SCREEN and STAGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24696, 27 August 1941, Page 5

SCREEN and STAGE

By Harlequin

"Penny Serenade" Excitingly reunited in George Stevens’s “Penny Serenade,” Irene Dunne and Cary Grant come to the Octagon Theatre screen on Friday in what has been acclaimed by Hollywood as the greatest romantic drama of the year. “ Penny Serenade ”is based upon Martha Cheavens’s magazine novel, adapted to the screen by Morrie Rysklnd, and enacted by a stellar cast, which Includes Beulah Bondi and Edgar Buchanan. Grant , appears as a young newspaper man, who meets and is attracted to t muslc store salesgirl, portrayed by Miss .Dunne, who /as definitely falls in jove with the reporter. They are married one New Years Eve, half an hour before be toast leave for To Ido on a new assignment Three months later the giH joins her husband. Grant’s casual attitude fitowards responsibilities invites a .barrier between the two. The earthquake} the loss of the baby they had been expecting, and the knowledge that they can never have a child of their own create further problems. Returned to America and settled down as the proud editorf of a .country newspaper. Grant attempts to make his wife happy. He succeeds only when they adopt a baby girl: but with the death of the child several years later the newspaperman reverts to > bis earlier irresponsibility. The film ends in a sequence of laughter and tears.

“Mr District Attorney” “Mr District Attorney,” which comes to the St James Theatre on Friday, is claimed to be one of the cleverest and most enjoyable films in many months. Based on the famous American radio series of the same name, the film utilises all the elements of mystery, suspense, and humour which have made the radio programme a favourite for more than three years. Dennis O’Keefe scores in the male lead, lending his own inimitable brand of dash and zest to the role of “PCadwallader Jones," the younr.legal, cub assigned 1 tp the Ditttiet Attorney's > office.- 'Succeeds, against?? 1 great odds, in-proving his merit on the baffling Hyde ‘case, which has 1 stymied the

keenest legal minds since the mysterious Hr Hyde disappeared. Peter Lorre portrays the role of Hyde, the sinister figure who precipitated • a tempest, in the poytlcajl teapot when he vanished into tmii;alr, taking with hint- several hundred thousands in public .funds. There’s always a girl in 'the case, and the girl in this . case is pretty, and talented Florence Rice, daughter of the ' famed sports commentator, Grantland Rice. Included also in the cast are Stanlevfßidges. Minor Watson, Charles Amt, jJpao Blair. Charles Haltofa, Sarah Edwards, and Helen Brown. In view of tiha -echool holidays now on, the i film; “ Sign bf the Wolf.” 1 Jack Lmdon’s thrilling dog story of the great adventurous. Frozen North, is of particulsig Interest;. Actor Bsesmes Pilot . Robert Cummings, Hollywood’s foremost actor-flyer,' has joined the ranks of American pilots who are ferrying bombers to Canada en, route to the Royal Air Force. , Cummings revealed that he had offered to help pilot the big machines to Canada whenever his picture engagements permitted. ' ■

The young star was asked to fly a bomber to Canada at once, but he was due back in Hollywood for the start of “Almost An Angel,” in which he appears with Deanna Durbin and Charles Laughton at Universal. He agreed, however;'to take over a piloting assignment :the - picture was finished. 7- . .

From GREEN ROOM and STUDIO

thrill drama " Scotland ■ Vard, which: comes to the State Theatre on Friday,, with Nancy Kelly and John Loder also featured. As always, the background for a Gwenn film is an interesting and absorbing one. This time he unravels a perplexing mystery in the midst , of a xomb-wracked, blacked-out London. When not acting Gwenn enjoys studying ships and the colourful men who sail them. Football and Rugby are his other sources of interest. Others featured in “Scotland Yard” are Henry Wilcoxon, Melville Cooper, Gilbert Emery. Norma Varden, and Leyland Hodgson. The film was directed :by Norman Foster. Sol M. Wurtzel was executive producer. Wanted—A New Name Freddie Bartholomew never liked his name “ Freddie,” and now thait he is grown ,up to six feet and 17 years he wants to change it to something more mature. He has asked Columbia, where he is making “Naval Academy,” to bill him as Fredric, or even Fred, though he prefers the former because he is a great admirer of Fredric March. His director, Erie C. Kenton, says that Bartholomew has a nickname he likes best of all It is just plain “Butch,” and was bestowed, on him by his fellow players in “Naval Academy.” But Freddie realises that a star whose fame rests on roles like Little Lord Fauntleroy cannot go around billing himself “Butch ” Bartholomew.

“Scotland Yard” Name any famed modern English play and it’s almost certain, that talented Edmund,Gwenn has appeared in it at some time or other. He's played them all—from Shakespeare to Shaw! And with such an amazing record of acting experience it was only natural that the screen would enlist the services. Possessed of a quiet, droll humour, Gwenn went to filmdom’s capital in 1935 to win recognition as one of the screen's most talented and versatile actors. Movie-goers will remember him for his superb performance as the lovable butler in “The Earl of Chicago.” More recently he scored as the sinister killer in “ Foreign Correspondent.” Gwenn plays an ace sleuth in Twentieth Century-Fox’s new

“ North-West Mounted Police ”

Entertainment and history blended in the most masterly fashion and in a way calculated to provide the greatest enjoyment makes “ NorthWest Mounted Police ” one of the best pictures of its type ever made. Produced in technicolour, lavishly staged, and presented against a colourful background of majestic forest and mountain scenery, this • Paramouht film, which will be screened at the Regent on Friday, possesses a beauty rarely equalled before oh the screen. But spectacle is not the chief attraction of “•North-West Mounted Police." The theme concerns the renowned Canadian constabulary, whose exploits of bravery and endurance have become a tradition. Based on a crisis in Canada’s early history, when a ■— nd of half-breeds rebelled and areatened to plunge the country into civil war, the film gives a fine and interesting, account of the genesis of . the building of the “ Mounties ” organisation back in the ’eighties, when a handful of the colourful horse police beat down the rebellion, demonstrating once again that unshakable courage which has made the British Empire what it is and ever will be, The cast to interpret this inspiring story is a notable one, both in regard to ranking and number. In the starring roles are Gary Cooper and Madeleine Carroll, and heading

the supports is a long list of stars, including Paulette Goddard, Preston Foster, Robert Preston, Akim Tamiroff, Lynne Overman, George Bancroft, and Lon Chaney, Jun. North-West Mounted Police” also marks the entry of the veteran pro-ducer-director, Cecil B. De Mille, Into the field of technicolour, this effort being acclaimed by critics as his masterpiece from among a long list of successes. There is not a weak spot in the picture; all Is magnificent entertainment of the best class, and Its end comes all too soon. Empire Theatre

Designed to strike a responsive chord in the hearts of all the family, “Andy Hardy's Private Secretary,” opening at the Empire Theatre on Friday, is likely to prove one of the most popular of the series. The latest Hardy Family picture proves a milestone in the life of Andrew Hardy. Its plot, in brief, finds the young man deep in the duties of chairman of numerous senior committees, and, being a Good Samaritan, on the side; to a couple of youngsters less fortunate than he. How, he inadvertently causes a near tragedy in the family, and how in ajite of failing an English examinaon; he manages to be among those present when diplomas are handed out, makes one of the most human screen documents of the year. A popular cast'has again ;beeh assembled, with Lewis Stone aS Judge and Mickey Rooney as Andy. Fay Holden is seen as Ma Hardy. Sara Haden as Aunt Milly, and Ann Rutherford as Polly Benedict.- Two additional screen favourites, lan Hunter and Gene Reynolds, make their appearance with the family in the new production. The picture also marks the screen debut of a pair of promising newcomers, Kathryn Grayson, 17-year-old coloratura soprano, and Todd Karns, son of the popular screen comedian. Roscoe Karns.

Mayfair Theatre Innumerable action pictures have proved in the past that the screen is the best of all entertainment mediums for portraying action. When the action is written by Walter D. Edmonds, photographed by Bert Glennon (whose camera work won renown for Stage Coach”), directed by John Ford and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck in technicolor, readers will agree that it must be something out of the ordinary “Drums Along the Mohawk," based on Edmonds’ best-selling novel comes to the Mayfair The; tre this afternoon, and it promises to be one of Dunedin’s most thrilling movies in many years, portraying pioneer women standing shoulder to shoulder with their men fighting the savage onslaught of the fierce Iroquois. Claudette Colbert, Henry Fonda, and Edna May Oliver are starred. “An Angel from Heaven.” the supporting picture, is a streamlined comedy, and stars Wayne Morris, Ronald Reagan, Eddie Albert. Rosemary Lane, and Jane Wyman,

Tobacco Road At last, after eight years as a New York sensational stage success. “Tobacco Road ” is to come to the New Zealand picture screen In 1933. “ Tobacco Road ” opened as a stage show in New York, and it is still playing. Already it has had more than 3000 performances, breaking all records in theatrical history. “ Tobacco Road ’’ has played to more people, made more money, and broken more long-run records than any other stage play of the age. Approximately 8,350,000 people have seen it on the stage, and it has toured 42 States and played in more than 300 cities in the United States. It is considered the most valuable theatrical property that has come into the possession of Hollywood.

“Pirates on Horseback” Right out of Harry Sherman’s neverfailing larder of entertainment comes the latest in Hopalong Cassidy’s exciting series of adventures, “Pirates on Horseback,’’ which will be opened at the Strand Theatre on Friday. Basing the story on the fascinating episode of the hunt for a dead man’s' mine, Paramount’s “ Pirates on Horseback ” shuffles the elements of romance, comedy, and mystery, with the grim and always exciting business of the manhunt. The action starts when Old California (Andy Clyde) inherits the Eldorado mine from a prospector who died without revealing the location of the shaft. Flanked by William Boyd and Russell Hayden, Clyde arrives to take up the hunt, and discovers that there is an heiress also, pretty Eleanor Stewart. The climax of “Pirates on Horseback ” is fast and furious, marked by some of the most spectacular riding seen in a Hopalong, and by a knockdown and drag-out battle that settles the score for the murdered prospector puts the mine safely into the possession of Clyde and the girl. Still the most engaging of the Western heroes, William Boyd carries his role with a force and conviction exceptional even for himself The supporting picture “ Little Orvie,” presents the new juvenile find, John Sheffield, portraying the typical American boy. A Fatalist! Writing to a friend in Hollywood, David Niven tells of two close escapes from air raids. Niven’s wife was in a London hospital for a minor operation. The day before she was due to leave, she told David. “I must leave to-day. 1 must.” He took her home. That night the hospital was bombed and razed Shortly afterward, Niven was drinking a bottle of wine with some friends. “ Let’s go to the Cafe de Paris.” one of them suggested. “ What!" said David in tones of horror, “and leave this excellent bottle of’ wine? ’’ i “We’ll go, anyway,’’ said the others. • Why don’t you meet us there later? ” “ Okay,” said David. He arrived after the bombing that killed many of the people there. “From now on,” concludes Niven, “ I am a fatalist.”

Grand Theatre

A simple story, sparkling comedy, strong acting and action-sustained direction are outstanding features of " Remedy for Riches,” the new Jean Hersholt starring vehicle to be introduced at the Grand Theatre tp-day, This is the fourth of the “Dr Christian” series and by far the best. In this Jean Hersholt, as “Dr Christian,”, is allowed full scope for his outstanding ability as a character actor. .Under the able direction of Erie C. Kenton, the action-packed plot holds its terrific pace from the first reel to the whirlwind finish. Briefly, the plot concerns itself with the efforts of a big-city promoter to dupe the simple townsfolk of River’s End into buying shares in a worthless piece of property for exorbitant prices. Dr Christian’s cautious nature eventually exposes the fraud and the town is saved from an imminent panic. Dorothy Lovett as Judy Price and Robert Baldwin as Roy provide the romantic interest, which almost goes on the rocks when Stewart (Warren Hull), the newcomer, makes a play for Judy. The supporting cast is strong, notable being the comedy of Edgar Kennedy, Walter Cartlett. Jed Prouty, Maude Eburne. Margaret McWade and Halline Hill. When he was 10 years old Tim Holt, starring in RKO Radio’s new drama of the Southwest, “Along the Rio Grande,” the supporting picture, made his kinema debut in a convincing role. He played the son of Jack Holt, his father, in one of the silent film star’s outdoor action films.

Burning the Home Fire It is not everybody who can toss his or her house into the winter fireplace —and enjoy watching it burn. But that experience came the way ot Carol Lombard and Robert Montgomery, as an aftermath of their “Mr and Mrs Smith,” and also fell to the lot of their director, Alfred Hitchcock Many scenes of the gay domestic comedy laid in •an eastern mountain resort in winter, called for three guest cabins. Some directors might have struggled along with cabins of fake logs and plaster, but not Hitchcock who insisted on the real thing. So the cabins were built of foot-thick logs 20 feet long. Stars and director, when sets were dismantled, bought the logs, had them cut into 300 in lengths for firewood. ■ “ There was method,” said Hitchcock “in my madness. There always is."

Teamwork In “ Movies ” Teamwork may be essential on the battlefield or in football teams, but it does not always work in the movies Kinema history records a flock ol screen teams, members of which nil the high road to singular success after splitting up «nd going different ways Like everything else in topsy-turvy Hollywood disunion has resulted m strength. There was a time when Jeanette MacDonald could not hit high C-unless Nelson Eddv was holding her hand vet when starred in their own pictures, they still proved their popularity at the box office, The dancing team of ■ Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers was considered inseparable with exhibitors plaintively asserting that people would not come to see the one without the other Then they went their separate ways. The result found Miss Rogers winning the Academy Award for 1940. and Astaire

Double Pay; No Work Miriam Hopkins probably will play the important role of Birdie in the “Little Foxes,” which would give her a part almost as important as'Bette Davis’s. The girls were last teamed in “The Old Maid," in which Miriam almost stole the film from Miss Davis. Producer Sam Goldwyn would have to pay Miriam only 25.000 dollars for the picture, although she actually will receive 50,000 dollars. . ■ , This is how it happens; when Miriam gave up her lucrative contract with Goldwyn for a four-picture deal at. Warners, at 50,000 dollars a picture, it was agreed that in the event of not making the four pictures fdr Warners. Goldwyn and Warners would ; pay 25,000 dollars each for every , picture she did not make.,with Goldwyn having the right to use Miriam in a picture at that price. Warners made three pictures with Miriam and did not wpnt to do another, which was a lucky break for Miriam and Goldwyn. The part of Birdie is suitable to Miss Hopkins and should do a great deal to re-establish her in Hollywood.

Film Topic Deanna Durbin plays a hat-check girl in “Almost an Angel,” her tenth film, for which Universal executives have great hopes.

choosing his own vehicles, the latest of which is “You’li Never Get Rich.’ which he has started at Columbia. At one time film fans looked uoon the Lane sisters as a screen team. Then Lola broke from the fold. Now Rosemary has cast her lot with the freelancers. Not long ago a flock of pictures exploited the box office potentialities of James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, Allen Jenkins and Frank McHugh The quartet has split up with O’Brien under contract to Columbia and Allen Jenkins doing a featured role in “Time Out for Rhythm ” . Other famed teams in nistory are Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton Victor McLaglen and Edmund Lowe Garbo and John Gilbert, ' and Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler. They all split up for various reasons, but most of them are proving that they can make even better headway by travelling alone.