AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23706, 13 January 1939, Page 4

AMUSEMENTS

NEW PROGRAMMES TO-DAY STRAND THEATRE •• Midnight Menace, which will be commenced at the Strand Theatre today, tells the story of the results of the death of Graham Stevens, friend of Brian Grant, a newspaper cartoonist. It is thought in journalistic circles that Stevens’s death was accidental, but Grant is convinced it was murder. Much against his editor’s wishes, Grant attends the Peace Conference Stevens was investigating, at which a M. Peters hints at an attack at midnight. This arouses Grant’s curiosity, and aided by Mary Stevens, his fiancee,- and the brother of the dead man, he unravels a mystery that provides a thrilling climax. ' The Australian, Margaret Vyner. plays the woman journalist, while Charles Farrell plays Brian Grant. Amongst the supporting cast are Danny Green, Wallace Everett, Dino Galvani, Dennis Norton and Terence O’Biien. Charles Bickford has a double role in “Gangs of New York, the second film, taxing the part of Franklin, a police officer, and Thorpe, a notorious gangster whose place he takes when the latter is imprisoned. Ann Dvorak, playing the role of Connie Benson, has a young brother A 1 (Howard Phillips) mixed up in the gang, Franklin finally manages, after many dangerous scrapes, to get his evidence* and the story builds to an exciting climax in which the real Thorpe, who has escaped from prison, is killed by his own cohort. Dapper, who mistakes him for Franklin. Box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. OCTAGON THEATRE Proof of its undoubted popularity and universal appeal is shown m the fact that the season of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ’’ has again been extended at the Octagon Theatre. It is a remarkable tribute to Walt Disney that his animated figures have captured the imagination of the public to a far greater degree than any human actors. Although everyone who has seen the picture forgets that the figures have no existence off the screen, because they have a personality all their own. The first full-length film created by Disney, “ Snow While and the Seven Dwarfs was planned as a single entity it is not merely an extended cartoon. The light, imaginative touch which has done almost as much for the creator as his artistic ability has been exploited to the fullest, infusing the story with a suitable fairy tale atmosphere. The plot is drawn from one of the t best-known of the Grimm brothers fairy tales, which originated from one of the many tales told by villagers about the Hartz Mountains, and all the queer • legendary folk who inhabited them. Snow White herself is a character brilliantly conceived, but the seven dwarfs will most likely enjoy a wider popularity, for they have an originality absolutely uncramped by former standards. The Witch Queen, persecutor of Snow White, is entrancingly villainous, some of the best work in the film being the scene in which she brews her spell Pleasing colour effects add further to the attraction of this delightful fantasy, which sets a standard unlikelr to be surpassed for a very long time. The box plans are at the theatre and Begg’s. EMPIRE THEATRE When Lewis Stone went into his role as an army surgeon in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War, the part he plays in “Yellow Jack,” opening to-day at the Empire Theatre, the uniform he wore was the last word in authenticity. For the veteran actor wore the uniform in which he actually served in Cuba! Stone had enlisted with the r New York volunteers and served for the duration of the war. His experience enabled Stone to offer valuable technical advice to Robert Montgomery and Virginia Bruce, who are co-starred in the new drama, Montgomery as the heroic soldier who offers himself as a living sacrifice to the cause of stamping out yellow fever, and Miss Bruce as the nurse who accompanies the expedition to the island of Cuba. It is the story of heart-breaking effort, bitter disappointment and seemingly fruitless toil, culminating in the dramatic scene in which five soldiers of the line, headed by Montgomery, offer their lives to help their country and their respected commander. Supporting players in the powerful cast include Andy Devine. Henry Hull, Charles Coburn. Budddy Ebsen, Henry O’Neill, Janet Beecher. William Henry, Alan Curtis. Sam Levene, Stanley Ridges. Phillip Terry and Jonathan Hale. Box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. GRAND THEATRE Popular fare is provided by the current programme at the Grand Theatre. Heading the programme is Bobby Breen’s best musical romance. ‘ Rainbow on the River,” now being presented for a return season in response to numerous requests, and the associate feature is Quick Money, featuring that sterling old character actor Fred Stone. “ Rainbow on the River tells of the fortunes of a small boy, the descendant of a disowned branch of an old southern family. He is brought up by a loyal negro servant who had been a slave of the family. When she is persuaded to send him to his grandmother, a new era of life and a not altogether haopy one commences for the boy. He has to combat jealousies and prejudices and eventually runs away, but in the end the story works out happilv for all concerned May Robson. Alan Mowbray. Benita Hume, and Henry O’Neill are featured in the cast, and Charles Butterworth supplies a comic relief. The singing is some of the best that Bobby Breen has yet given us. “Quick Money ” is a tale of small-town life and of the Mayor’s fight against swindlers. The box plans are at the theatre and Begg’s. STATE THEATRE Absent from the screen for more than a year, the Marx Brothers make a return in what has been, described as their funniest vehicle to date, “ Room Service,” which will be commenced at the State Theatre to-day. Adapted from the comedy which had New York audiences in an uproar for more than 61 weeks, .“Room Service” provides the three brothers with a ready-made story embodying the situations and

complications which always fit their peculiar comedy style. In Room Service,” a shoestring producer wants to stage a footlight epic—without spending a penny! He and his cast of 22 put up at an hotel and are 1200 dollars in arrears. He lures an “ angel with 15,000 dollars into his trap to finance the hazardous venture. Employing ingenious methods, he and his two loyal assistants struggle desperately because “ the show must go on —and the result is a mirth-packed entertainment said to be the best done by the three comics. The hilarious structure of the plot is built up by a series of highlights which keep the laughter rolling to the very end. The unexpected arrival of the author in search of his advance royalties; the backer who is tricked into financing the show; the hotel manager who regrets that he ever became the producer’s brother-in-law: the hptel supervisor who finances the play without knowing it; and the hectic ruseS by which the Marxes restrain all interference until the curtain goes upmake a stream of fun-making sequences which add up to the enoyment of the show. Box plans are at the theatre and at Begg’s. REGENT THEATRE Columbia’s latest production, “ Holiday," commencing to-day at the Regent Theatre and starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, is said to rank with those other successes from the same company—“lt Happened One Night,” “Lost Horizon” “The Awful Truth,” “Mr Deeds Goes to Town,’; “Theodora Goes Wild" and “There’s Always a Woman.” “ Holiday ” is that kind of entertainment which provides a convincing answer to any argument that screen entertainment is floundering in a chanel of uncertainty in its effort for originality and quality. Exhilarating comedy, balanced with neatly moulded dramatic interest and relieving touches of romance, its action is fast through its entire length. There is a spontaneity of humour in the film critics claim, which gives strength to the work of Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, both of whom enhance considerably .their position in screenland’s firmament by their portrayals. Edward Everett Horton, Doris Nolan, Elinnie Barnes and Lew Ayres are in supporting roles. “ Holiday ” is a story which aims with directness, for the understanding of every section, in ?cs basic construction of life among the folk of high financial station. B x plans are at the theatre and the D.I J ST. JAMES THEATRE Mysterious and Intrigue-ridden Morocco forms the romantic setting for Paramount’s latest Bulldog Drummond adventure story. “ Bulldog Drummond in Africa,” which will have its first local showing to-day at the St. James Theatre. When John Howard, playing the role of the intrepid amateur sleuth, learns that an international spy ring has kidnapped his best friend, Colonel Nielson, he does not hesitate to leave land and track the thieves down in r Moroccan stronghold. The story, of course, comes from the pen of H. C. “ Sapper ” McNeile. creator of the everpopular “Drummond” character. A masked horseman who commits bold robberies and gives the proceeds to the poor, who becomes the most feared figure in the West without ever hurting an honest man and who saves the ranch of a beautiful young girl from rustlers without revealing Ins identity forms the romantic central character in Paramount’s “The Mysterious Eider,” Zane Grey’s thrilling story of the untamed cattle country, which is the second film. Douglass Dumbnlle plays the strange rider who stops ms wanderings long enough to secure the happiness of a daughter who does not know him, and to avenge the 20-year-old murder of his closest friend. Box plans are at the theatre. Jacobs s ana the D.I.C. • __ MAYFAIR THEATRE

“Green Light,” best-selling’novel for two years, and now translated to the screen as a Cosmopolitan production, is now screening at the Mayfair Theatre. Errol Flynn has the role of Dr Newell Paige, a young surgeon who sacrifices his career to save that of an older doctor. _ Co-starred with him is the lovely Anita Louise. With Wendy Barrie cast in the role of the rich society girl who wins a newspaper libel suit and proceeds to run it herself. Universal’s rollicking comedy tomance, “A Girl With Ideas/’ is the second attraction. Box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. “ ROSALIE ” To a lengthy list of musical operettas which includes such successes as “ Naughty Marietta,” “ May time,” “ The Firefly.” and “Rose Marie,” Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .has added another. “Rosalie." which will be shown tomorrow at the Mayfair Theatre. In Rosalie, Nelson Eddy reappears as the principal star, but this time he is not supported by Jeanette MacDonald. Instead, the sensational tap dancer. Eleanor Powell, is his leading I&dy, and as she sings and dances her way into Eddy’s heart so does she sing and dance her way into the hearts of the audience. From the point of view of spectacle “ Rosalie ” is probably one of the most lavish musicals in the annals of motion , pictures; it boasts a huge cast, thousands appearing in one scene alone, while some-, of the dance sequences number hundreds of performers, and are said to be the last word in the spectacular. Universal’s “Air Devils.” a dramatic thriller of love, battle royal, adventure, and comedy on a South Sea island, will be the second film. Larry Blake. Dick Purcell. Beryl Wallace, and Mamo Clark have the featured roles, supported by Minerva Urecal, Charles Brokaw. Forbes Murray, Rov Mason. Paul Sutton. A 1 Ki--kume. Billy Wayne, and Michael Visaroff.