AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23895, 24 August 1939, Page 15

AMUSEMENTS

THE CURRENT PROGRAMMES ST. JAMES THEATRE Mickey Rooney adds to his fame in "The Scrapper," which is the current attraction at the St. James Theatre. In this film his nickname, "Shockey," is apt and he is just as tousled haired and unruly as this name suggests. Pugnacity is the keynote of his portrayal of a boy who makes a man of his shell-shocked father. By his efforts, his parent, who, although decorated for wartime bravery, is an outcast from society, regains the respect of his fellow townsmen. In support is "Men are Such Fools," which deals humorously with the "bumpy road to love." The box plans are at the theatre, the D.I.C. and Jacobs'B. "LISTEN, DARLING" "Listen, Darling," which will be commenced at the St. James Theatre to-morrow, is based on Katharine Brush's magazine story of the same name. It concerns two adolescents (Judy Garland and Freddie Bartholomew), who decide that they do not like the banker suitor of Judy's widowed mother (Mary Astor), and set out to find a suitable husband for her. Their methods are both drastic and exciting. They "kidnap" Mary in the family trailer and start out on the highway and the search. Walter Pidgeon and Alan Hale become the two most eligible husbands and are let in for plenty of excitement before the matter is settled, when Pidgeon becomes the lucky man. Although Frank Jenkins, who has a prominent role in Republic's "SOS—Tidal Wave," the second attraction, is an accomplished musician, he usually portrays tough but likeable characters on the screen. In his first pictures he portrayed a musician, but his flair for comedy soon offered a choice of roles In t>UbTidal Wave," which has Ralph Byrd and Kay Sutton in the leading roles, Jenks plays the part of an ace cameraman for a television newsreel, and is paired with Dorothy Lee, a comedienne. Others in " SOS-Tidal Wave, are Marc Lawrence, George Barbier, Mickey Kuhn, Ferris Taylor and Oscra O'Shea. John H. Auer directed this Republic picture with Armand Schaefer as associate producer. GRAND THEATRE THE QUINTUPLETS APPEAR . The Dionne quintuplets—perhaps the world's most famous children-are seen in "Five of a Kind," the Grand Theatre's new feature, and although they have appeared on the screen before, at that stage their performances were not so varied, their personalities not so engaging, as now. In contrast with such sophisticated little folk as Shirley Temple and Jane Withers they seem entirely unconscious of the camera. Their quaint reactions and grimaces form a fascinating contrast. A typical little instance occurs when Jean Hersholt, playing the part of their doctor and guardian, confronts them with five shaggy puppies. The children look terrified and beat a retreat. Gradually they gain confidence, and before long thev have the puppies in their arms. There are views of the quintuplets playing on toy pianos, dressing and bathing their dolls, dancing a minuet, and looking delightfully ludicrous in Tyrolean clothes. In fact, their private lives "are fairly thoroughly explored. . t ~. , , The actual story is not particularly noteworthy, but it serves its purpose, (hat is as a framework on which to hang an ever-entertaining picture of five smart girls. In part, /the story eulogises the fine work that Dr Dafoe has done in bringing up the quintuplets on normal and hygienic lines. It also reflects on the cheap publicity that has centred round the celebrated family. The news that sextunlets have been born, with the natural adverse effect on the quintuplets' publicity value, opens the film, but this' is onlv half the story. The main line of the narrative is the struggle between two radio reporters—Cesare Romero ano Claire Trevor—to discredit each others' activities* and to gain "scoops." Inez Courtenay's queer little personality enhances the resultant fun. No one could be more benevolent and avuncular than Jean Hersholt as the country doctor, and Slim Summerville, John Whalen and Henry Wilcoxon are also to the fore. " Meet the Girls," the second picture is the first of a new series, and stars June Lang and Llyn Barl. Their first set of adventures" presents them as stowaways on a vessel from Honolulu and involved in a jewel robbery. There is a plentiful trimming of farce, and Ruth Donnelly, Erik Rhodes, Gene Lockhart are well cast. The box plans are at the Theatre and Begg's. STATE THEATRE The popular Lancashire comedienne Gracie Fields is featured in the hilarious 20th Century-Fox production "Keep Smiling," which is being screened at the State Theatre. Miss Fields is cast as the leader of a group of players who lose their employment through a quarrel with their dishonest manager. Their slender resources exhausted, they accompany Gracie to her crotchety old grandfather's farm in Kent where they proceed to eat the old man out of his home. When Gracie refuses to desert her friends to I live with her grandfather, he turns' them all out, but by a stroke of luck they manage to earn £IOO. With this sum they set out to establish themselves as a revue company. How they succeed in the face of illegal obstruction by their erstwhile manager makes an entertaining climax to a most enjoyable film. The box plans are at the theatre and at Begg's. REGENT THEATRE With a cast headed by Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Rosalind Russell, and Patric Knowles, " Four's a Crowd," Warner Bros.' swiftly-paced comedy romance, is showing at the Regent Theatre. Walter Connolly, Hugh Herbert, Melville Cooper, and Franklin Pangborn are also featured. The crowding to which the members of the quartet subject each other begins when Knowles decides to end his newspaper's existence because it is losing money. Flynn returns to the newspaper business, and launches a series of attacks on Olivia de Havilland's grandfather, played by Walter Connolly. He meets the granddaughter and falls in love with her, and she breaks her engagement to Knowles, who turns to Miss Russell for solace. The v box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. "BOYS' TOWN" "Boys' Town," Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's emotional drama, is the story of the experiment of an American priest, Father Flanagan, who believes that there is no such phenomenon as a "bad" boy. Twenty-five years ago, when he was an unknown parish priest, Father Flanagan said of the numerous criminals witli whom he had become acquainted: " Everyone of these could have been saved if he had had one good friend when he was 12." From this remark sprang the idea of his colony of homeless and potentially criminal boys. He borrowed enough money from a Jewish pawnbroker, with his bishop's permission, to buy an old house, which became the nucleus of a colony from which he has now sent 4500 boys into the world, not one of whom has ever faced a criminal charge since he left Boys' Town. Tomorrow the Regent Theatre will show on the screen M.G.M.'s conception of this true-life story of humanitarianism and devotion to the cause of the homeless. Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney are the featured artists and both are said to give worthy performances. Spencer Tracy's portrayal of Father Flanagan earned him the Academy Award for 1938, this marking the second occasion on which he has been so honoured.

STRAND THEATRE Kent Taylor, Rcchclle Hudson and Lucien Littlefield are the featured players in "Pirates of the Skies." a dramatic story of the activities of modern bandits, which heads the current programme at the Strand Theatre. The manner in which the criminals pit their brains against the up-to-date methods of the police makes for good entertainment. The second picture is "His Exciting Night," an amusing comedy featuring Charles Ruggles. The box pians are at the theatre and the D.I.C. "THE CHASER" In a world which has legislated the highly profitable racket of ambulance chasing out of existence, the antics of one of the most notorious members of this profession are perpetuated in "The Chaser," a gay comedy which combines fact with fiction to present an historical fact of some of the deeds ascribed .to an agile and active attorney. The picture will be commenced to-morrow at the Strand Theatre. Dennis O'Keefe, because of his performances in The Bad Man of Brimstone" and Hold That Kiss," is given, the leading role, that of an ambulance-chaser. Opposite him is a newcomer to the screen, Ann Morriss, hailed by the studio as the biggest " find " of the season. " Wives Under Suspicion," the second film, features a murder trial in which the district attorney relentlessly demands a first degree verdict. Then, just before the case goes to the jury, he runs into a chain of events in his own life which he believes are exactly similar to those which caused the defendant to kill his wife. The result is—that the prosecutor tempers justice with mercy, and immediately begins to reform his own life along more moderate channels. EMPIRE THEATRE In "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man," the current attraction at the Empire Theatre, W. C. Fields and Charlie McCarthy are constantly "at each other's throats." As .the selfassured puppet, would put it, Edgar Bergen is also in the film." Lacking the super-sophistication of his city cousin 1| Mortimer Snerd, a shy, bucktoothed dummy who shows that he is not so dull as he seems. The* younger daughter of the white Rajah of Sarawack, Princess Baba, is also in- the film. The box plans are at the theatre and theD.LC. "LITTLE TOUGH GUYS IN SOCIETY" Supported by three comedy stars— Mischa Auer, Mary Boland, and Edward Everett Horton, Universale ruffian gang of boy actors makes its debut into the charmed circle of the socially elite in "Little Tough Guys in Society," which will be commenced to-morrow at the Empire Theatre. Lifted from their usual tenement environment, the boys clown in a way that makes entertaining screen fare. The screen play by Edward Eliscu and Mortimer Offner is designed for maximum laugh content, and swiftly paced through the expert direction of Erie Kenton. The producer, Max Golden, who scored with the popular Jones Family series, may well find that he has in the Little Tough Guys another group destined to continue long in box office favour. The theme of the story fiends itself ideally to a wide variety of comedy situations. Mary Boland, a socialite mother, is worried because her spoiled son, Jackie Searl, wants to spend his whole life in bed. Upon the advice of Mischa Auer, a psychiatrist, she invites a group of underprivileged boys from an east-side settlement house to be guests at her fashionable home. The idea is that the boys will awaken her son to the joyous possibilities of youth. In a thrilling climax, when a thief tries to burgle the place, the alley boys capture the robber and prove their regeneration. MAYFAIR THEATRE " Owd Bob," a story of the Scottish Highlands in which Will Fyfe,. the famous comedian, is featured in a straight role, heads the new programme at the Mayfair Theatre. "Owd Bob is the grey sheep dog of Kenmuir which is owned by the crabbed, and crotchety old shepherd whose friends are few. Tragedy threatens the old man when his dog is accused of sheep killing and is doomed to be destroyed, but a reprieve comes at the last moment. One of the most impressive sequences of the film deals with some sheep dog trials in which several dogs participate. The second picture Is " Cowboy From Brooklyn," featuring Dick Powell, Pat O'Brien, Pnscilla Lane and Dick Foran. Powell is seen as a down-and-out musician who, with two companions, is, working his way to the west coast of the country. They obtain employment at a ranch where their job is to entertain the guests. O'Brien, as a theatrical producer, thinks he has discovered in Powell a natural cowboy crooner, and rushes him back to the East, where he makes ■ a tremendous hit. The great drawback in Powell's new role is -that he is deadly scared of a horse, and a climax comes when a rival cowboy singer, played by Foran. proclaims that he is_a laKe, with entertaining results. The hox plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C.