AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23221, 19 June 1937, Page 18

AMUSEMENTS

REGENT THEATRE One of the best pictures of its type that have ever been screened in Dunedin was “The Informer,’’ in which Victor M’Laglen scored a success which won him high praise in dramatic circles. That film dealt with the Sinn Fein rebellion in Ireland so faithfully and realistically from the point of view of its effect on one man, that it would be impossible to imagine a production on the' same subject that could have compared favourably with it, but “ Beloved Enemy,’’ which commenced a season at the Regent Theatre yesterday, can be put in the same class. The theme of a love between two people that goes beyond the limitations of reason and prejudice has never been more beautifully told. Indeed, the quiet certainty of it dwarfs Jnto unimportance the bitterness of the rebellion going on round the two lovers. Yet it is the rebellion which finally separates them. After the brilliant success of Merle Oberon in “ The Dark Angel" and “These Three.” it must have been difficult to find a film that would maintain and even enrich her reputation, but she and Brian Aherne enact their tragic love story with a fine recklessness of sentiment that is completely memorable. The former, whose delicate beauty is admirably suited to the role she is called upon to play, deftly moulds her character of Lady Helen Drummond with a sureness of its requirements that stamps her as a true actress. She does not force herself upon the attentions of the audience, but before she has been on the screen many minutes she has completely captivated it by her gentleness, refinement. and understanding. Hers is a difficult role, but, perhaps because she has previously shown her prowess in tragic or semi-tragic parts, she carries it off triumphantly with ease. In Brian Aherne the director has obtained an excellent foil for Miss Oberon. His conception of the character of Dennis Riordan is that of a wistful poet whose love of his country causes him to lead the Sinn Feiners against the English soldiers. He is not as fanatical as his followers, however, and, although courageous and determined to free Ireland, his racial feeling fades into the background when by chance he meets the lovely daughter of an English diplomat sent to mediate in the trouble. But the girl, when she discovers his identity, proves to be as staunch a patriot as he, and she betrays him to his enemies. He escapes only after fleeing over the roofs of Dublin, but; despite Lady Helen’s treachery, his love for her is unshaken, while she too, although disliking him for his ideals, returns his love, which deepens at each dangerous and troubled meeting, forbidden by their friends in either camp. The last tragic scene when he listens to her plea for peace and makes a compromise with the English, only to be killed by the fanatics among his followers, who believed that he has betrayed them, is poignant in feeling and movingly played. The unusually strong supporting cast includes Henry Stephenson, who gives a shrewd portrayal in the roje of Lord Athleigh, Karen Morlgy, Jerome Cowan and David Niven, as well as Ra Hould, the Dunedin boy, who makes a promising debut as a ragged Irish lad. The programme of short subjects accompanying the main film is headed by another set of pictures dealing with the impressive scenes in Westminster Abbey during the crowming of the King and Queen. This is easily the best film dealing with the Coronation so far. “Mickey’s Rival” is a delightful colour cartoon in which Mickey Mouse goes through a series of his amusing antics. “ Over the Andes ” is an interesting novelty that should appeal to all. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C.

ST. JAMES THEATRE The series of Tarzan pictures, based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’s tales of adventure and romance in the African jungle, is increased by the addition of yet another exciting episode in the life of the famous “ ape-man,” entitled “ Tarzan Escapes,” f which commenced its season at the St. ■James Theatre yesterday. To say that the producers have made full use of the opportunities which present themselves in the story for the inclusion of thrilling incidents would ' be to state" the case mildly, for in this production there is such a .wealth of intensely exciting episodes as w'ould satisfy the most ardent sensation-seeker. Johnny Weissmuller, who is again featured in the role for which his magnificent physique so admirably suits him, goes through a series of hair-raising adventures with a hearty enthusiasm that is in excellent keeping with the Tarzan tradition, grappling with huge crocodiles in their natural element, and braving the myriad terrors of swamp and jungle in heroic and indomitable style. The story of “ Tarzan Escapes ” is typical of all robust adventure stories. In this instance the villain has no scruples about trading two white women of his party to hostile natives for the privilege of not being molested by them, nor has he any hesitation about shooting his white servant when that helper and friend of Tarzan attempts to stage a little heroic scene on his own. Such a double-dyed rascal is a fine contrast to the virile and great-hearted Tarzan, who finds many opportunities for the exercise of his jungle craft and great physical 'strength in foiling the machinations of his arch enemy. The story opens with the arrival in Tarzan’s country of two white people—a man and a girl, who are cousins of Jane, the white girl with whom Tarzan is in love. Their reason for visiting such a wild and lonely spot is to try to persuade Jane to return to civilisation, if they can find her, and they are aided in their search by Captain Fry, who sees an opportunity for some personal gain in the expedition. When the party gets into the country of the warlike Ganelonis. they are attacked by the tribesmen, but just when their plight is most desperate a strange yodelling cry from the depths of the jungle sends the tribesmen fleeing in terror, for they recognise the voice of the great white ape, who is the most formidable juju in the land. Captain Fry has some plans of his own concerning the expedition and has with him a strong cage in which he hopes to trap Tarzan and bring him back to civilisation. His plans miscarry, however, for Tarzan, jjfrom the vantage of a lofty tree, watches his preparations, and neatly foils them. He announces his presence, and that of Jane, and the three cousins arc reunited, but the prospect of losing Jane is more than Tarzan can bear. Jane herself is unwilling to return to her old home, but her cousins manage to persuade her much against her will, and, leaving Tarzan behind, the expedition sets out on its return journey. Fry’s villainy is revealed in his plot to betray the two women and the young man to the Ganelonis. and his successful attempt to cage Tarzan, but retribution is swift, for the tribes turn on him and capture him. together with hitlate companions, and prepare for dread juju rites. Tarzan, meantime, trapped in’his cage, sends out his call for help, and elephants hasten to the scone, tearing the bars of the cage apart and enabling him to escape. The final scenes of.thc story are replete with excitement. but eventually Tarzan escorts his friends to safety: but the rascally - Fry meets a horrible fate in a swamp infested with giant lizards. The supporting roles arc taken by Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane. John Buckler as Captain Fry, Bonita Hume as Jane’s cousin, and Herbert Mundin. There is a good supporting programme, which includes an Our Gang comedy, a travelogue, and an amusing coloured cartoon. The box plans are at the theatre, the D.1.C., and at Jacobs’s. OCTAGON THEATRE Charles Haggles, ludicrously funny as Orville Shanks, the editor of a “Birds and Bees” column in his local newspaper. and Alice Brady, as his fussy and giggling wife, are the main attractions of “ Mind Your Own Business." which is now at the Octagon Theatre. Orville Shanks becomes the sensation of the town as a writer of snapoy social scandal, camouflaged as Nature notes. Kidnapped by gangsters who have received too much prominence in his highly-popular columns. Shanks is rescued by a Boy Scout troop.

of Which, by virtue of his reputation as a naturalist, he is an honorary member. Lyle Talbot and Jack La Rue are in supporting roles. Notable for the appearance in a full-length part of the young girl performer Sybil Jason. " The Great O’Malley ” is the associate feature. This talented juvenile actress will be remembered for her brilliant and polished portrayal in “The Changing of the Guard.” In the present film her performance is even more natural and her attractive personality even more evident. Pat O'Brien has a leading adult role, and maintains a high standard of acting throughout. Humphrey Bogart also appears in a prominent supporting part. The story concerns the continual fight between the law and the lawless, with the action maintained at a fast pace. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C.

GRAND THEATRE The attractive double-feature programme now being screened at the Grand Theatre includes "Daniel Boone,” a film of pioneering adventure, and a sensational thriller, “ Murder With Pictures.” George O’Brien and Heather Angel play the leading roles in “ Daniel Boone,” a tale of a parly of pioneers who, after surmounting immense difficulties, find that they are to be cheated of their land unless they can register their claims at a distant town in an almost impossible time. Daniel Ifcone, the leader of the party, attempts the journey, but is too late. The claim has been filed by a waster who had been expelled from the little community. Returning „with the bad news, Boone is captured by a renegade, Simon Girty, who has been inciting the Indians against pioneers. Boone escapes at the eleventh hour and reaches his township with the news that the redskins are about to attack. After a nine days’ battle, the Indians are beaten off, but the final reckoning with the expelled waster has yet to come, and the pioneers are forced once more to trek into the unknown spaces of the hinterland. The central figure of the second film is Lew Ayres, a newspaper photographer who is swayed between love for a “gold-digger” and a mysterious beauty suspected of murder. The plot develops along original lines, and virtue triumphs in the end. The box plans are -at the theatre and at Begg’s. EMPIRE THEATRE In the leading role of “Theodora Goes Wild,” now commencing its second week at the Empire Theatre, is Irene Dunne, who has appeared in so many serious and musical parts, that her capabilities as a comedienne have heretofore gone unnoticed. Supported by Melvyn Douglas, she gives one of the most spirited performances of her career. The subdued and innocent daughter of a little western town named Lynnfield, Theodora (Miss Dunne) gives vent to all her repressed feelings in a sensational novel that sweeps tjre country. Theodora is horrified at the result and, on the excuse of visiting her uncle in New York, interviews her publisher and becomes involved in a party which includes the young designer of her book's cover. Piqued by this young gentleman’s behaviour, Theodora decides that she will live up to her reputation, with the result that the evening finishes up in an inglorious episode in the young man’s apartment. Theodora returns to Lynnfield, but is tracked to her hide-out by her companion of a few days before. Their subsequent escapades arouse the intense interest of Lynnfield’s gossips. When the two suddenly find that they love each other, the young man flees to New York, and when Theodora follows him the comedy becomes increasingly lively until the story reaches a happy climax. The new supporting programme includes an Air Mail news reel featuring the English Grand National, Oxford winning the boat race, and the Springboks in Australia. The box plans are at the theatre *and the D.I.C. “ROSE MARIE" Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, incomparable singing stars of the unforgettable “Naughty Marietta,” return again in M.-G.-M.’s lavish picturisation of “Rose Marie,” the operetta soon to delight picture-goers at the Empire Theatre.

STRAND THEATRE The two new films at the Strand Theatre this week provide good variety, the first being strong adventure and the second a comedy romance. In “The Secret of Stamboul” sheer adventure runs riot, with as many thrills as are generally packed into several serials. The story is robust, and should please, especially the juveniles, having an abundance of hair-raising episodes. One of the most effective occurs when the hero is dropped head-first down a grim relic of an old regime in Turkey, an “ execution well,” to emerge, it may be thought, a floating corpse. The villainy of the film is taken care of by Kazdim (Frank Vosper), a eunuch who has gathered great power into his hands. A young Englishman in Stamboul on business learns that Gazdim has plans for a revolution to raise the suave Prince Ali to the Sultanate, and is using his firm’s premises as a storehouse for arms and munitions. After several narrow escapes from the wily Kazdim, Captain Desteem obtains the help of the military, and the uprising is suppressed. The second feature is “The Luckiest Girl in the World,” which has Jane Wyatt, Louis Hayward, Eugene Pallette and Nat Pendleton in the leading roles. Jane is the daughter of a very rich man, and wishes to marry a'poor insurance salesman, but Eugene Pallette, as her father, frowns on the idea, so to try to prove that she can live on 150 dollars a month the girl goes to New York to live. Her adventures there are interesting, and she finds for herself another man who is poor, but they get married. The plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. STATE THEATRE “Winterset,” the new attraction at the State Theatre, is an impressive dramatic production intepreted by an excellent cast, which includes five of the actors who made “Winterset” a sensational success on the New York stage. The play, which, incidentally, was the Pulitzer prize winner for 1935, was written by Maxwell Anderson, who scored a great success with his “ Mary of Scotland,” which was shown at the Slate Theatre last year. It deals with a not very pretty slice of American life, and the story is based largely on the case of Sacco and Vanzetti, two Communists who were executed for murder in America about 12 years ago. According to the film, a harmless man of radical tendencies, being suspected of having killed a factory paymaster, is placed on trial for his life. Because he is a radical, the scales of justice arc loaded against him. There is a material witness whose evidence could absolve him from the crime, but the judge fails to have him called, and the man himself will not come forward and volunteer information because he knows quite well that if he does so the hirelings of the gangster who is the real murderer will shoot him down like a dog at the first opportunity. The result is that the harmless radical goes to the electric chair. On the screen this episode of the grim plot is shown swiftly and skilfully in a series of flashes. Then events of some years later begin darkly seething in a tenement district of New York along the waterfront. The case of the harmless radical has again been receiving publicity from the newspapers, and influential interests in different parts of the country demand a review of the evidence and reconsideration of the verdict. But the judge has by now disappeared. While the police engage in a feverish man-hunt for him, the audience of the film is let into the secret of his whereabouts. A guilty conscience has addled his brain, and, in a state of mental fog, but obsessed by his purpose, he is himself eagerly searching for the missing witness. The son of the executed man comes to the waterfront to have his revenge on Ills father’s murderer, and the followers of the gangster are there in full force to prevent the real truth from leaking out. The relation and inter-relation of these characters and events make up the grim and absorbing pattern of

the plot. The various parts are taken with real skill and artistry, although it is very noticeable in one or two distances that some of the players arc more at home on the legitimate stage than on the screen. The technique of the one differs very materially from that of the other, and it is not always the best stage performer who turns out to be the best screen personality in a cast. Burgess Meredith, in the role of the avenging son. gives character, conviction. and colour to a sympathetic rendering. Margo makes a very suitable heroine, and displays at times a rare sense of characterisation. Maurice Moscovitch. known to New Zealand audiences in a variety of roles, but chiefly in “ The Merchant of Venice,” has the part of the heroine’s father, and brings his outstanding skill and dramatic fervour to bear on the role to excellent effect. It is what might be termed brooding drama, full of dark corners and grim places, but at the same time it is comoelling and enthralling entertainment. “Winterset” should attract more than the usual attention during the coming week. The main supporting feature is a full-length pictorial record of the Coronation of the King and Queen, in which the glamour and the pageantry of that historic occasion are strikingly set forth. In addition there is an up-to-the-minute item dealing in graphic fashion with the recent disasterous eruptions at Rabaul. The box plans arc at the theatre and at Begg’s. MAYFAIR THEATRE Millions have read of the hilarious exploits of Alexander Bolts, the whimsical and egotistical tractor salesman and hero of the famous series of stories, “ Earthworm Tractors.” Now Alexander Bolts has been brought to life on the screen in the First National comedy, “Earthworm Tractors,” which will be screened at the Mayfair Theatre to-day. Botts, on the screen, is no other than the famous widemouthed comedian Joe E. Brown. As Botts, Joe is in love with a small-town girl, but she and her family frown on his suit because he is merely selling gadgets. Disheartened, he finally picks out the biggest thing he can think of to sell —tractors. He has two leading ladies—June Travis and Carol Hughes —and such talented supporting players as Guy Kibbee, Dick Foran and Gene Lockhart. “Girls’ Dormitory,” the associate feature, stars Simone Simon Ruth Chatterton and Herbert Marshall The picture is mainly set in an exclusive and rigidly-disciplined girls’ school. Marie Claudel, one of the pupils, falls passionate! ”■ in love with the principal, who already has a lover in a woman teacher. But the picture is no ordinary triangle drama. If it were an ordinary storv. one of the two women would be a villainous character in the stereotyped manner, but in “ Girls’ Dormitory ” the spectator feels sorry for the woman who loved in vain. In this departure from formula the picture has a novelty which can be appreciated properly only after one has seen it. The box plans are at the D.I.C. and the theatre sweet shop.

GREEN ISLAND MUNICIPAL Grade Fields is undoubtedly one of the most popular stars on the screen to-day, and her latest film, “ Look Up and Laugh,” which will be screened at the Green Island Municipal Theatre to-day, is pure unadultered slapstick comedy, just the type of picture everybody has been waiting for from her. It is a riot of laughter from end to end. laughter set to the rhythm of merry songs sung as only Gracie could sing them. The entertainment value is further guaranteed by a great supporting team of comedians headed by Harry Tate, Billy Nelson, Douglas Wakefield, and Tommy Fields. “Look Up and Laugh ” will delight young and old, for it shows Gracie at her inimitable best, leading her friends from the town market in a “war” with the shopkeepers.