AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23730, 10 February 1939, Page 15

AMUSEMENTS

[HE CURRENT PROGRAMMES GRAND THEATRE Much of the action of the film “Sky Jiant,” which is being shown at the Jrand Theatre, is laid in the colourul setting of an up-to-date aviation chool, and it deals with the life and oves of modern airmen in the course if their daily routine. Richard Dix las the leading role,_ with Chester Morris and Joan Fontaine also in the eatured cast. Dix has a typically jowerful part as a happy-go-lucky jilot, who, against his will, is grounded md compelled to aid Harry Carey, a ■etired army officer, operate a big lying school. Carey’s son, played by Chester Morris, secretly enrols at the chool. and at once comes in conflict vith the older man’s stern discipline, further trouble is caused by the ar■ival of Joan Fontaine, with whom >oth fall in love. There are some lovel features in “The £5 Man.” the ;econd film. It starts when a man vho has apparently seen better days motions himself at the conclusion of i sale for the sum of £5. The affair, ;aken in jest at first, soon develops ill the makings of a first-rate mystery •omance. Box plans are at the theatre md at Begg’s. STATE THEATRE With its delightful theme based on the conflict between old-fashioned theories and modern actualities in wedlock, “ Vivacious Lady ” comes to the State Theatre to-day, with Ginger Rogers and James Stewart' co-starred. Miss Rogers depicts a Broadway night club entertainer, whom Stewart, a botany professor from a little up-State college, woos and wins in a hectic courtship. When he brings his bride home to the dignified college town and contemplates breaking the news to his stern college president father he loses courage and remains silent. Out of this silence grow the many hilarious situations that follow. Stewart’s mother, a hypochondriac, has “heart trouble ’’'■whenever an argument starts between "her husband and her tall young son; a local girl, who thinks she is engaged to Stewart, begins laying embarrassing plans for their coming marriage, and Stewart’s playboy cousin, the only one who knows their secret, manages to tangle things up in trying to straighten out the affair! On top of this. Miss Rogers grows impatient with being a wife in name only, and with Stewart’s procrastination. These various threads are woven into a hectic plot which marches on to a clever climax and solves the problem in entertaining fashion. There are good short features, and the box plans are at the theatre and Begg’s. REGENT THEATRE Any programme with-Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy cast in singing roles as one of its features would command the attention'of the picture public, but when these songsters come together in that great favourite of lyrical romances from yesteryear’s stage hits, “The Girl of the Golden West,” with new musical features added, they make an irresistible attraction for those who love a wide range of good songs and a setting of charm and romance. This film is now at the Regent Theatre. Ranging from the most popular of Liszt and Gounod through Californian folk songs and dreamy modern waltz tunes to sprightly Spanish melodies, the music appeals to all tastes and gives opportunities , for the two leading players to display their voices in such songs as best suit their tone and capacity. The love ballads and songs of the road with which Eddy’s rich rolling baritone have been delightfully associated are there for him, while Miss MacDonald’s sweet soprano not only harmonises and graces the love duets, but lifts at times to greater heights m the classics of Liszt and Gounod. But musical treat is .only a portion of the entertainment, for all the spectacle romance and comedy, that made Belasco’s play a great stage hit are also there. It has a picturesque outdoor setting, and every advantage has been taken for reproducing the thrill of the gold-rush days. Riotous saloons bandits, soldiers, and the Spanish setting of early California give dash and colour to the action, and one of the scenes is a highly spectacular reproduction of a Spanish, dancing fiesta. There are good supports and the box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. \ ST. JAMES THEATRE A new light comedy team makes its debut in “The First Hundred Years, which is now at the St. James Theatre, in the persons of Robert Montgomery and Virginia Bruce. Montgomery achieved his screen reputation in this type of domestic comedydrama. As Miss Bruce’s partner iti a New York theatrical agency, Warren William returns to the debonair note he struck in such films as “The Dark Horse” and the Perry Mason stories, Also featured in a hand-picked supporting cast are Binnie Barnes, in the role or a predatory actress with designs on Montgomery; Alan Dinehart. rs the lawyer retained by William for Miss Bruce: Harrv Davenport, Nydia Westman. E. E. Clive. Torben Meyer Bodil Rosing, and Irving Bacon. Richard Thorpe, who achieved fame for his direction of “Night Must Fall.” in which Montgomery also . starred, directed “The First Hundred Years.” Norman Krasna, who produced “Big City" from his own original <=tory. did /likewise on this picture. "The First Hundred Years ” is a modern domestic comedy drama with a New York locale, based on the problems that arise when, a wife who has a successful and established career as a New York theatrical agent, cannot bear the thought of relincmishing her independence and her financial and professional background/in order to make a home for a husband who earns considerably less money then she. The entire action takes place in modernistic settings, including the wife’s impressive office, her apartment, two up-to-the-minute night .clubs, the Newark airport, a Superior Court judge’s chamber'., and a New Bedford shipyard. The box plans are at * the theatre, the D.1.C.. and Jacobs’s. STRAND THEATRE That clever young girl reporter. Torchy Blane —now depicted for the third time by the gay and laugh-pro-voking Glenda Farrell —will be seen on the screen of the Strand Theatre today in “Adventurous Blonde,” a Warner Bros, comedy-drama. With her is her likable, but riot-so-brilliant boy friend, Detective Lieutenant Stev§ Mcßride, portrayed by Barton _ MacLane. “Adventurous Blonde ” is described as even funnier and more exciting than its two predecessors in the series, in which the same pair of players were the principals. It is a tale about how a quartet of male reporters, irked by Torchy’s scoring of so many “scoops" over them, try to get vengeance. They hire an out-of-work actor to play the part of a corpse and give Torchy a lot of misinformation about a supposed murder. But the joke “boomerangs" because the fake murder turns out to be an actual murder, which Torchy and Steve solve. Dick Foran, designated by Warner Bros, as the Singing Cowboy, who has been gaining increased popularity with each of his Western pictures, is to be seen in the second film, “The Devil’s Saddle Legion.” Foran has been making astonishing strides forward in the liking of “Western fans” during the past few months. Not only is he an excellent actor, but a good baritone singer as well, and his ballads have hastened his progress ahead. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. OCTAGON THEATRE “Alexander’s Ragtime Band.” which will be screened to-day at the Octagon Theatre, picks out some of the principal incidents in the history of America and incorporates them in the story of the development of jazz. The story which supports the theme is a pleasing as well as a dramatic one, and Is presented by a cast headed by the

well-known trio —Tyrone Power, Don Ameche, and Alice Faye. The part of Alexander, “ the leader of the band, is taken by Power. He breaks away from his training as an eminent musician to lead the first ragtime band in a San Francisco cafe, where he meets Stella Kirby (Alice Faye), who becomes an inseparable part of the combination and with whom he falls in love. They quarrel, however, and Alexander leaves for the war, returning to find Stella a Broadway star and married to Ameche, the pianist of the band. Alexander starts afresh, and after a triumphant European tour returns to America unaware that he has been followed by Stella, who has arranged a divorce with her husband, realising her love for Alexander The climax to the story is reached at a concert in which Alexander crashes the gates of high society with his Popular music, a strange fate drawing Stella irrevocably to his side as he plays the tune that everyone will soon be humming again. The featurettes are good and the box plans are at the theatre and Begg's. EMPIRE THEATRE A story of four inhabitants of the Alaskan frontier region whose lifelong friendship is broken by feudal warfare and revived, again through the terrific sacrifice of one of them is told in “ Spawn of the North," Paramount s panoramic drama of the north country, which will have its local premiere today at the Empire Theatre. A vital plot, the awesome setting of America s last frontier and an able performance by an all-star cast v combine to make this adaptation of Barrett Willoughby s famous novel first-class screen fare Heading the cast is George Raft in the role of a heroic Arctic fisherman who defies every law and custom ot the Northland, but sacrifices everything for his .friend in the end. The role of his sea companion is played sensitively by Henry Fonda, who turns in a moving performance as the young man who is torn between loyalty to his lifelong friend and the duties imposed upon him by his guardian of the law. The story opens with the return to its home port of an Alaskan fishing fleet which has been working the northern seas. The return marks the reunion of three pals of the region. Raft and Fonda, both fishermen, and Dorothy Lamour, the owner of the town’s hotel. There are strong supoorts. and the box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. MAYFAIR THEATRE Boris Karloff, who until recently has been noted for his “ horror ’proles, has another of his more sympathetic portrayals in “West of Shanghai," which heads the programme at the Mayfair Theatre. The story is set in the rarely photographed Chinese hinterland* where Karloff, as a war lord with, surprisingly enough, some very human qualities, holds sway over the destinies of thousands of people in the surrounding districts, including a party of Europeans investigating the possibilities Of oil drilling in the vicinity. John Barrymore, John Boles and Gladys Swarthout have the principal roles in “ Romance in the Dark.” the second attraction. It is a bright comedy with' many unusual twists Box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. “ EVERYBODY SING ” Vocal coaches were busy during the filming of “ Everybody Sing,” the next film at the Mayfair Theatre, for in the picture everybody actually sings. Allan Jones, Judy Garland, Fanny Brice, and Lynne Carver did not mind singing as it was nothin? new to them. But in the case ; of Billie Burke, Reginald Owen, and Reginald Gardiner it was Something else again for it marked their debut as singers. Nine songs are featured in the new musical The story of “Everybody Sing” concerns a young girl who gets expelled from several schools because of her craze for swing singing. Her father is a playwright, and her mother an actress. They are a mad lot, and without any financial sense. They send Judy to Europe, but she sneaks off the boat (before it leaves and gets a job singing in a night club. With the family chef, Allan Jones, as her aid, she manages to promote a musical show, and thus saves her family from financial ruin. Norman Taurog says that his engagement to direct David O, Selznick’s technicolour production, “ The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” the second film, realised one of-his fondest ambitions—to bring to the screei a cast of children in colour. “To have photographed the flashing blue of Tommy Kelly, the 12-year-old discovery from the Bronx, who has the role of Tom Sawyer, in charcoal would have been a chromatic tragedy,” he said. \ i