AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22098, 31 October 1933, Page 16

AMUSEMENTS

GRAND THEATRE Those who in the past have admired the performances on the.screen Riven by Ann Harding in half a dozen productions will welcome the chance to see her in her latest offering, " Pretige,” which is at present being shown at the Grand Theatre. In almost every picture with which she has been associated Miss Harding has contributed an outstanding piece of characterisation, and in “Prestige” her work is no less remarkable. The star is given a role which offers more than ordinary scope for her acting abilities, and in this respect she is more fortunate than in some of her previous pictures. She is cast as the fiancee of a young French officer, who almost, on the eve of his marriage, is ordered to Indo-China, where he is to take charge of a penal settlement in a region so unhealthy that there is no hope of a woman being permitted to live there. For a time the young officer succeeds in upholding the prestige of the European race in the most unfavourable circumstances, and so well does he carry out his work that he is maintained in the post for a term that is much longer than was antiepated when he left France. Gradually the influence of the climate and his surroundings begins to exert its effect upon him, and he commences to lose something of his moral fibre. It is at this stage that his fiancee determines to take the only possible step in order to save him. She joins him in the penal colony, and takes up the task of restoring his self-respect and winning him back to the position which he formerly occupied. How she succeeds in this appointed duty makes an absorbing story, which is bound to appeal to the average theatre-goer. Of Miss Harding’s acting it is sufficient to say that it is up to the standard which she set in former pictures in which she was starred. The part of the young officer is allotted to Melvyn Douglas, who reveals himself to be possessed of more than usual ability, and gives a forceful rendering of the role, while Adolphe Menjou is also prominently cast. “ Prestige ” is a picture which can be recommended as being well worth seeing. The supporting programme contains a variety of short subjects, including an entertaining “ Our Gang ” farce and a comedy in -which the featured player is James Gleason. The box plans for the season are at the theatre and at Messrs Chas. Begg and Co.’s. EMPIRE THEATRE “ Hell Below,” which heads the programme at the Empire Theatre, provides entertainment of an unusually exciting and spectacular type. It does not depend alone for its attractiveness upon thrilling scenes, for the general production of the film calls for admiration, and the cast which has been selected is an especially strong one, such players as Walter Houston, Robert Montgomery, Madge Evans, and Jimmy Durante filling important roles. Houston gives a fine partrayal in the part of the commander of an American submarine operating in the Adriatic Sea, and Montgomery is his second in command, who falls in love with his daughter. The story of this romance is ably told, events of an intensely interesting type being woven in to it. Among the outstanding passages in this pictures is one in which a battle between the submarine and a number of seaplanes is shown, the attack following the sinking of a minelayer, but there is an even more exciting scene at a later stage when Montgomery disobeys orders and launches an attack on a flotilla of enemy destroyers The supporting programme is one of particular interest, a New Zealand news reel and a cartoon being included. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. OCTAGON THEATRE Two pictures which, although widely different in type, both provide first-class entertainment, comprise this week’s double bill at the Octagon Theatre. "False Faces,” the leading attraction, tells the story of a brilliant plastic surgeon who meets with wonderful success in restoring the features of faded women and the intrigues in which he becomes involved with his patients. Lowell Sherman, in the leading role, gives a convincing characterisation, and throughout his acting is marked by a thoroughness that makes his performance the outstanding feature of the film. The supporting picture, “ Rackety Rax,” is an hilarious comedy which deals with the activities of rival parties of gangsters. Victor M'Laglen is the principal player. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. "THE WARRIOR’S HUSBAND.” “The Warrior’s Husband,” Jesse L. Lasky’s new production for Fox Film, will be screened at the Octagon Theatre on Friday. It is an hilarious comedyromance of women who are the warriors and the providers—of women who have all the rights, arid good “ lefts ” with which to enforce them—of women who believe that man’s place is in the home, and are willing to fight it out in order to prove it. With Elissa Landi as the outstanding of the Amazons and Ernest Truex as the clinging vine of a male, the cast includes Marjorie Rambean, David Manners. Helen Ware, and others. STRAND THEATRE A bright and sparkling comedy, " Best of Enemies,” forms the principal attraction on the current bill at the Strand Theatre. The story deals with the romance that springs up between two young people whose parents are at daggers drawn over the prohibition issue. .One of the fathers is an ardent supporter of prohibition, but the other is the owner of a beer garden, and their widely divergent views are the cause of many a heated argument which are highly amusing. An unusually varied and_ interesting programme of short subjects supports the main feature. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. “ DIPLOMANIACS.” Wheeler and Woolsey, who started as “The Cuckoos” a few years ago, and were swept to fame as one of the leading musical comedy teams of the screen, will make a welcome return to the Strand Theatre on Friday. The feature is the first of their new _ series of musical comedies, “ Diplomanics.” Since their last success, "Hold 'Em Jail,” Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey considered a return to musical extravaganza and vaudeville, in which they built up their first reputation through 10 years of partnership. REGENT THEATRE Featuring the inimitable comedy team, Claude Hulbert and Renee Houston, “ Their Night Out,” which is the principal attraction on this -week's bill at the Regent Theatre, is a delightful comedy that maintains in every way the high standard set by British film productions. The story centres around the adventures that befall a young Scottish woman who arrives in London with the fixed idea of seeing something of the doings in some of the more famous night clubs. Interwoven in tlie story are the experiences. of a young fellow who, through a remarkable series of complications, is saddled with numerous misdeeds of which he is entirely innocent, and the result is a highly humorous sequence of incidents that keep the interest sustained from beginning to end. A strong supporting programme is shown. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. “KISS ME AGAIN.” Victor Herbert had an especial fondness for liis “Mile. Modiste”—the story of the tempestuous loves of Fid, toast ot al] Paris, and incidentally seamstress at the august Maison Cecile—and this is the romance First National has brought to the screen, naming it for its famous song, “ Kiss Ale Again,” which will be screened at the Regent Theatre on Friday. The picture is crowded with gorgeous girls and gowns, whirlwind comedy, officers in rede, blues, and gold lace, and hearts susceptible to the lure of femininity —especially of Fit! —dainty and adorable seamstress in the modiste shop of the haughty Mme. Cecile. The cast includes Bernice Claire, Walter Pidgeon, Edward Everett Horton, June Collyer, Frank M'Hneh, Claude Gillingwater, Judith Voselli, and Albert Gran.