qualities of the story of -that Night- in London," there are some excellent, tuneful songs, as well as dancing of an unusually high order. The cast of the production includes Robert Donat, Pearl Argyle. Miles Marnier, Roy Emertoiii and other renowned West End stage and screen stars. • • ■ STRAND THEATRE "Peach o' Reno," with the popular comedy combination Woolsey and Wheeler in the leading parts, is the current attraction at the Strand Theatre. This delightful and excellently produced farce has its background in the home of divorce in America, the far-famed Reno, and Woolsey and Wheeler appear as divorce brokers whoso business activities increase with such astonishing strides that they have to adopt all sorts of big business methods to keep pace with the demand for their services There are endless oppor-

tunities in this film for the display, of drollery and nonsense for which these two performers are so popular, and Dorothy Lee, in the leading feminine role, introduces a touch of romance to a story which is 'chiefly made up of shattered romances. The box plans are at the theatre and at the Bristol. " PAYMENT DEFERRED." Bizarre mystery and a fantastic trick of fate which sends a man to the gallows for a crime which was never committed, figure in the thrilling kinema play, " Payment Deferred," which will be the next attraction at the Strand Theatre. Charles Laugh ton, the celebrated English actor, plays the role that he made sensational before the footlights, both in New York and London. The cast also features Maureen O'Sullivan, Dorothy Petersoii, Verree Teasdale, and Ray Milland. The dramatic tale of " Payment Deferred" concerns itself with a London bank clerk who, driven to desperation by creditors, poisons his wealthy nephew. How he hides this crime only to be arrested later for one of which he is innocent results in a narrative permeated with suspense and engrossing dramatic interest. REGENT THEATRE Joan Crawford, who has been seen in some highly successful productions during the past year or two, is featured this week with Gary Cooper in '' To-day We Live "at the Regent, Theatre; Although the film is based on war experiences, it is not an ordinary war picture, the theme of the story being based on the life of the women, who worked behind the lines during these stressful years. Miss Crawford is seen as a young English society girl who joins an ambulance unit, and eventually falls in love with an aviator. He is reported to have been killed, but makes a dramatic return to find that his sweetheart has in the meantime accepted the attentions of another man. The manner in which the problem is solved forms an absorbing climax. Included among the items on the supporting programme are instrumental numbers by the Roland Sextet. 'The box plans are at the theatre and the Bristol. KING EDWARD THEATRE . "Big Money" is; the feature of the programme at the,King .Edward Theatre this week, but the second film, " The Penalty of.Fame,".is proving.no less popular. In "Big Money" the featured player s are Robert Armstrong, Miriam Segar, Margaret Livingstone, and Dorothy Christie, and in 'The Penalty of Fame" the chief roles are played by Maureen O'Sullivan, Lew Ayres, Walter. Catlett, Nance O'Neill, and Henry Armetta. Both films are excellently produced and they made a very pleasing evening's entertainment.