AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23857, 11 July 1939, Page 14

AMUSEMENTS

THE CURRENT PROGRAMMES St RAND THEATRE " Little Miss Thoroughbred," a story of the race-track, is the principal attraction at the Strand Theatre. The featured player is Janet Chapman, a six-year-old girl who gives an engaging performance as an inmate of an orphanage who runs away from the institution to find her daddy, whom she believes to exist. She meets .two racecourse gamblers, Frank Litel and Frank McHugh, and decides that Litel is her father. The child brings the gamblers extraordinary luck, but trouble follows when the police imagine that they have kidnaPPedthe child. The second picture is Gambling Ship." an exciting gangster story featuring Helen Mack, Irving Pichel. and Robert Wilcox. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. EMPIRE THEATRE Ronald Colman plays the role of Francois Villon dashing poet o. medieval Paris. "If I Kl "~ which is now being shown at the empire Theatre. When the film opens, the Burgundians are blockading Par =». and the King. Louis XI (Basil Rath - bone), goes disguised to a notorious tavern where he knows against him are going to gather. There he meets the ill-famed poet Villon, with his gang of ftscals all feasting themselves on food and wine conveyed illicitly from the stores of the lung himself. " Villon boasts of what would do if he were king. and. when later arrested for killing the Chief Constable of Paris, is appointed to nil his Place, this being the sardonic Louis's idea of a jest. This is the basis of an entertaining and exciting story. There is a good supporting programme. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C.

"CONFESSIONS OF A NAZI SPY" The sensational drama of the breaking of an espionage ring, " Confessions of a Nazi Spy " will head the fine programme to be presented at the Empire Theatre on Friday. Inspired by the recent trials in New York, which exposed a remarkable web of spying activity, the film endeavours to show the harm which may be done to a country by the work of agents who are willing to sell its national secrets. Although a fictional story has been chosen, the presence of such men as Leon G. Turrou, former agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and one of the chief parties to the amazing exposure which woke America to a new danger, in the advisory staff ensures the fidelity of the factual background. In the leading role of the agent who breaks a spy ring and brings several of its members to justice, Edward G. Robinson gives one of the most powerful portrayals of his career. Most of the roles, however, are of the " villain' type, and acting of the very highest standard is required to give them sincerity Paul Lukas, as the doctor who heads the ring, Francis Lederer as a bungling Nazi informer, and Lya Lys as a woman who, by her guile, proves herself to be perhaps the most dangerous of all, prove themselves splendidly capable of reaching these heights, however, and imbue the production with a rare realism. GRAND THEATRE An entertaining double-feature programme is at present being shown at the Grand Theatre. The first film is "Let Us Live," a dramatic tale of a taxi-driver and his friend who are convicted of a murder they did not commit. Although the evidence against them is purely circumstantial, the defence cannot disprove it until the taxidriver's fiancee works indefatigably and at last successfully to prove their innocence. The second film is "Trapped in the Skv." an exciting air story in which Jack Holt is seen as an airman who sets out to expose the culprit who wrecked a secret military Diane. The box plans are at the theatre and at Begg's.

« THE LONE WOLF SPY HUNT " Warren William, as the light-fingered Lone Wolf, "comes - to the - Grand Theatre to-morrow in Colummas "The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt," m which he is co-featured with pretty Ida Lupind. The new film, set amid, the gaiety ; of' Washington, night life, is a timely tale of dangerous international spies who. attempt to enmesh the most debonair rogue of all fiction in their sinister activities. William .naturally suave and adroit, is the most br lLant Lone Wolf in the long kinema h story of the beloved character. Miss Lupino is the daughter of a Senator in thie comedv drama. Her hectic pursuit of ff Wolf and the swift-moving intrigue of Washington spies results S a breath-taking melange of romance mvsterv, and adventure. Supporting S are played by Ralph Morgan Rita Hayworth, Virginia Weidler, Brandon Tynan, and Marc Lawrence. STATE THEATRE ■Rornard Shaw's brilliant comedy '•Pygmalion" is brought to the screen in the film of the same name which S now hi the° sixth week of at the State Theatre. As Proiessoi Hiiins he eccentric phonetic expert who wagers that he can educate a Covent Garden flower girl sufficiently £° V pS her off as a » f rite at a riiirhpss's reception tnree month? Leslie Howard fives one of the most polished performances <>t ni» £r?er. Wendy HiUer, as the subject of his experiment .» outstanding Wilfred Lawson and Marie Lehr are prominent among a strong cast o£ supporting players. The wpportug programme includes a new "March of Time." The box plans are at .the theatre and at Begg's. "TOPPER TAKES A TRIP" Hal Roach's screen comedy. "Topper Takes a Trip." sequel to ' Topper, one of last year's biggest laugh hits, will be opened at the State Theatre on Friday, with Constance Bennett of the latter production again cast in a light ccmedy role which permits her to go through a series oit " dematenahsations." The new film, based on a screen play by Eddie Moran and Jack Jevne. was directed by Norman- Z. McLeod, who also staged " Topper" and other notable film productions.. The supporting cast, reading like a bluebook of Hollywood celebrities, includes Roland Young. Billie Burke. Alan Mowbray, Alexander D'Arcy, Veree Teasdale, Franklin Pangborn, and Paul Hiu-st ; The story of "Topper Takes a Trip concerns the merry antics of Constance Bennett, as Marion Kerby. and Roland Young as Cosmo Topper, on the sunny sands of the French Riviera, whither Miss Bennett has gone to "do a good deed" and where, instead, she almost upsets the Toppers' lives. The production is a United Artists release. REGENT THEATRE Giving a performance which compares favourably with those which won for her the Academy Award. Luise Rainer is the principal player in " The Toy Wife." which heads the current programme at the Regent Theatre. She takes the role of a frivolous girl who continues to live in a carefree manner after her marriage. Her home is neglected and she becomes jealous when her husband suggests that her sister should be asked to assist in managing the household. In a rage, she leaves her husband and child and goes away with a former admirer. The picture is brought to a dramatic climax when she realises her folly and returns to ask her husband's forgiveness. There is an interesting supporting programme. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. "THE SHINING HOUR" Ultra-modern in its plot and problems and moving from a background of the glamour of New York nights to the stark reality of the farm lands in the mid-West, "The Shining Hour," which will be screened at the Regent Theatre on Friday, is a splendid drama. It is drama of a modern type, appealingly presented in a sophisticated story of the life and loves of a Broadway cabaret star. However, at last she marries into a highly respectable family of the middle-West farm country. She

is unwelcome there, and her problem is to convince her bridegroom's family that she is not .what they, take her to be. The. cast' Includes Joan Crawford, Margaret Sullavan, Robert Youhg, Melvyn Douglas and Fay Bainter. Joan Crawford literally relives part of heir life as the Broadway dancer. Melyyn Douglas is the serious young husband and Robert Young appears: as- hia brother. Miss Sullavan is the kindhearted wife of the younger brother and Fay Bainter plays the dramatic role of Hannah, the embittered spinster sister of the men. ST. JAMES THEATRE Gay. sophisticated comedy is presented in "Say it in French," which heads the current programme at >sie St. James Theatre; The principal players are Ray Milland and Olympe Branda. Milland plays the part of a. young man who returns from a tr.ip to Paris with a French bride, and is met by his father with the intelligence that the family fortunes are on the verge bf collapse, and that the only hope for their recovery is that the young man will marry an heiress. The bride is given a position as a housemaid in her husband's home, and the young man does his best to carry out his father's wishes with amusing resulte. The second picture is "Accidents Will Happen," in which the activities of swindlers are exposed. The box plans are at the theatre, the D.I.C, and at Jacobs's. '. .. ' "THE STORM" Telling an emotional story of adveii* ture and thrills in the lives of wireless operators on American merchant ships, Universal'*! production of "The Storm,'" will be screened at the St. James Theatre on Friday. Filmed against the colourful background of giant ships and thundering storms at sea. the narrative possesses power and realism. Good performances are turned in by the cast, which includes Charles Bickford, Barton Mac Lane, Preston Foster, Tom Brown, Nan Grey, Andy Devine, and Frank Jenks. The film unfolds as one of the most virile action dramas to come out of Hollywood in recent months. Impressive scenes show a great steel freighter crashing into an iceberg and going down while Preston Foster sticks to hisg radio key sending SOS calls for help. Bickford adds to his standing as a skilled portrayer of rugged he-man roles in stirring fight scenes along the waterfront and aboard ship. MAYFAIR THEATRE The struggle towards the end of tile century between the farmers of tin; Californian plains and the gold miners in the foothills whose sluicing was covering the new wheat fields with yellow mud and flooding out homes and farms is the theme of "Gold Is Where You Find It,". now showing at the Mayfair Theatre. The story. also deals with the troubled romance of the daughter (Olivia de Havilland) of one of the leading wheat farmers and a mining engineer (George Brent). As the struggle between farmers and miners grows in intensity the lovers find their future threatened by the bad feeling that has sprung up. "Fast Company," an amusing comedy-thriller with a first-rate cast, is the second attraction. Box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. "COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO " Diversified entertainment is offered in the outstanding double bill which will open a short season at the Mayfair Theatre to-morrow, that screen classic, "The Count of Monte Cristo." being associated with a western, " Born to the West," which stars John Wayne. The former attraction has lost none of its entertainment value since its last Dunedin showing, and many who have alread" seen it will desire to view it once again. Robert Donat and Elissa Landi take the leads and turn in admirable performances in this .screen of Alexander Dumas's book.