AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23577, 13 August 1938, Page 11

AMUSEMENTS

STATE THEATRE English comedy of the lightest and most frivolous character is presented in Jack Buchanan's latest production, "The Sky's the Limit," which is now being shown at the State Theatre. The plot is bright and amusing, the situations are delightfully funny, and the dialogue is crisp and breezy while, as Jack Buchanan is not only the principal player but also producer, director and writer of the scenario, the deft touches of humour and the pleasing whimsicalities that are always a feature of his acting are also embodied in the warp and wopf of the production as a whole. Buchanan, as ever, excels in a role that calls for the lightest of touches and the ability to romp through the most ludicrous scenes without the slightest suggestion of forced abandon, his eloquent facial expressions, which record photographically all the conflicting emotions which beset him in his tangled business and romantic career as set out in the story, lending colour to an already gay performance. The new actress, Mara Losseff. is a vivid personality whose singing and acting are alike charming. She is a soprano of lyric quality, and sings several attractive numbers in delightful style, while she also brings vivacity and feminine appeal to a role that is full of colour. Buchanan is seen as David Harber, a draughtsman in a large aircraft manufacturing company, whose genius for designing is turned to good account for himself by the nephew of the owner of the factory. This nephew, who poses to his uncle as the designer of all the new aircraft manufactured by the company, is called upon to deliver at short order the plans for a new plane upon which Harber has b.een working. Harber, who has a habit of doing such things, goes home to work on the plans, and there he and his friend, also a draughtsman by occupation, but a song writer at heart, hear a new radio star, Madame Isobella, in one of her broadcasts. Harber's friend has just completed a new song, and as they are both at the end of their resources, Harber sets out to call on Madame Isobella in the hope that she will be persuaded to sing the new song and make its composer famous. By a strange set of circumstances he is mistaken for his employer's nephew who has an engagement to take Isobella to dine at the Baltavian embassy, and he persists in the deception and persuades Isobella to accompany him to a night club instead. There they have an hilarious time, a great deal of the incidental humour being provided by the unfortunate Harber's frantic efforts to curb Isobella's extravagance the lady having expressed a keen desire to "have everything." The party goes with a tremendous swing, however, and here Buchanan gives a delightfully polished song and dance number entitled "Montreal." The enormity of his offence smites Harber the following day, and he goes to Isobella s flat with the intention of confessing all, but when he confides in the lady's private secretary, a forbidding lady with an unsuspected streak of romance in her composition, the latter advises him to let well alone and await results. They are not long in coming, for the newspapers get word of the hoax perpetrated by Harber, and Isobella, in a great rage, storms into the aircraft company's offices to have the matter out with the real nephew. In the meantime the plans for the new machine have not come to hand, and Harber's songwriting friend advises him to withhold them in order to show the owner that Harber is the real mainstay of the concern, and not the parasitic nephew. In a series of hilarious scenes, Harber is dismissed by the proprietor, and his friend insults the nephew with the same result to himself, and the way is laid for the opening of negotiations with the head of the company for the re-engagement of Harber as head of the concern. The reconciliation between Harber and Isobella is coincidental with the successful trials of Harber's new plane, the song is published at Isobella's request, and everything ends happily. There is an entertaining supporting programme. The box plans are at the theatre and at Begg-'s. REGENT THEATRE Sophisticated to a degree, abounding in bright, sparkling humour, and presented by an all-star cast, " Bluebeard's Eighth Wife," which had its Dunedin premiere yesterday at the Regent Theatre, is unquestionably one of the best films of its type to be released here. While, perhaps, there is a somewhat absurd touch to some of the situations, these are dealt with so deftly that one can fully appreciate the clever dialogue, repartee, and good-humoured satire with which the production is replete. The most trivial incidents are, in many cases, magnified to very laughable proportions, and the dialogue, although at times it says very little, expresses much, therefore the audience is throughout being presented with subtle little problems which are thoroughly intriguing. Gary Cooper is the hero, and to many of his admirers the character he is called on to play could easily be rather unpalatable, for he is cast as something of a satyr—an American big business man who has already divorced or buried seven wives, and is looking for an eighth on the French Riviera The action commences immediately the film opens, when Cooper, as Michael Brandon, is seen trying to purchase s pyjama coat in a huge department store on the French Riviera. He is surrounded by piles of pyjamas of every hue, description, and material, when along comes Claudette Colbert, as Nicole de Loiselle, the daughter of a ll impecunious French nobleman, who helps him out of his difficulty by offering to buy a pair of pyjama trousers. Then comes the question of marriage. According to Brandon's theory, generous alimony excuses his erratic behaviour in the matter of divorces, but Nicole thinks otherwise, and after the wedding ceremony she decides to break him while she still loves him. This is where all the trouble commences, for Brandon hankers after his old idea of marriage and a quick divorce, and during their tour through Europe and right back to America matters are at a deadlock. It is a thoroughly cheerless union until the young wife finds that he has learned his lesson and is satisfied that there will be no ninth Mrs Bluebeard. Gary Cooper handles the part of Brandon with the same serious-faced drollery which has characterised many of his previous roles. His task is to present a plain man, hopelessly at sea before his new wife's tactics, but thoroughly determined not to let her have her own way. His principal problem is how to circumvent her. for he has never before met with such dogged opposition, and to have the offer of almost princely alimony turned down without consideration is completely outside his experience. All this Cooper places before his audience perfectly plainly, and as often as not a gesture or a look conveys more than ever a spate of words could do. Claudette Colbert scores one of the outstanding triumphs of her film career in her piquant portrayal of Nicole, the girl who would not. be bought over by a substantial marriage settlement. It is a light-hearted role such as this that suits her to perfection, and. set off by exquisite gowns, she goes through each scene with all the charm and spontaneous vivacity that have made her such a warm favourite with picture audiences. The supporting cast includes Edward Everett Horton who in his really good portrayal of Nicole's father, plays an entirely different type of role from that in which he is generally seen, David Niven, Elizabeth Patterson. Herman Bing and Warren Hymer. An entertaining and varied supporting programmes occupies the first half of the programme. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. ST. JAMES THEATRE It. is a completely transformed James Cagney who has the leading role in "Something to Sing About," which heads the new programme at the St James Theatre. Gone is the loudvoiced young man who heretofore has appeared exclusively in roles for which a quick trigger-finger has been more essential to the art of living than gentlemanly graces, and in his place is a pleasant and accomplished singing and dancing star. The change in

Cagney's characterisation is not the only surprise in the film, however, for opposite him appears Evelyn Daw, a charming newcomer to the films whose future in Hollywood would seem to be assured. She has a lovely voice as well as good looks and acting ability, and she makes an altogether charming comedienne. Cagney is a suave and polished dancer, and in the film is seen as Terry Rooney, the successful leader of a New York dance band. He is in love with the girl Rita, who sings to his band's playing, and before he leaves New York to try his luck in Hollywood he promises to come back and marry her. Cagney thrives on the comedy provided for him during the process of his being moulded into a star. It is discovered that his talents far exceed all expectations, but he is given to understand that he is, if anything, a failure, as the directors have an eye on economising in the subsequent contract Rooney is to sign. Thoroughly disgusted after the completion of his picture, Rooney breaks away, and he and Rita disappear on a secret honeymoon. He returns to find himself a star and the diretcors frantic to find him. When at last he is discovered he refuses to sign the contract, as he is requested in it to remain single for seven years. The difficulty is solved, however, by Rita accompanying him to Hollywood as his private secretary, and their marriage is kept a secret. As is only to be expected, the arrangement turns out a failure. Rooney cannot take his wife anywhere, and, on the other hand, publicity agents are determined to " fix " a romance between him and the glamorous star with whom he is making his second film. Disappointed. Rita returns to New York, where she learns from the papers that the star has become engaged to her husband Anxious to refute the charge, Rooney flies to New York, and his reunion with Rita is staged while she is singing with his old band. "Windbag the Sailor." the second attraction, is one of the absurdest comedies to reach the screen. Will Hay has the highly colourful role of " Captain" Cutlet, who, until he is inveigled into the command of the good ship Rob Roy knows no more of the sea and ships than what he has learnt piloting a barge down the canals of England. Under the misapprehension that he is making for Norway. Captain Cutlet, r.iter nine weeks at sea. is faced wilh a mutiny in mid-Pacific. The mate and crew have orders to scuttle the ship for the purpose of obtaining the insurance, but instead of Captain Cutlet going down with his ship as had been the mutineers' original plan, he escapes on a raft. He drifts with the current to a cannibal island, and fortunately, does a radio set, with which he is subsequently able to save himself and his two companions from the cooking pot. The mutineers also land on the island, and they also are saved by virtue of Captain Cutlet's magic box. The Rob Roy, which has failed to sink, also arrives on the current, and with his former crew lying bound in the hold, the dauntless captain ienews his search for Norway. On the way. his ship bumps a millionaires yacht off a sandbank and the captain becomes the hero of the hour. Box plans are at the theatre. Jacobs's and the D.I.C. STRAND THEATRE "The Crime of Dr Hallett," which commenced screening yesterday at the Strand Theatre, is a striking and poignant film. The story concerns a battle of elemental love and hate with men and women aroused to primal emotion at fever heat, against a background of heroic martyrdom to science. As Dr Hallett. Ralph Bellamy is responsible for a most convincing piece of acting, while no less well cast is William Gargan, as the doctor's ironical assistant. Josephine Hutchinson gives a touching portrayal as Hallett's sweetheart, and John King plays the part of the idealistic Dr Saunders. Briefly, che story deals with Dr Hallett, who goes to Sumatra to find a fever cure

and falls in love with his woman assistant. When Dr Saunders, another, assistant, dies through an imperfect experiment, Hallett takes his name to carry on his work of fulfilment. It is then that Saunder's wife appears on the scene. A delightfully fast-moving adventure comedy, "Time Out for Romance." is the first attraction and features Claire Trevor and Michael Whalen. A bride who takes flight immediately following her marriage, an indulgent millionaire father who stands to his daughter in her hour of need, a party of motorists on their way to the Pacific Coast, and the discovery of some stolen gems in one of a fleet of motor cars, are all interwoven in this amusing story. Much of the comedy is contributed by Joan Davis and Chick Chandler, the former adding a touch of burlesque to two of the scenes with some clever but ludicrous dancing. In addition to the two features there is an interesting short film in which Don Bradman tells and shows the audience "How I Play Cricket." The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. OCTAGON THEATRE An appealing and human story based on the song by Leslie Stuart is embodied in "Lily of Laguna," which commenced a season at the Octagon Theatre yesterday. A tale of stage life, and- the heartbreak that follows an ill-assorted marriage, this production impresses by the simplicity of its outlines and the fundamental soundness of its sentiment. There is no exaggerated emotionalism or melodrama in its composition, and the char acterisations are those of typical human beings who are faced with the multitude of cares and joys that are the heritage of all ordinary people. The principal role is played by Nora Swinburne, an accomplished and charming actress who. in addition to possessing a particularly appealing personality and a keen sense of the value of restraint in giving emotional point to her scenes, is also a singer of unusual merit, her interpretations of "Mighty Like a Rose " and " If You Could Care For Me" being delightful. She appears as Gloria Grey, the star of the stage show "Lily of Laguna," which has just concluded a long and successful London season. Gloria is about to marry Gerald Marshall, played by G. H. Mulcaster. a scientist, despite the warnings of her friends that a man who cannot see any real value in her stage work will be unable to make her really happy. After her marriage, Gloria lives with her husband in Edinburgh, where her daughter Jane is born, but after three or four years she can no longer bear the lonely life with a man who is always deeply engrossed in abstruse scientific problems to the exclusion of anything that is going on about him, and she leaves him to return to the London stage. Marshal divorces her, and is given the custody of the child, whom Gloria does not see for many years. On her daughter's eighteenth birthday, however, Gloria is called to Edinburgh to give a radio broadcast, and there she meets her daughter, who is one of the audience in the studio, and who does not recognise her mother, whom she imagines to be dead, her father, fearing that she will leave him if he tells her the truth, having lied to her about her mother. Upset by the fact that her daughter does not know her, Gloria returns to London, and is followed there shortly afterwards by the young manager of the Edinburgh broadcasting station who has fallen violently in love with her at their first meeting. At first she is inclined to humour the young man. and then discovers that she herself :s beginning to fall in love with him. but she receives a severe shock when she is told that her daughter Jane also loves him. Her deep affection for her daughter, although she has seen her only once in 15 years, impels her to take steps to destroy the young man's love, and when she organises a party for her friends, she is ostentatiously affectionate towards a hot-headed young Spaniard who has been pestering her with his attentions for several

weeks. Infuriated by Gloria's apparent fickleness, the young man returns to Edinburgh, where he is confronted by Jane, who has just learned from her father that her mother is alive. As she was originally introduced to her mother in the radio studio, she asks the man she loves to tell her what he knows of Gloria Grey, and the young man receives his second blow when he discovers that the. woman with whom he had been so infatuated is Jane's mother. Jane goes to London to find her mother and arrives at the theatre at the exact moment when the young Spaniard, enraged because Gloria has told him that she does not want to see him again, shoots her from a box during the performance. Mother and daughter are reunited in a touching scene, but Gloria recovers, and, thanks to the agency of Jane, she and her husband are brought together again. There is a strong supporting cast. The programme of short subjects is varied and interesting, and includes several newsreels, a comedy, and a. novelty musical production. The box, plans are at the theatre and at Beggs EMPIRE THEATRE Banned from Australia for reasons best known, perhaps, to the censor himself, " Penitentiary," which had its first screenings at the Empire Theatre yesterday, lays bare the horrors that prison life holds for a sensitive young man who, more by accident than anything else, finds himself condemned to a long term of imprisonment for manslaughter. Stark and penetrating drama, it certainly contains and it is above all a film that requires good acting to prevent its gripping and sometimes lurid scenes and the tenseness of the emotions they provoke, becoming just so many melodramatic absurdities. But in the cast that has been selected the producers have provided acting material fully capable of the task. There could hardly have been a better choice for the leading role ot the innocent convict than John Howard, who, usually noted for his forceful personality, becomes in "Penitentiary" a youth of delicate fethngs to whom the brutal side of prison life and the depraved characters with whom he comes in contact can do nothing but harm. With his health undermined by these influences, and on the verge of a nervous breakdown owing to the strairf of the punishment meted out to him, Howard finds inspiration in his love for the daughter of the warden. In this role, Jean Parker adds to her already considerable laurels as a screen actress. Her part is probably as difficult as any she has ever tackled, calling as it does for 3 fine restraint in many emotional scenes, but she comes through with flying colours. But the acting honours of the piece must go to Walter Connolly, who appears first as the district attorney responsible for Howard's conviction and later as the warden who realises the circumstances surrounding the boy's imprisonment and does his best to ease his lot. Connolly's portrayal is a convincing one, and on it hangs the fate of the whole picture for his is the choice between duty and his liking for the unhappy young man. and by the conviction put into this part the whole production stands or falls Needless to say. Connolly is more than equal to the demands made upon him and he invests his part with a deep human -■ understanding that is one of the features of the film. Bill Jordan (John Howard) accidentally kills a man for insulting a girl and it is this act which* brings him within the grim prison walls. While he is serving his time the attorney who secured his conviction is promoted to the office of warden. He comes to learn of the young man's plight and his suffering undei the strict prison discipline and allows him out on parole as his chauffeur. It is in this role that he meets the warden's daughter and immediately falls in love Together the father and daughter rebuild the young convict's character, and how, on the eve of his final redemption, the fates conspire to ruin his chances of ever attaining his long sought goal, makes the moving and

startling climax to the film. In it, the.;,., boy has to make the choice between; * the ideals he has learnt from the war- ; den and his daughter and the code of',,: honour that exists even among thieves * —and murderers—and the warden isl- - between his liking for the boy.-' and the path of duty. This situation'-' is brought about by the killing of a>\ man who prevented the escape of some»* fellow convict friends, suspicion falling •<? on Howard. Before he has a chance to clear himself, however, the convict who actually did the killing reveals himself and the stage is set for thee? dramatic incidents that follow. supportng programme includes the lat-.-v est newsreels, a "Stranger Than Fie- ■,>. tion" novelty, a Lowell Thomas jea-.-. turette and a coloured cartoon. Box;•;, plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. GRAND THEATRE £ When an enterprising but penniless ?.(. young singer (Nino Martini) sets out.;;to make his name in Hollywood and is offered help by two men who say they "know all the big producers," he little-.* realises that his career, far from being « made, is about to be ruined. This ism the beginning of the enchanting and 55 thrilling film, "Music for u/iauame, ,I', which is now showing at the Grand St Theatre. The men get Martini to Sing;,? at a wedding reception given by a:. ■, influential film magnate while they make off with a valuable string of pearls. They take Martini, who is suspected as an accomplice, but soon let,3 him go. As Martini was dressed as a,, clown when he sang no one knows his ~ exact appearance, but most remember..', his voice and he is afraid to sing again.;. The young man decides to go to the* police, changes his mind, and meets" and falls in love with a young lady m .« a very short space of time. How he eventually clears his name and becomes famous provide many thrills and - laughs. The second feature is "Anna-> polis Salute," a tale of naval lives and >* loves. The story concerns the rivalry between two midshipmen who are in love with the same girl. The cast includes James Ellison, Van Heflin, Marsha Hunt and Harry Carey. The box plans are at the theatre and t Begg's. .. \r mayfaTr theatre A feature film produced by Samuel > y Goldwyn always assures outstanding entertainment for theatre patrons and now this brilliant producer is presenting one of the supreme achievements of his genius. "Stella Dallas," which is to commence a season at the Mayfair Theatre to-day, reaches to the very foundation of human emotions. A powerful gripping revelation of a woman's struggle to rise above her natural position in life, the gradual, breaking down of her efforts and her / eventual rise to supreme nobility, the new version has been endowed with a superb cast, and under King Vidor's direction it emerges a tender, gently pathetic and touching film Barbara Stanwyck gives a performance that ha. 1 been hailed as one of the finest of the year and one that has placed her in a new height of film fame. " Stella Dallas" carries a terrific appeal to the emotions in its simple and powerful j story. It depicts the love life of Stella, a beautiful and pleasure-starved mill •*■■ girl, who, after a brief romance, mar- j ries Stephen Dallas, outside her social sphere. They soon discover that they are definitely mismated. The,ir baby is born, and Stella's only redeeming quality seems to be her understanding heart expressed in her love for her little daughter Laurel. Timely, yet •?.. endowed with romance as old as time "Navy Blue and Gold," the second film, is a thrilling story of love and • football at the Annapolis Academy. \ Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer sent a company.' to film much of the scenery on the picturesque grounds in Maryland. Thecast is headed by Robert Young, JameStewart, Lionel Barrymore, Florencf Rice, Billie Burke and Tom Browr. with Samuel S. Hinds, Paul Kelly anBarnett Parker in important support ing roles. The box plans are at th< theatre and the D.I.C.