AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22810, 20 February 1936, Page 17

AMUSEMENTS

EMPIRE THEATRE "No More Ladies,” which is now showing at the Empire Theatre, will conclude its Dunedin season to-day. In the lead Joan Crawford and Robert Montgomery score another success, and Franchot Tone, Charlie Ruggles, Edna May Oliver and Reginald Denny odd to their laurels. The story has wit and it has thought. Founded on a successful Broadway play, it deals with the problem of the modern wife who suspects that her husband has been straying. ' Nowhere does the story drag, and the grand party with which it ends delights the audience. Joan Crawford has become one of the screen’s fashion plates, and once again she wears clothes which will delight women patrons of the theatre. The settings are lavish and the scene varies between New York and the fashionable playground of that city, Westchester County. Joan Crawford and Robert Montgomery have a large following, and Franchot Tone becomes more popular with each picture. There is an adequate supporting programme. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. "THE RAVEN." Suggested by Edgar Allen Poe’s immortal classic, “The Raven,” which will be screened at the Empire Theatre tomorrow, boasts the combined master mystery talents of Boris Karloff (Frankenstein) and,Bela Lugosi (Dracula). These two are co-starred in a - story adapted to the screen by David Boehm and featuring in the supporting cast Irene Ware. Lester Matthews, Samuel Hinds, Inez Courtney and,many others. The plot concerns the mental flights of a famous surgeon who is a Poe addict and who, like the great poet is of a morbid, brooding turn of mind. “The Raven" always fascinated him, to the extent of having a stuffed replica of .this bird standing beside him on his desk. The shadow of this bird of ill-omen predominates the theme of the story, which actually begins when its principal character, a notorious criminal hiding from the police, comes to the doctor to have his face changed. Promising to perform this difficult operation, the mad doctor betrays his patient and holds him in his grip until he does his bidding in a diabolic plan he has conceived. Into their lives conies a beautiful girl, over whom the raving doctor easts a spell, while her father and sweetheart attempt to save her. STRAND THEATRE Two unusually entertaining films are at present being shown at the Strand Theatre. The first picture on the programme is “ Uncertain Lady." a romantic comedy with Genevieve Tobin. Edward Everett Horton and Paul Cavanagh in the leading roles. Miss Tobin gives another of her finely delineated characterisations as a business woman who enters into an unusual pact with her husband and another woman by which she agrees to give up the said husband provided she is supplied with another man who will be acceptable to her. A series of amusing situations is cleverly developed, and the story reaches an unexpected climax. The second picture, “Colonel Blood,” is an intriguing tale, based on historical fact, of the debonair Irishman who. in the time of Charles 11, came to London, ingratiated himself with the King, stole the Crown jewels, and very nearly paid for his temerity with his life. The part of Colonel Blood is admirably portrayed by Frank Cellier, and Anne Grey, makes a beautiful Ladv Castlemaine. favourite of Charles 11. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C.

DOUBLE FEATURE PROGRAMME. Coming to the Strand Theatre to-mpr-row is Columbia’s deep-sea drama, ‘ Atlantic Adventure,” featuring Nancy Carroll, Lloyd Nolan and Harry Langdon, famous comedian. The story deals with three stowaways on a huge transoceanic liner, who manage to break up a smoothlyworking crime machine despite the fact that two of the stowaways are confined

to the ship’s prison. The film is said to combine novel thrills and swift action. The second film, “Half a Sinner,” has Berton Churchill, Broadway stage and screen star, Joel M’Crea and Sallie Blanc in tits principal roles. Thoroughly wholesome, laughable, dramatic, it is said to be one of the most delightful films to bo shown for some time. It is based on the play, “Alias the Deacon,” by John B. Hymer and Leroy Clemens. Ihe story records the activities of a sanctimonious I rascal who poses as a deacon and who is a card-sharp, as well as two young lovers who have known him before but who know it would be fatal to their happiness to have such a fact become public. There is an exciting wrestling match, a robbery in which Joel is threatened and thrown in gaol and apparently deserted by his girl, a widow who places too much faith in a pair of Jacks, and through it all saunters the saintly appearing churchman with his kindly, double-meaning philosophy. In the end, though a crook, the deacon solves everyone’s troubles in the most surprising fashion. STATE THEATRE The programme which had its initial screening at the State Theatre yesterday is headed by a Shirley Temple picture. The latest of her productions to reach Dunedin, “ Curly Top,” has been built entirely round the diminutive star, and the other members of the cast have distinctly minor roles to fill. There can be no questioning of the entertainment value of Shirley Temple, for she has now come to the very front rank of Hollywood screen personalities, and her work last year won her the verdict of America’s most popular star. Her rise to fame has been as meteoric as anything known of the most glamorous figures who have come to Hollywood to find world fame and a fortune. In such pictures as “ Bright Eyes,” “ The Little Colonel,” and “Our Little Carl she has captivated audie'nces wherever they have seen her films, and time after time she has “stolen” the picture from experienced and popular adult stars. It must be, indeed, becoming increasingly difficult to persuade mature players to hazard their reputation by being completely overshadowed in popular regard by a child whose name was unknown a couple of years ago. On this occasion John Boles and Rochelle Hudson have taken the risk, and, though they do all that is asked of them, they have suffered the fate of so many others, and it is on the child the audiences will fasten their attention as she laughs and sings and dances her way through the picture. It will probably be observed by those who have seen other Shirley Temple pictures that in “ Curly Top ” there are signs that the art of the little' star is maturing and that there is a more definite note of acting about her performance. She is given dozens of opportunities to please her public and to show that she can act many different moods and many different ages~ in the picture she acts in a concert in costume; first as herself, next as a girl of 10, next as a bride of 21, and then as an old white-haired lady who suddenly becomes the five-year-old again doing a tap-dance with the long black skirt held fantastically above her knees. Shirley Temple’s acting is so good, or the little star is so charming, the audience would be glad to have her lending all the wav through. But she is supported by Boles and Miss Hudson, who, although they do their parts well, do not rob her of any of her glory. The scenes in the orphanage at the beginning of the film are particularly good; the episode on the very wet night when Elizabeth signalled to her pony from the window and the pony came inside, up the stairs, and into bed, was one of the best things in the picture. Of its kind it is an outstanding feat of production. The scene showing the orphans in the dining room with Shirley Temple, dressed in the orphanage overalls, leading the crowd in spoon-bang-, ing and singing her catchy song “Animal Crackers in My Soup,” is perhaps the most popular part of the film. But there are many incidents to please everyone; Shirley sings two songs which are easily picked up, she dances a tap-daifce on top of a piano, and she does a complicated skipping and tap-dancing turn in the concert she helps to arrange for the orphans. No one could regret seeing “ Curly Top.” The story is simple, and Shirley makes a charming inmate of an orphanage who ia< adopted by a wealthy young man and completely wins those with whom she comes in touch. The supporting programme includes a suitable selection of short subjects, including some interesting scenes in connection with the war in Abyssinia. The box plans are at the theatre and Begg’e. - t REGENT THEATRE Merle Oberon, Herbert Marshall, and Fredric March have the leading roles in “ The Dark Angel,” which will receive its final screeings at the Regent Theatre to-day. There have been many stories cff thwarted lovers, of lovers who have been kept apart by other people, by economic circumstances, or by their own misunderstanding—really determined misunderstanding—but “The Dark Angel ” must be eminent among films of frustration. It is well acted. Merle Oberon reveals herself as an actress of ability, capable of subtle distinctions of emotional interpretation, and Herbert Marshall and Fredric March are well cast and show similar ability. Fredric March and Herbert Marshall are cousins, brought up from childhood with Merle Oberon, and both in love with her. She chooses March. The cousins go to war, and only Marshall returns. March is believed to be killed, but he has only been blinded in an explosion and captured by the enemy. After the war he comes back to England, but fearing to be pitied for his blindness and to make life a burden to the girl he loves, be hides his identity, and becomes eventually a successful writer of children’s stories. For the two to meet again takes a long time, but they come to the final old-fashioned close up at last. Really delightful in the supporting programme is a Walt Disney coloured cartoon, “ Mickey’s Garden.” Mickey’s dream of what might happen if the tables were turned in his war against insect pests is a triumph of imagination. Disney creates some splendid savage insects, and some astonishing predicaments for Mickey and his dog. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. « THE LAST OUTPOST.” There is adventurous action throughout “The Last Outpost,” the Paramount production which will start at the Regent Theatre to-morrow. In this respect it is said to be more than the equal of “ Lives of a Bengal Lancer,” “ Beau Geste,” “ The Four Feathers,” and other great films of the same type, while the manner in which an unusual romantic theme is interwoven with the main plot should make “ The Last Outpost ” as consistently entertaining to women as it will be to men. It tells the story of two British soldiers who are comrades in _ many strange and thrilling adventures in the outposts of Empire, yet are also bitter rivals for the love of one woman. Set in the period of the Great War and laid in the Near East and in Africa, toward which the eyes of the world are now turned, the film is said to capture the imagination with its tale of British courage and daring in the savage places ot the world where death strikes swiftly, and it quickens the pulse with its spectacular scenes of desert fighting, of tribesmen fleeing before the advance of the Turks, ot a great jungle fire, and the maddened stampede of elephants. The three principals are Claude Rains, Cary Grant, and Gertrude Michael. Rains has hitherto been mainly associated with eerie films such as “ The Invisible Man,” but here he takes a straight part, a dramatic character highly reminiscent of the famous Lawrence of Arabia. His performance is said to be brilliant in every respect. Cary Grant, a tall, handsome British officer, is also likely to create a sensation with his performance, which is similar to that of Gary Cooper in “ Bengal Lancer.” Gertrude Michael, too, has her best role to date as the beautiful woman who supplies the story with its theme of romantic conflict. Colin Tapley is another name in the cast of particular interest to New Zealanders, and others in the cast' are Kathleen'Burke and Jameson Thomas. ST. JAMES THEATRE Virginia Bruce and Colin Clive are featured in “Jane Byre,” which is now showing at the St. James Theatre. The picture, is the screen adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s famous novel, and it has been treated with sympathy and understanding. In this respect the picture follows a recent cycle in which well-known novels have been brought with outstanding success to the talking screen. The performance given by Miss Bruce is a wellrestrained one. and she reveals considerable insight into the character of one of the great heroines of English literature. Colin Clive is cast in the role of Roches-

ter, and he also contributes a finished piece of character portrayal. The other members of the cast give the principals full support. The story is too well known to require recapitulation, and lovers of the Bronte work will want to see the picture for themselves. The supporting programme is suitably varied, and includes an interesting “ short ” in which the audience is shown the success which has attended the fight against prickly pear. The box plans are at the theatre, the D.1.C., M'Cracken and Walls’s and Jacobs’s. “DR SOCRATES.” Paul Muni has the title role in “Dr Socrates,” which opens at the St. James Theatre to-morrow. There are daylight raids by ruthless bank robbers and killers, their battles with the police and their ultimate capture by Government agents after a fierce fight in the bandit stronghold. “Dr Socrates ” is said to be one of Muni’s most dramatic roles. The film is the colourful story of a famous surgeon whose nerve has been broken through the loss of his fiancee, who dies from an operation he himself ha s performed. He buries himself in a small town, a failure, with all hope lost, not even caring to live. His redemption comes through the love of an innocent young girl, whom he rescues from the bandit gang that has kidnapped her, facing death alone. Ann Dvorak, who plays opposite Muni, also has a splendid rola, that of an innocent hitch-hiking girl, whom the bandit chief has marked as hi s own. Others in the cast who do noteworthy work include John Eldredge and Hobart Cavanagh, Barton Mac Lane, Grace Stafford, and Henry O’Neill. The supporting programme includes another interesting Bobby Jones golf series. “ Position and Back Swing, or How to‘Break 90/ a Looney Tune Cartoon, the famous Duncan Sisters, in a musical revue, and an interesting news reel. OCTAGON THEATRE Jessie Matthews gives one of her most notable performances in “ Evergreen,” the principal picture on the current doublefeature programme at the Octagon Theatre. She is cast as the daughter of an ex-favourite of the stage, and uses her mother’s name to strengthen her claims to recognition. Her deception amounts almost to fraudulent proportions, but in an amusing trial she is triumphantly acquitted. Supporting the principal player are Sonuie Hale, Betty Balfour and Barry Mackay. The second picture, “ The Phantom Light,” featuring Gordon Harker, Binnie Hale and Donald Calthrop, tells of a haunted lighthouse to which Harker is appointed as keeper. He at first scoffs at the local superstitions, but before long becomes lees sure of himself. The plot thickens when strangers arrive at the lighthouse in the middle of the night and a series of thrilling incidents centre round an attempt to wreck a'ship. The box nlans are at the theatre, M'Cracken and Walls’s, and Begg’s.

DOUBLE FEATURE PROGRAMME. “The'Silence of Dean Maitland” will commence a season at the Octagon Theatre to-morrow. As a stage play “ The Dean " enjoyed a long and successful life, and in the days before talking pictures a “ silent ” film version was popularly presented throughout the length and breadth of the Commonwealth. But in the new Cinesound presentation, completely revised and adapted for the modern screen, “ The Dean ” is said to have improved beyond recognition. The dramatic story of “The Silence of Dean v Maitland ” is well known, a story woven around a man of the Church who, be cause of a youthful indiscretion, is sentenced to a life of hypocrisy and torturing memories, and the first impression audiences will gain of the film is the tremendous advance on all previous Australian productions. Furthermore, the acting is first class, each artist “ living ”* his or her role. Particularly do the performances of/ John Longden as Dean Maitland, Charlotte Francis as Alma Lee, both celebrated English players, and John Warwick, call for special mention. There is no more fascinating or better known hero in modern literature than that universally popular, romantic daredevil character from “ Sapper’s ” novels, Bulldog Drummond. Throughout the English speaking world this virile man with his huge frame, his cheery, inimitable manner, his quick thinking and lightninglike methods of action, is a favourite with young and old alike. Few, then, will miss “ The Return of Bulldog Drummond," B.T.P.’s action-packed picturisation of “The Black Gang,” which will be the second film on the programme. The theme of this particular Drummond encounter wdth his arch enemy, Carl Peterson, and his infamous confederates, is filled with thrills, action and romance. Petersen’s crowd are involved in a huge international intrigue for their own financial ends. Drummond and hig friends, all of them wealthy young men with plenty of time, twice as much courage, and a love for adventure, learn of the intrigues and organise a _ secret body, “ The Black Gang,” to defeat the plotters by their own initiative. GRAND THEATRE The Real Art Productions film “ Squibs,” which commenced a season at the Grand Theatre yesterday in company with “Welcome Home,” revives yet another success of the days of silent films. The delightful musical comedy is'greatly enhanced by the introduction of sound, and all the tuneful melodies with which the film abounds are presented with vivacity bv Betty Balfour, who made euch a charming Squibs in the silent film. Miss Balfour sings and dances attractively, but it is her character'acting that is outstanding. She is featured os a typical Cockney flower girl, and her accent 1 and manners are all that are required by the part. Miss Balfour was_ regarded as England’s foremost comedienne at the time when “ Squibs ” was first presented and she certainly has lost none of her charm and popularity. The story is a realistic one of life in the Cockney strongholds of London. It opens with a traffic jam in a one-way street caused by Squibs and her friends as a protest against the new regulation which is being enforced by Constable Lee (Stanley Holloway). It is a typical scene of the East End of London, in which the melody “One Way Street ” is sung by Mias Balfour and a competent chorus. The audience is then introduced tq Sam Hopkins, the lazy father of Squibs, who is portrayed by the inimitable Gordon Barker. avowed dislike of policemen. Squibs finds that she is attracted bv Constable Lee, who. after his meeting with her at the traffic jam. tries to win her hand with all his Yorkshire nowere. He has the good fortune to rescue her from being run down by a car. and then the courtship progresses to the satisfaction of both Souibs and Charley Lee. The pair visit the Tower of London, and it is here that Holloway, in the regalia of a Beefeater, gives one of his famous monologues. A misunderstanding between the lowers is caused chiefly through Sam Hopkins, but it is only when the latter gets himself into serious trouble and Constable Lee’s help is sought that a > reconciliation is brought about. The climax is enhanced by the arrival of word that Squibs has won the Irish Sweepstake, and the whole neighbourhood joins in rejoicing over her success and later in her marriage to Constable Lee. _ The characterisations given bv three principals are excellent, and all the smaller roles are admirably portrayed. The photography throughout is of a high standard, and the tuneful music is effectively presented. The other film, "Welcome Home.” affords James Dunn a further opportunity to display his flair for the happy-go-lucky, flippant type of characterisation, and he is seen at his best in company with notable players in Arline Judge. Rosina Lawrence, Raymond Walburn. William Frawley and Charles Sellon. The story deals with the troubles of a gang of bond-sellers when they return to their home town of Elmdale, where a high school reunion is in nrogress. The whole population, including the Chamber of Commerce, the band ami the Boy Scouts, gathers to welcome to the town a millionaire, who, they hope, will erect a huge factory in their town. The civic dignitaries have collected 10,000 dollars to buy the site for the factory, hut invest the money in bonds sold by Dunn’s partner. Of course, the bonds are valueless, and the gang is given 24 hours to return the money. How they set about this task and finally win the money from the visiting millionaire makes an amusing and entertaining story. A little romance is introduced into the story and comedy is also a feature of the picture. The box plans are at the theatre and Begg’s. MAYFAIR THEATRE Bright with snappy songs and settings, a real plot, and some wonderful exhibitions of solo and mass dancing. “The Gay Divorcee,” starring Ginger Rogers and

Fred Astaire, which opened yesterday at the Mayfair Theatre, is really four-square entertainment. While the song hits of “ The Gay Divorcee ” would in themselves be almost enough to carry an ordinary production, the real attraction of the film lies in the amazing displays of tap-danc-ing given by the two principals. In his solo work Fred Astaire is most impressive, as with apparent nonchalance he describes the most intricate terpsichorean evolutions, but when he dances along with Ginger Rogers the effect is even more amazing, The star attraction of the whole show is the dancing of the sensational new “ Continental ” number, by these two. Those theatregoers who saw them dance “ The Carioca ” will understand just how brilliant is the new number when it is said that it is even more intricate and impressive than its predecessor. There is a fine supporting programme.