AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23796, 1 May 1939, Page 15

AMUSEMENTS

THE CURRENT PROGRAMMES ST. JAMES THEATRE Warner Brothers has achieved an enviable reputation as being the only major production unit to use consistently the screen as a medium for expressing the fanatical intolerance of surprisingly many sections of the American community. It takes courage for a company to pursue such a policy for it must inevitably mean “ treading on sore corns.” It would be surprising if the screen of the St. James Theatre has ever seen a more powerful indictment of the savagery that is latent in communities divorced from tolerance than that which is brilliantly portrayed in “They Won’t Forget.” This could not hope to be a popular picture—yet it must be a strong contender when the time comes for selecting the best films of the year. It is too stark —the average New Zealander wants to bo entertained, not made to think of a problem which does not immediately concern him. Yet “ They Won’t Forget *’ can definitely claim some of the finest and most impressive acting, one of the most unusual stories, a finely shaded and moving atmosphere, and a strength of direction which have seldom been equalled in a film screened locally. As the raucous political upstart who uses a murder trial to further his political ambitions, Claude Rains is superb, and the rest of the cast are not far surpassed. But it is the director who is the real star of this stark photoplay. Mervyn Le Roy has made no exaggerated gestures, he has laid bare horrible facts without any unnecessary suggestion of the sordid, obviously realising that his facts were dominant and tragic enough not to need the emphasis of spectacular brutality. And so the film ends, its characters settle back like sated beasts of prey. But to some comes the disturbing thought—was their verdict just. In association with this remarkable film is a first-class romantic drama, “The Girl Downstairs.” with Franchot Tone and Franciska Gaal. The box plans are at the theatre, the D.1.C., and Jacobs’s. STRAND THEATRE An entertaining double bill is at present being shown at the Strand Theatre. The first picture is “ Blondes at Work,” in which further adventures of Torchy Blane. played by Glenda Farrell, the girl reporter, and her companion, Lieutenant Steve Mcßride, are told. This is a sensational murder mystery in which the newspaper woman secures the inside story and brings off a great “ scoop.” The second picture is “Wolf’s Clothing,” a delightful British comedy m which Claude Hulbert does some excellent work as a meek and mild young man who is precipitated into a series of hectic adventures with secret service agents, anarchists and a lovely adventuress in Paris. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. OCTAGON THEATRE Big crowds are flocking to the Octagon Theatre, where “ Cowboy and the Lady” is enjoying a highly successful season. Centring round the romance between a bored young daughter of a wealthy candidate for presidential nomination and a “strong and silent ” cow-puncher from Montana. the film is plentifully interspersed with comedy, while there is also a touch of drama, and some fast action in a few rodeo scenes. Smooth running and lavish, though not overdone, settings are a feature of the production, which is unfolded so slickly that it engenders a pleasant, restful atmosphere for the audience. Gary Cooper portrays the simple, straight-spoken cow-puncher to perfection, while the lady is almost as deftly played by Merle Oberon, the beautiful Australian actress. Cooper has a role that, in its fundamentals, has some resemblance to that he had in “Mr Deeds Goes to Town,” and he is just as impressive as in his earlier triumph. Fuzzy Knight, Walter Brennan, Mabel Todd and Patsy Kelly are outstanding in the supporting cast. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. “SUEZ” Darryl F. Zanuck, producer of some of the screen’s most memorable pictures, has re-created on the screen the stupendous effort of de Lesseps to tear two continents apart and join the Mediterranean with the Red Sea that ships might sail the desert in “ Suez,” coming on Friday to the Octagon Theatre. A canal half a mile long, 100 feet deep and 150 feet across was dug by movie crews in the American desert near Yuma, Arizona, for scenes in the film. Other dramatic sequences were filmed on a 20-acre desert constructed on an abandoned golf course on the Twentieth Cen-tury-Fox lot. Royal courts of Europe and Egypt were built for the film, which is featured by the romantic story of the loves that drove de Lesseps to the realisation of his dream. Tyrone Power interprets the role of the canalbuilder, sharing stellar honours with Loretta Young and Annabella. “ Suez,” latest in the Movie Quix 250,000-dollar contest, was directed by Allan Dwan. EMPIRE THEATRE The latest Australian film, “ Mr Chedworth Steps Out,” which is at present being shown at the Empire Theatre, has the advantage of some excellent acting by Cecil Keliaway. In his latest production he appears as the average man. He is a clerk in a large office, and has a nagging harridan of a wife, who is always asking why he remains in his little rut, and why he has not got on like his friends. The truth is that Mr Chedworth remains a clerk because he has the mentality ol the under-dog, and although Mr Chedworth deserves all the trouble he meets, there is something appealing about this funny little man. Such is the character that Cecil Keliaway draws, and he is particularly convincing in the series of adventures that befall the timid little clerk when a small fortune unexpectedy falls into his lap, and his attempt at rebellion against his dull life causes him to become involved with a gang of counterfeiters. Rite Paunccforth does much to put the breath of life into Mrs Chedworth, and Peter Finch is natural and direct as Chedworth’s son. There is a pood supporting programme. The box plans arc at the theatre and the D.I.C. GRAND THEATRE Harry Carey gives an outstanding Derformance in “ The Law West of Tombstone.” the principal attraction at the Grand Theatre. He is cast as a garrulous old Texan who tries to live his own romance over again by guiding the love affair of his daughter. He is a self-appointed magistrate, ruling the district with his tongue and his gun. both of which ho uses readily, and ir. the climax to the story he ends an old feud with a gang of outlaws. The second picture is “ Next Time I Marry,” a comedy-romance concerning an American girl who is compelled to marry in order to inherit a fortune. As she is engaged to an Austrian count, and the terms of her inheritance are that she shall marry an American, she tries to scheme her way out of her difficulty, with amusing results. Lucille Ball and James Ellison are the featured players. The box plans are at the theatre and at Begg’s. “CRIME TAKES A HOLIDAY” Desperately fighting against time, a district attorney tricks an underworld king into confessing his crimes before a million radio-witnesses, in Columbia’s “Crime Takes a Holiday" with Jack Holt starred as the district attorney, which will come to the Grand Theatre on Wednesday. In addition to Holt, “ Crime Takes a Holiday ” has Marcia Ralston in the leading feminine role; Russell Hopton. as the assistant district attorney and romantic lead; Douglass Dumbrille, Joseph Crehan, John Wray, Arthur Hohl, and others. Lewis D. Collins directed the film, which is based

on an original story by Henry Altimus. Holt is cast as a district attorney who, pressed by a “ Citizens’ Committee ” to stamp out gangland’s racketeering, attempts to contact the sang chieftain by pretending he can be bribed. When his emissary is murdered, he prosecutes an ex-convict for the crime, knowing that the man is innocent, confident that thus the racketeers will be tricked into revealing their hands. The gangsters warily avoid the trap and the district attorney finds himself, in the exciting climax, faced with the prospect of seeing his ex-convict eccomplice sentenced to die unless he can capture the real murderer STATE THEATRE Another delightful picture starring Bobby Breen is at present being shown at the State Theatre. This film is not so well provided with music as its predecessors have been, but it is still a typical vehicle for the lad. With him is the irrepressible Leo Carrillo and the hardly less well known Henry Armetta. The background of the story, as the title, “ Fisherman’s Wharf,” indicates, is a fisherman’s colony of Italian emigrants near San Francisco, and the scenes of the launches at work are one of the features of the film. The story tells of the love of the lad for his adopted father, and the troubles that follow the advent of a designing sister-in-law and her spoilt son. Slicker, a highly intelligent seal, gives an added interest to the picture. The box plans are at the theatre and Begg’s. REGENT THEATRE How an unsophisticated country girl holds her own against a multiplicity of suitors is told in “ Three Loves Has Nancy,” which is delighting audiences at the Regent Theatre. The role of Nancy is played by Jane. Gayaor, who scores one of the greatest triumphs of her screen career with a style of comedy refreshingly new. In this she is ably supported by Robert Montgomery and Franchot Tone. It is the story of a novelist who, in escaping the wiles of an actress, goes on a lecture tour of the south. There he meets Nancy, a small-town girl, and casually tells her that he will help her if she is ever in New York and needs assistance. When he returns home he finds that the small-town girl is already there. Complications ensue when his best friend and publisher falls in love with Nancy. The novelist, not realising that he is also in love with the girl, who, incidentally, is already betrothed, tries to break off the courtship. His attempts are finally successful, but only after a series of comedy situations. The cast is an unusually strong one, and the Montgomery-Tone combination, which has been successful in previous films, loses none of its appeal with Janet Gaynoi as the central figure. The supporting programme is a most interesting one. It includes a Pete Smith oddity, Our Gang comedy, a miniature drama of the South Seas, “Tupapaoo.” The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. MAYFAIR THEATRE A dramatic tale is unfolded in “ Dead End,” which heads the new programme at the Mayfair Theatre. This production, which is based on Sidney Kingsley's story of life in a city street, has been skilfully handled by the director, William Wyler, who has received excellent assistance from a competent cast, headed by Joel McCrea and Sylvia Sidney. The story is set in a section of the city where the fashionable quarter rubs shoulders somewhat distastefully with the slum area at the river’s edge. Sylvia Sidney is Drina, the little slum girl, who battles courageously but hopelessly to save her young brother. Tommy, from the gangster’s fate that she has seen befall so many other slum dwellers. Joel McCrea is Dave, the penniless young merchant whom she loves and who also is loved by Kay (Wendy Barrie), the girl who has found a dubious route out of the slums to existence in a pent house. Humphrey Bogart, Claire Trevor, and Allen Jenkins are also featured. The second picture is “ Borrowing Trouble,” another Jones Family comedy. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C.