AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23688, 21 December 1938, Page 3

AMUSEMENTS

CURRENT PROGRAMMES GRAND THEATRE Dealing with a colourful struggle to get possession of an immensely rich tungsten mine in Arizona, “ Painted Desert,” which will be shown to day at the Grand Theatre, brings George O’Brien to the screen in another outdoor picture. Settings in the Mojave Desert of California and the actual Painted Desert near Cameron. Arizona, comprise the more colourful backgrounds of the film. The dynamiting of a mountainside and scenes of the stampede of an ore train are said to be among the most thrilling sequences ever filmed. O’Brien plays the role of a well-to-do cattleman, on whose range a wandering prospector and his pretty granddaughter have discovered a promising vein of tungsten. Planning to drive the trespassers away, O’Brien is himself driven off at gunpoint by the girl. Bnt when the old prospector, who has gone to town for more money to develop the property, is killed in an ensuing card game, O'Brien secures title to the mine from the promoter, and then learns that it is immensely valuable. But in starting to develop it he comes in conflict with the girl, who is now aware that her grandfather signed away his rights before his death. A lively tale of movie making in Hollywood, with a sparkling romance and a murder mystery thrown in for good measure, “ Fugitives for a Night,” featuring Frank Albertson and Eleanor Lynn, will be the second film. Box plans are at the theatre and at Begg’s. STATE THEATRE A rollicking, farcical comedy, bubbling over with bright spots, is “Josette,” now showing at the State Theatre. It is a cocktail of music, mirth, and melody, with a delightful romance to give it that little extra kick which makes for high-class entertainment. Simone Simon is the young lady around whom two human moths, Don Ameche and Robert Young, flutter, and both look like getting their wings singed until things begin to happen and Josette accepts an even-money chance that she is selecting the better of the two, and agrees to the ringing of wedding bells. Don and Robert learn that their father, who apparently has some seeds to sow, is falling in love with a radio artist, and in order to prevent him from “ falling ” for the young woman, they manage to contact her and make love to her the while they send the father out of the city on business. Unfortunately, they make a mistake, and believe that Josette is the vamp who has their dad on a piece of twine. The final ending to a good story sees everything straightened out just as an audience would wish, and everyone is happy. Simone Simon sings a couple of songs, “May I Drop a Petal in Your Cup? ” and “In Any Language,” in fine voice. The box plans ’are at the theatre and Begg’s. “ CAREFREE” The endeavours of a psychiatrist to play Cupid and marry off his best friend to a noted actress is the theme of “ Carefree,” RKO Radio’s latest musical romance, with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the stellar roles, coming on Friday to the State Theatre. However, the scheme runs into unforeseen difficulties when the patient falls in love with her doctor instead of with the man she is supposed to marry. Hilarious complications involving hypnotism, a skeet-shooting match, legal injunctions, breaking into a church, and the wrecking of a nation-wide radio programme, are among the comedy highlights of the AstaireRogers vehicle.’ Woven throughout the story are a group of tuneful melodies by Irving Berlin, and four notable dance routines —Astaire’s solo Golf Dance, a fantastic Dream Dance, the romantic “ Change Partners ” number, and the “Yam,” the new popular ballroom step that is expected to replace most of the current dances. Ralph Bellamy heads the supporting cast, which includes the Broadway favourite Luella Gear, Clarence Kolb, Franklin Pangborn, and the new “find,” Jack Carson. Mark Sandrich directed the Pandro S. Berman production. REGENT THEATRE Using for its hero the immortal British actor, David Garrick, a gay comedy of that star and his times is the current attraction at the Regent Theatre, with Brian Aherne in the role of Garrick and Olivia de Havilland as Germaine, the girl with whom he falls in love. “The Great Garrick” is the title of the picture. Garrick in the era of the 1750’s was acknowledged to be the greatest actor the world had ever known He could play anything comedy, tragedy, straight drama. This story finds him ending a long run in London and preparing to begin another in France. Enemies have circulated a false report that he said he would “teach the French to act.” Insulted the French stage folk decide to frame him up and make him look ridiculous. How he turns the tables on them and then goes on to success on the Paris stage is what makes up the story. Supporting Aherne and Miss de Havilland ai’e such notable players as Edward Everett Horton, Melville Cooper, Lionel Atwill, Henry O’Neill, Luis Alberni, Lana Turner, Marie Wilson, Fritz Leiber, Linda Perry, and Etienne Girardot. The box plans are the theatre and the D.I.C. “THAT CERTAIN AGE” Deanna Durbin has recently completed her fourth consecutive production for the new Universal, and foreign critics claim that it far exceeds in entertainment popularity her three previous successes. That is an enormous claim in itself, for there is no doubt that the New Universal studios havcvery cleverly decided upon keeping Deanna in the type of films which have so completely established her on the scroll of film fame. It is an acknowledged fact in the show world that no other star on the screen today has played in three pictures consecutively and so successfully eclipsed her own record in each successive production. One of the critics who attended the preview in Hollywood of “ That Certain Age.” which will be shown on Friday at the Regent Theatre, went into raptures about the performance. “I cannot recall in the 17 years of my experience any artist doing four consecutive productions for the same company, and each production surpassing in entertainment merit all of its predecessors.” he writes. “ Usually a star makes one successful picture, and the following films strive hard to capitalise upon this initial effort, Deanna Durbin, however, has achieved the impossible. “That Certain Age ” is moulded with all the exquisite beauty and charm that captures the imagination of the public. Its lovely mixture of laughter and tears represents the screen’s sweetest fragment from life, and reveals the superb touch of directorial genius gliding here and there that has fashioned it into throbbing reality. It may truly be said of Deanna’s latest film that it will prove the most powerful factor in restoring the picture industry to those glorious days when ‘Let’s all go to the movies ’ was an impulse universally observed in many homes.

‘ That Certain Age ’ glorifies all that is left in family life and leaves audiences with visions of a security and loveliness that make for many happy to-morrows.” ST. JAMES THEATRE Bringing to the screen for the first time as a leading man, that idol of the United States radio waves, Kenny Baker, a Mervyn Le Roy musical comedy called “Mr Dodd Takes the Air,” is now showing at the St. James Theatre. Kenny proves himself to be a capable actor; he has five splendid songs to sing in the picture; he is supported by an unusually high-class cast, and the story from which “Mr Dodd" was adapted (Clarence Budington Holland's “The Great Crooner”) is exactly fitted to his personality. Millions read the novel from which “Mr Dodd ” was adapted. The chief villainess is blonde Gertrude Michael. Alice Brady is a temperamental opera singer who merely wants to add Dodd to her large collection of husbands. But Dodd’s real sweetheart, played by Jane Wyman, foils them all by secretly patenting an invention in her own name to protect Dodd’s interests. Frank McHugh, Henry O’Neill and John Eldredge are among the noted fun-makers in the cast. There are five tuneful songs by Harry Warren and A 1 Dubin. The second feature is “ San Quentin,” an engrossing story of American prison life. The box plans are at the theatre, the D.1.C., and Jacobs’s. “HOLLYWOOD HOTEL” It is not often that a musical film the magnitude of “ Hollywood Hotel ” is released. When the picture boasts a stellar cast, two of the most famous band organisations in the world, a setting attractive in its infrequency, and a story that can stand by itself, “ Hollywood Hotel ” demands more than ordinary attention. As a Christmas presentation it can claim few rivals, and it will be commenced at the St. James Theatre on Friday. Set in the Mecca of fllmdom itself, “ Hollywood Hotel ” has a plot that is a merry mix-up from start to finish. Interpreted by such players as Dick Powell, Louella O. Parsons (ace American movie columnist), Ted Healy, Rosemary and Lola Lane. Alan Mowbray, Glenda Fan-ell, Hugh Herbert. Mabel Todd, Johnny Davis, Allyn Davis, Francis Langford. Edgar Kennedy. Percy Westmore, Paul Irving, Jerry Cooper, Ken Niles, as well as Raymond Paige and Benny Goodman and their respective orchestras, some conception of the standard of the presentation may be gauged. Several attractive featured items support the story, which tells of the adventures of Dick Powell in filmland, the trouble he causes, and the exciting climax. STRAND THEATRE Featuring Nan Grey and Donald Woods, “ Danger on the Air,” an engrossing murder mystery in which the suspense is maintained from beginning to end, forms the principal attraction at the Strand Theatre. In support is “ Prairie Thunder,” in which Dick Foran, the “singing Cowboy,” is cast in the leading role. The wild and lawless prairies of Western America in the 1860’s form the background of the action, and Foran has the part of a member of the United States

Cavalry, who is assigned the duty of patrolling the telegraph lines across the prairie. How he comes to grips with a renegade white man who incites the Indians to revolt, and how he finally wins out, make the theme of a thrilling story. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. OCTAGON THEATRE Rollicking fun in the new lighl comedy tradition is the dominating entertainment factor in the delightful comedy romance, “The Joy of Living, which is the current feature at the Octagon Theatre. And the two stars are certainly adepts at this type of screen work. Irene Dunne and Douglas Fairbanks, jun., prove themselves beyond doubt two of the best of this type of player on the screen. Other outstanding comedy stars in the cast are Eric Blore, Lucille Ball, Alice Brady and Guy Kibbee. In the development of the plot, Miss Dunne is seen as a great Broadway singer. Her family have no qualms about living on her earnings. She meets Fairbanks and he immediately falls in love with her. He is one of those breezy characters who live only for the joy of living. He wants her to do the same, but she thinks she ought to keep the family. But when she marries him and leaves him for that same purpose the family berate her. Disgusted, she goes after Fairbanks. Walt Disney’s latest clever Silly Symphony features is the outstanding item on an excellent supporting programme. The box plans are at the theatre and Begg’s. “SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS ” “ Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” the Octagon Theatre’s Christmas attraction, is, according to one reviewer, a brilliantly imagined and executed full-length cartoon, so endlessly entertaining and delightful it becomes one of the kinema’s great achievements. Having charmed und delighted the world with his short films, Walt Disney now offers to all and sundry for their delectation his first long cartoon comedy. This is the report of one who sat enthralled through what is most assuredly one of the wonders of the modern kinema—the gayest, merriest, most imaginative, most charming film that has come out of Hollywood in years. There can be only one word for it (he writes)—a word so much misused—“ masterpiece.” To try to explain the genius of Walt Disney would be as impertinent as it is impossible. Like Chaplin, he is a timeless artist with an appeal that knows no limitations. What Disney arid his associates have done here, as they have in all their films, is to fuse all the elements which make a perfect talking picture —action, sound, music, colour, illusion and characterisation. For “ Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ” is no ordinary cartoon film. It is a superbly plotted and developed motion picture, in which the same technique applied to films with human beings in them is used. There are excellent camera angles, and when it is necessary the camera is “ panned ” across a scene just as it is in any other photoplay. Dissolves are employed when the occasion demands them and the backgrounds are so realistic they might be actual studio sets.

EMPIRE THEATRE With comedy and music skilfully blended, "Everybody Sing,” which is being screened at the Empire Theatre, is a musical entertainment of outstanding value. Allan Jones, the powerful tenor of “Firefly,” is co-starred with almost-as-powerful little Judy Garland, the “Deanna Durbin of swing,” _ and both are responsible for fine pieces of work. Other featured players are Billie Burke, who proved such a success in “Merrily We Live” Fanny Brice, who was outstanding in The Great Ziegfeld,” Reginald Owens, Henry Armetta and Lynne Carver. The picture is absolutely devoid of any slow spots, and the accent is on comedy throughout. Though there is a fairly large amount of sheer tomfoolery in the film, there is a leavening of romantic and human interest, and the whole plot has been handled sympathetically. The production provides really wholesome entertainment. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. “SWISS MISS” Laurel and Hardy are said to reach a new peak of comedy in an , Alpine setting in “ Swiss Miss,” their new musical film, which will be commenced on Friday at the Empire Theatre. Their new picture has been given a highly entertaining plot and a sumptuous production. Settings are of unusual beauty, and some of the scenes in and about the village inn where most of the action takes place rank high in pictorial quality. Singers, dancers and musicians, garbed in the quaint costumes of the region, give a glamorous impression of a Swiss fete. Many customs of the district, such as yodelling, Alpen-horning. bell-ringing and flag-throwing, are introduced and afford an interesting and colourful background without obscuring in the least the hearty and mirth-provoking antics of the stellar pair. Their efforts to sell mousetraps to the cheese producers, including demonstrations of the devices, all of which in ingenuity would do credit to Rube Goldberg, are sequences as hilarious as have ever come to the screen. In success or in despair, their reactions never fail to hit the bell of pure and unadulterated comedy. MAYFAIR THEATRE All through the narrative of "The Man Who Cried Wolf,” which will be commenced at the Mayfair Theatre to-day, the drama keeps pace with the romance. The centre of the dramatic action is Lewis Stone, who portrays an actor with a mysterious penchant, that of confessing murders he has not committed. His reason for doing this develops one of the most unusual story situations ever written for movie scripts, according to advance information from Hollywood scouts. When Tom Brown faces the necessity of paying the supreme penalty, Lewis Stone steps in. What he does, and why he does it, provide the highpoint of the drama. Those whose hearts are kindled by romance will want to know the answer. Those who revel in mystery and drama will want to work out the solution for themselves. “ Laughing Irish Eyes,” which will be the second attraction, tells a rollicking story of a young Irishman, Phil Regan,, who is brought to America as a ring champion. His greater delight, however, is his fine tenor voice, and Eve-

lyn Knapp, as his coquettish but spitfire admirer, artfully steers him from the prize-ring into contracts for love,' and music. J. M. Kerrigan, noted for his spirited Irish portrayals, and Mary Gordon, who was memorable as the Irish mother in “ The Irish In Us,” are other featured players, while Ray Walker, as the sports-radio commentator, Eddie Bell, gives an energetic performance. Box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C.