AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23118, 18 February 1937, Page 17

AMUSEMENTS

OCTAGON THEATRE “ Koenigsmark,” which has proved a popular attraction at the Octagon Theatre during the past week, will have its final screening tp-day. "Koenigsmark” tells an amazing story, encompassing all the elements of romance, rpystery. and thrills. The central figure is the beautiful Princess Aurora, w,ho, forced into a marriage of State, finds in her new kingdom a love that blossoms in defiance of age-old tradition, treachery, and intrigue. Actually produced in France under the direction of Maurice Tourneur, " Koenigsmark ” had its world premiere in Paris. Elissa Landi and Pierre Fresnay are the featured players. The other film is “Arizona Raiders.” The box plans are at the theatre and Begg s. "YOURS FOR THE ASKING” Ida Lupino becomes a lovely adventuress who has adopted so many assumed names that she has trouble remembering them in the Paramount comedy-romance "Yours for the Asking,” to be shown at the Octagon Theatre to-morrow, with George Raft and Dolores Costello Barrymore in stellar roles. The picture revolves around the problems of a man who sets up a gambling club in a mansion seeking to get the society trade Miss Barrymore, a society girl, aids him in getting the place in operation and in giving it the proper tone. Three of Raft’s aides—James Gleeson, Lynne Overman, and Edgar Kennedy —worry about the newest ideas of the boss; they fear that he is faß' n E m love with Miss Barrymore. To forestall the romance the trio get Miss Lupino and Reginald Owen, seller ol Broadway trinkets, to pose as a society girl and her aristocratic uncle. Miss Lupino sets about winning Ratt, and Raft, taken in by her imperspnation. goes to Miss Barrymore for instruction in high society manners. Before the romance is straightened out Raft’s quest for polish and the scheming of his aides lead to a‘ score of comedy situations. The second attraction will be “King of the Castle, a fast-moving comedy in which Claude Dampier, clever English stage anc * screen comedian, is responsible for some hilarious scenes. June Clyde, Billy Milton, Cynthia Stock, and Wally Patch are also starred. GRAND THEATRE A double-feature programme of unusual excellence was presented for the first time at the Grand Theatre yesterday, the featured picture being “ Two’s Company,” in which those two fine comedians Gordon Marker and Ned Sparks are the chief performers. Harker is a native of London, and his type of comedy is the Cockney variety, than which there is little better. Sparks, on the other hand, is from the other side of the Atlantic, though he is a British subject, having been born in Canada. A curiously-assorted iiair, no doubt, but their association gives opportunities for excellent comedy, and not one opportunity is overlooked. The story tells how Al, the Madison family lawyer, can work his will with Mr Madison at any time, but he cannot make any headway in his .suit for the hand of the fair Julia, heiress to the Madison fortune. To get the girl away from her multitudinous boy friends, he persuades her father that a holiday in England would be a good idea. On board the ship on which the transatlantic voyage is made is Muggeridge, a retainer of the Earl of Warke, and he is returning to England after showing a champion dog in America. He is travelling as Viscount Wendover, and, attracted by the title, Mrs Madison “adopts” .him. Als hopes are dashed on arrival in England when Muggeridge introduces Jerry, the real Viscount, to Julia. Jerry Is determined not to lose sight of the girl, and he persuades her pepple to rent the family seat. This gives rise to much contention, because the old earl hates the thought, and sight of Americans. The result is that the two families become bitter foes, and Al sees that the time has come for him to be heroic. Julia is obviously in love with Jerry, and the only thing for Al to do is find a way of bringing the hostilities to an end and the romance to a happy climax. How he does this brings the film to an excellent finish. Mary Brian and Patrick Knowles head the supporting cast. The other picture is entitled “High Tension,” and the title does not belie the nature of the story. Brian Donlevy, Glenda Farrell, Norman Foster. Helen Wood and Robert M‘Wade are the featured players, and they present a thrilling play to the very best advantage. The action centres round the work and love affairs of a “trouble shooter,” or repairman, for an undersea cable company, and the action takes place in New York and Honolulu. The climax is reached with a thrilling rescue under the water when one of the men has got into difficulties. The box plans are at the theatre and Begg’s.

EMPIRE THEATRE Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer have a generous habit of sprinkling famous stars freely through their important films, and “Suzy,” now showing at the Empire Theatre, is an excellent example. The cast is headed by no fewer than five stars. These players are Jean Harlow, Franchot Tone, Cary Grant, Lewis Stone, and Benita Hume. The film is a drama of wartime espionage, which holds attraction for every type of filmgoer. Set in London and Pans, and opening in the stormy days of 1914, “Suzy” has a scope and spectacular appeal that belie the simplicity of its title. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. STRAND THEATRE To-day will afford the final (opportunity of witnessing “The Voice of Bugle Ann,” which, for the past week, has enjoyed a successful run at the Strand Theatre. Based on MacKinlay Kantor’s novel, which in turn was based on an actual court case in Missouri, it tells the story of a veteran Missouri fox hunter and his favourite dog, to avenge which he kills a man and goes to prison. It is held to be the greatest tribute to a dog since Senator Vest’s famous speech, which figures in the trial scene. The man and dog episode is set in a romance of young love, feuds, and other interesting angles. Lionel Barrymore and Maureen O’Sullivan are the leading players. The associate film is “Three Cheers for Love.” The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. “ PALM SPRINGS The gay life of Palm Springs, playground of west coast millionaires and movie stars, forms the setting of Paramount’s “Palm Springs.” produced by Walter Wanger, to be shown at the Strand Theatre to-morrow. The nam. of Palm Springs has become synonymous with the Riviera, the Lido, and other world spots as the ultimate in luxurious idling. Like an oasis out of the Arabian Nights, this modern community is the winter stamping ground of film stars, industrial magnates. diplomats, social leaders, and cosmopolites from everywhere. .Here during the fashionable “ season that lasts a f«w months, celebrities can enjoy every luxury of the richest metropolis, and at the same time remain within sight and sound of scorching wastes. Hotels, dude ranches, homes of motion picture notables and millionaires, and pleasure haunts dot the sands, into which even Indians hesitated to venture not so many years ago. Winter resorters to-day laze in marble swimming pools under tower-

ing palms in a country where natives and animals once perished of thirst. “ Palm Springs ” offers in the stellar roles Frances Langford, Sir Guy Standing, Smith Ballew, Spring Byington, and E. E. Clive. This is the first time that the inside story of Palm Springs has been told on the screen. The second picture will be “ They Met in a Taxi,” starring Chester Morris, Fay Wray, and Lionel Standee. STATE THEATRE The final screenings of the latest Shirley Temple success, “ Poor Little Rich Girl,” will be given at the State Theatre to-day. She is seen as the pampered daughter of a rich father who yearns for the companionship of other children and runs away to find it. She is adopted by a poor man, becomes the protegee of a pair of radio artists, and through them is happily rereunited with her father. There is a good supporting programme. The box plans are at the theatre and Begg’s. " UNDER TWO FLAGS ” Breathless excitement, romance, and humour all have their right place in that magnificent spectacle “ Under Two Flags,” which commences to-morrow at the State Theatre. Based on Ouida’s famous novel, the film deals with the activities of the French Foreign Legion on the edge of the Sahara. With such a background the story is unfolded in a manner as realistic as anything of the kind yet seen on the screen. With two beautiful women at the desert outpost love and jealousy become an integral part of the picture. A dramatic climax is reached following an Arab raid, and the two men and two women who form the centre of interest reach the culmination of their strange story. Ronald Colman, Claudette Colbert, Victor M’Laglen, and Rosalind Russell head a cast of thousands. Colman’s portrayal is reminiscent of his magnificent work in “Beau Geste.” His latest film is a worthy successor to that picture. Claudette Colbert will always be remembered for her comedy work in “It Happened One Night,” but she is not resting on the laurels so well earned in that picture, and as Cigarette gives a moving characterisation. Victor M’Laglen has a characteristic role. His force of character is admirably transferred to the screen. Rosalind Russell, as a beautiful Englishwoman, is an unusually skilful actress whose dignity and restraint are transferred admirably to . the screen. REGENT THEATRE Herbert Marshall is the principal actor of “ Forgotten Faces,” now at the Regent Theatre, and Gertrude Michael gives a capable portrayal as the scheming, vengeful wife. Marshall kills his wife’s lover, and goes to prison for it, but he manges to hide his daughter from her mother’s attentions. After his release from prison, however, Marshall finds it necessary to protect the girl, and the ending Is dramatic. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. “THE MAN WHO COULD WORK MIRACLES” If one could only work miracleslike H, G. Wells—what a marvellous world this would be. The imagination and humour that he brings to “ The Man Who Could Work Miracles,” which will open at the Regent Theatre to-morrow, is about equal to that possessed by about 1000 ordinary mortals. Roland Young, his little Cockney draper, becomes suddenly endowed with the capacity to produce this and that as he wills, and the audience has the exhilaration of seeing his imagination actually being born. At first he is content with conjuring up rabbits, with surrounding himself with masses of luscious fruits, with the excitement of making his humble bed rise from the floor. This is not enough. Partly through the suggestion of his fellow-employees, mostly through that newly-bom imagination, he gets really going. At the suggestion of a fanatic, he strikes an attitude, and although he feels that the object of his attentions may "not reely like it,” he turns Colonel Winstanley’s most treasured whisky to water and his almost as much treasured war trophies into ploughshares and sickles and other agricultural implements. Then he throws off all guidance, and decides to make the world that he really desires. He creates a vast palace; he brings all the responsible people of the world together; he throws off his Cockney accent: he struts. But he makes one colossal blunder. He stops the earth from revolving. “ The Man Who Could Work Miracles” has been produced with all the attention to detail which marks a London Films production. Its acting reaches remarkable heights with Ralph Richardson as Colonel Winstanley, still another of his really gifted portrayals, Roland Young as the “ ordinary little fellow selected by the celestial being to work miracles, and Joan Gardner as the Cockney girl, ST. JAMES THEATRE A musical feature with a score of Johann Strauss and comedy of the first water by George Robey is at present the attraction at the St. James Theatre. It is entitled “Southern Roses,” and in addition to a charmingly romantic story interest it has plenty of action and colour. Chief among the supporting players are Neil Hamilton and Gina Malo, both of whom have parts admirably suited to their special capabilities. There is also an interesting and well-selected supporting programme. The box plans are at the theatre, at Jacobs’s, and at the D.I.C. “ DEVIL DOLL ” A fascinating and thrilling film, in which three popular stars—Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O’Sullivan, and Frank Lawton—appear, is “ Devil Doll,” which will open at the St. James Theatre to-morrow. The key situation of this fantastic and frequently thrilling mystery is the discovery of a system which reduces human beings to doll size. The brain is also reduced, but functions perfectly in obedience to the will of an ordinary mortal. Lavond. an escaped convict, appropriates this discovery and uses it to wreak vengeance on the three bankers who sent him unjustly to Erison. In the guise of an old woman e opens a doll shop in Paris, and waits his time. A moral twist is given to the eerie story by the emphasis placed on Lamond’s motive for revenge. He wants to clear the family name for his daughter Lorraine so that she may marry her taxi-driver sweetheart Toto. The trick photography of the human (and animal) dolls is amazingly effective. Real suspense and eerie horror are achieved by the spectacle of the little creatures inexorably propelled by Lavond’s will. Arthur Hohl is suitably sinister and cowardly as one of the victims, while Frank Lawton and Maureen O’Sullivan infuse the briefly sketched romance with attractive freshness. Outstanding, however, is Lionel Barrymore’s portrayal of the man seeking revenge, and his acting and disguise as the old woman, must be one of the best pieces of work he has ever done. An entertaining programme of short subjects will also be presented. MAYFAIR THEATRE Many entertainment celebrities make numerous appearances in the new Paramount screen farce, “Millions in the Air,” which is now at the Mayfair Theatre. Most of the action in this sprightly film takes place in a radio studio, a duplicate of Radio. City’s largest broadcasting theatre, and the villain of the story is Ol’ Debbil Gong. The clanging of this sinister object, or its silence, knits together a series of entertaining events that otherwise would be episodic, and serves as background for an appealing romance with Wendy Barrie and John Howard as the principals. Villain Gong—or should we call him King Gong?—is capable of immense cruelty whenever he speaks, can hurl his victims into the gloomy abyss of despond, or by holding his tongue can transport others to realms of ineffable bliss. Let it also be said that he can, when called upon, inspire comedy of a most hilarious nature. John Howard, a newcomer to the screen, is an ice-cream salesman in the picture, determined to play his saxophone on a radio amateur hour. In the application line he meets Wendy

Barrie, daughter of the programme’s sponsor, George Barbier, Wendy has discarded her engagement ring and dismissed her chauffeur to have a try at singing on her father’s own programme under an assumed name. The icecream salesman and the rich girl waste no time in falling in love, but there are several ominous snags in their path. Added to that, both John and Wendy have a streak of stubbornness in their makeup, and when John finally discovers that the girl is wealthy instead of being a clerk in a dime store, they break up. Willie Howard, as the Italian vegetable pedlar who has been trying for 20 years to get someone to listen to his “ Rigoletto,” furnishes the chief hilarity in the picture, abetted no little by Dave Chasen with his one-man orchestra and Benny Baker. The other film is entitled “ Things to Come.” The box plans are at the theatre sweet shop and the D.I.C.