AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23913, 14 September 1939, Page 12

AMUSEMENTS

THE CURRENT PROGRAMMES ST. JAMES THEATRE The construction of a railway across the United States of America in the middle of last century forms the central theme of the gripping film “Union Pacific.” which will be finally screened at the &t. James Theatre today. Such a theme presents almost unlimited possibilities for the portrayal of the romantic and violent days of that period, and the manner in which Cecil B. de Mille has handled the spectacular side of the production enhances a reputation which was built up by his skilful use of spectacle. Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Akim Tamiroff, and Lynn O’vermann have the leading roles. The box plans are at the theatre, the D.I.C, and Jacobs’s. “POWER OF THE PRESS” Perhaps there is no more potent influence in the world to-day than that of the press. Through the medium of newspapers, careers are made and broken, propaganda both good and evil is spread and the opinion of the entire community often moulded. Monogram’s “Star Reporter,” which will come to the St. James Theatre to-mor-row, illustrates just how these things are done. It is the story of an idealistic young man who inherits a newspaper and determines to use it for the public’s good. John Randolph, played by Warren Hull, promises himself that he will, through his paper, clean up crime in his home town. In a vigorous, hard-fought campaign he succeeds in getting elected, as District Attorney, William Burnett, father of the girl he loves. But when the D.A. backs down on his first case, Randolph changes his paper’s policy. Co-starring with Warren Hull is pretty Marsha Hunt and her screen father is played by Wallis Clark. Stanley Lypino’s stage and screen successes are so numerous that we have come to expect great things as normal from this gifted comedian. “ Hold My Hand,” the supporting film, is his latest offering to the entertainment world. Lupino has a new screen partner in Fred Emney; anyone who has not yet seen this large comedian trip from a room, daintily and circumspectly, after grumbling out a devastating line., has a new laugh to come. To help the team into and out of trouble there are three leading ladies, Sally Gray, Barbara -Blair and Polly Ward. Jack Mulford and John Wood are other ingredients of this Lupino confection and to top all there is tuneful music.

STATE THEATRE The work in the Great War of a little publicised branch of the Naval Service is given prominence in the feature which will conclude its season at the State Theatre to-day. “Submarine Patrol’’ is its title and it details the work of the “splinter fleet.” the tiny patrol boats which did a great deal to combat the menace of the German submarine. Manned by reserve men and often sent out to sea underequipped, these tiny craft performed sterling service for which they have received little credit. Heading the excellent cast are Richard Greene, George Bancroft, Nancy Kelly, Preston Foster and Slim Summerville. Ihe box plans are at the theatre and Begg's RACING DRAMA Latest recruit to the ranks of juvenile stars Is young Roger Daniel, who shares honours with Adolphe Menjou in “ King of the Turf,” which will be to-morrow’s attraction at the Slate Theatre. This film tells the story of a formerly wealthy racehorse owner who has become a drunken race track hanger-on. He meets a young jockey who has read of him in his heyday, and who gets him to attempt a comeback. He purchases an almost unmanageable thoroughbred for a ridiculous price, and, with the boy s help, the owner sets out to train it. But, unknown to him, the boy has run away from his home. The horse is a winner, and the boy’s mother sees his .photograph and thinly-disguised alias in a paper, and makes the discovery that the now rehabilitated owner is her former husband and the boy his son. Neither of the pair is aware of this, and the boy still does not know when his mother arrives to claim him. He cannot lose his love of racing, however, and his father, now a rather pathetic figure, has to resort to crookedness to cure him. Dolores Costello plays the part of the mother. Supporting items are a technicolour novelty, “ Strange Occupations,” a newsreel, and a highly interesting and well-photographed film of insect life.

GRAND THEATRE NEW YORK’S UNDERWORLD In 12 crowded hours of glorious life amidst the evil luxury that surrounds one of New York’s kings of the underworld, Richard Dix pits his wits against those of a racketeer, and after hairbreadth escapes from ignominious death, gets himself a “story” and a wife. “ Twelve Crowded Hours,” which heads the programme commenced yesterday at the Grand Theatre, is a thriller of the first order, and as its title indicates, its main feature is the speed with which the plot develops. The evening starts off peacefully enough, but by dawn the principal characters have run the gamut of human experience in the way of thrills; murder and sudden death have played their parts, there have been little snatches of comedy to relieve the tenser situations, and after the racketeer responsible for all this has become constricted in the coils of his own plotting, there is time for romance to have its day. The leading feminine role is taken by Lucille Ball, chief character of the “Annabelle ” films. In “ Twelve Crowded Hours ” she has the role of Paula Sanders, a young girl whose brother runs foul of the police on account (she is led to believe) of some stories written by Nick Green. Her brother has threatened the city editor of the paper, and when that personage is killed in a hit-and-run accident, suspicion falls on young Sanders. Green discovers, however, that the real motive for the crime was that a racketeer was revenging himself upon two underlings, who were also killed in the accident, and who had tried to get away with the proceeds of a robbery. The racketeer, Costain, recovers his ill-gotten property by means of a murder in a train, but a ruse enables Green to relieve him of the money. The story then develops into a battle of wits between Green and Costain as to the ultimate destination of the money. Green endeavours to get Sanders away from the police in general, and Inspector Keller (Donald MacBride) in particular, but in trying to do so, he and Paula fall into Costain’s hands. Playing for time, Green suggests that they visit a restaurant before the matter of his death be gone into in a practical manner, and there he succeeds in getting Costain a trifle drunk. By more careful manoeuvring with words, he persuades Costain to return to his, apartment, whither he has managed to get word to Inspector Keller to call. Keller, however, falls into a trap, and it looks like the end for all concerned when Paula turns the tables in an unexpected fashion, there being a certain amount of poetic justice in the finale.An appealing story of college life is told in “That Girl From College,” in which Anne Shirley and Jimmy Ellison take the leading roles. Excellent character studies in supporting roles are provided by J. M. Kerrigan, as Lew Fisher, and Barbara Read as Dotty Spencer, room-mate to Alice Fisher (the part taken by Miss Shirley). Alice is the daughter of a small-towh storekeeper whose ambition is for his daughter to go to college. He sends her to Talbot University, where the students’ main preoccupation seems to be with Sororities. Alice finds herself unexpectedly popular by reason of her friendship with Ellison, who is one of the most-sought-after students from the feminine point of view But. the anxiety for the “ freshers ” to be elected to a sorority—as the women’s colleges in the university are called — threatens to upset all the happiness Alice has found in her new surroundings. and the solution to the problems confronting herself and her roommates is well conceived. Box plans are at the theatre and Bcgg’s. REGENT THEATRE Elisabeth Bergner has returned to the Dunedin screen in what is probably the outstanding film of her brilliant career, “ Stolen Life,” in which she plays the dual role of twin sisters. It is a remarkable film which gives Miss Bergner full scope for the talents that have won from critics the highest praise. Many of the scenes are filmed in a little Brittany fishing village and the photography throughout is outstanding. The story is unusual and is perfectly handled. A particularly strong cast has been assembled to support Miss Bergner, headed by Michael Redgrave, who will be remembered for his fine performance in “ The Lady Vanishes.” Wilfrid Lawson, who played the part of “Doolittle” in “Pygmalion,” also has an important role. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C.

* WHITE BANNERS” Carrying as its guarantee of engrossing interest and solid entertainment the tag, “ from the novel by Dr Lloyd C. Douglas,” the Warner Bros.-Cosmo-polian production entitled “ White Banners” which constitutes to-morrow’s change at the Regent Theatre, will be eagerly awaited by a large section of Dunedin’s picture-going public. This is an unusual story by the retired doctor of divinity, and is the third of his novels to be made into a motion picture. The other two were. “ Magnificent Obsession ” and “ Green Light,” both of which enjoyed amazing Success, proving conclusively that the film public likes the Douglas type of story as much as that great public which buys his books. Like its two predecessors, “White Banners” has a message to convey—the message of courage in the fact of adversity. Fay Bain ter has the central feminine role, and much of the credit for the impressiveness of this film must go to Miss® Bainter for her portrayal. Good as she is, her performance is almost -.equalled by that of Claude Rains in the principal male lead. He gives an excellent demonstration of the range of his remarkable gifts as an actor, for his is a thoroughly sympathetic role, and, as all film-goers know, he gets most of his acting practice in villain roles. Kay Johnson, Bonita Granville, and Jackie Cooper round out the , cast of principals, with James Stephenson, Henry O’Neill, John Ridgley, and J. Farrell McDonald in supporting roles. STRAND THEATRE The romance of a shop girl whose ambitions and ideals are far from' her every-day life forms the basis of the plot of “ Youth Takes a Fling,” which will have its final screenings at the Strand Theatre to-day, Andrea Leeds, whose rise in Hollywood has been- sensational, has the leading role,, and Joel McCrea is cast as a young shipping clerk who takes some convincing that his best interests do not lie in the sea and ships. Frank Jenks, Dorothea Kent, and Isabel Jeans are also in the cast.' The second attraction is “ Streets of New York,” starring Jackie Cooper, The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C, “BLACK LIMELIGHT” One of the most successful plays staged comes to the screen in “Black Limelight,” which will be screened at the Strand Theatre to-morrow. In it we see a new variation of the theme of the wife and the “other woman." Here the wife, played brilliantly by Joan Marion, is suddenly informed that her husband is wanted for the murder of a girl whose body is found in a seaside bungalow. Although the evidence against him is nearly watertight, she does not*turn against him. Some may feel that the.wife would have acted otherwise in 99 cases out of 100, but then this is a Play in a thousand. Raymond Massey heads the cast in the part of the erring husband, his tremendous acting powers retaining sympathy for a character that in other hands would appear cowardly and despicable. . Walter Hudd, who plays a leading role in “ Black Limelight ” and gives an excellent performance, made a big hit recently in “ The Housemaster.” Another of the series type of picture which has become so popular with “ movie ” audiences throughout the country makes its bow on Friday, when Universal’s “Freshman Year” is in support. “ Freshman Year ” is a realistic comedy drama of college life with music. All of the films are to stay strictly on the campus and in the classrooms, with the accent on college life and youth. Dixie Dunbar, cast as a chorus girl with an urge for an education, plays one of the leads in “Freshman Year.” She gets an opportunity to dance when three college boys make an ill-fated venture into writing insurance and have to promote a show to pay off their debts. Other principals include Ernest Truex. _ in riotous comedy-character role;,William Lundigan and Constance Moore, as the romantic leads; Stanley Hughes and Frank Melton. EMPIRE THEATRE One of the most entertaining films to be screened in Dunedin for some time is “ Fast and Loose.” which heads an excellent programme at the Empire Theatre this week. It is a picture of “ The Thin Man ” type, and combines light comedy with thrilling adventure in a most attractive style. Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell make an admirable team who succeed in their light-hearted way in solving a murder and the theft of valuable first editions. The dialogue is of the

brightest and the situations are delightful. The. supporting programme is,, long, well varied and most entertaining. ,The box plans are, at the theatre and the D.I.C. }■; , FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER -'to* Famed producers of the screen’s ’, most notable “shockers," Universalstudios reassume thh position,as leader in the field- of spine-tingling -drainM' 1 with “ Son bf Frankenstein,” ' which . will head the programme at the pire. Theatre :to-morrbW;i' Tt‘ colhbihes' the’ stars ’ of: the' original; “ Frankfen- 1 stein” - and the ■.equally - shUddery “ Dracula,” Boris Katloff 'and Bela Lu- • i ;' gosi. ■ Basil Rath bone assumes the tsV ■ mantle of Baron Wolf von Frankenstein, possessor of the dread heritage of the family, a destructive monster.In one of his most difficult idles, that :;; of a doctor torn between love of: his ■ wife and daughter-and scientific fer- ' vour for his sinister experiments. Rath-'; bone wins - new laurels. '. The storypenned by Willis Coober,: opens when, the new Frankenstein figure returns to his-ancestral castle 25 years after his father’s death, as stipulated'by theelder Frankenstein’s will. He stumbles upon his father’s grim creation, the hair-raising monster-, of destruction, played by Karloff, Lionel Atwill. Josephine Hutchinson, Emma Dunn, four-year-old Donnie Dunagan, and Edgar Norton are. outstanding in supporting roles—AtWill as a police in-, . speCtor whose aim has been tom off/; by the Monster, and Miss Hutchinson as Frankenstein’s wife. Production and direction are credited to; RoWlahd,. V. Lee. The massive striking sets wbre designed by Jack Otterson, and.eerie lighting and camera effects are due to ingenious' photography by. George.'. Robinson. • .'■ ;'. v MAYFAIR THEATRE The Mayfair Theatre’s current programme is comprised of two units from, the English studios, “The Gaunt, Stranger” and “Sailing Along." ' The latter is an entertaining musical film starring Jessie Maftthews, England’s popular singer and dancer. The second feature, “The Gaunt Stranger,” is adapted from Edgar Wallace’s comedy mystery thriller “ The Ringer." Suspense, murder, romance, and humour all play their part' in the unfolding' of ifi gripping story. Maurice Meister, i a criminal lavvyer, receives a message from a notorious killer advising him of the date and hour of his impending ■ death. At the appointed hour Inspector Wembury and the divisional 1 surgeon. Dr Lomond, are present at Master's'house. but in spite of their caution the killer strikes the fatal blow. ■, In an exciting climax the killer i? revealed, and how he eludes the police and vanishes into thin air provides one of the most thrilling and amusing highlights of the film. Sonnie Hale as Sam Hackett, a Cockney lag. and Wilfrid Lawson as the unscrupulous Meister, head a cast of outstanding talent, which includes Alexander Knox and John Longde.n. The box clans are at the theatre and the D.I.C.