THE “COSY” THEATRE.

Otaki Mail, 23 April 1934, Page 2

THE “COSY” THEATRE.

TUESDAY. “THE WORKING MAN.” It is a new and somewhat dishevelled George Arliss, usually so immaculate, who appears in the Warner Bros, picture, “The Working Man,” which comes to the screen of the Cosy theatre on Tuesday. For George Arliss let his hair grow for six weeks before beginning work on the production. In the story, a long fishing trip is interrupted by a chance to do an old friend a good turn in disguise and the seedy appearance of the character Mr. Arliss portrays, is the disguise. Ordinarily, Mr. Arliss, while in Hollywood, has his hair trimmed every two weeks by the studio barber. With four weeks of extra growth and a careless combing, the usually sleek Arli&s head was changed to a rough grey thatch. No wig or liair piece was necessary to complete the make-up. For home use, Mr. Arliss c-ombs the same hair tightly to his head, and appears fairly normal. “The Working Man” is a delightful and highly entertaining comedyf drama in which Mr. Arliss, a wealthy manufacturer, masquerades as a small town fisherman in order to save from ruin tho children of the man who had been his bitterest rival in both business and love. A notable supporting cast includes Bette Davis as his leading lady, Hardie Albright in the juvenile lead, Gordon Westcott, Theodore Newton and J. Farrell MacDonald. The screen play by Charles Kenyon and Maude T. Howell is based on a story by Edgar Franklin and directed by John Adolf.

THURSDAY. BIG DOUBLE PROGRAMME. “THE MAN FROM TORONTO.” Those of us who sigh for the delights of English rural life, would do well to partake (via the screen) of something •of those imagined joys as they reaeh the unaccustomed ears of the towndweller. The scene is The Red Barn, in which is set the comedy-drama that goes to the making of “The Man from Toronto,” the Gainsborough picture that will screen on Thursday at the Cosy theatre. The sun has just risen, and a tired colonial visitor, anxious to snatch another forty winks, is awakened from his beauty sleep by the crowing of the rooster. He tries to sleep again. Ducks are squawking noisily in the farmyard, pigs are grunting, dogs barking, cows lowing. In fact, the entire farmyard seems to have entered into a conspiracy to keep the poor Canadian from slumber. It is all very well done, so natural, so convincing that one is led to imagine that the furred and feathered denizens of the farm are on the film company’s payroll! They arc all so unselfconsious us to provide a striking object-lesson to many an aspiring film player. Jessie Matthews is the bright particular star of “The Man from Toronto,” which .Sinclair Hill directed for Gainsborough, and which is adapted from the rollicking stage play by Douglas Murray, Jessie Matthews' part in the picture affords yet further proof of the charm and amazing ability of this star of revue. She has an opportunity in this picture of displaying not only her undoubted abilities as an actress, but she dances delightfully. Those who know her work, assert that “The Man from Toronto” provides her with her finest screen opportunity yet. Here you see her engaged in a merry masquerade, devised with the object of assuring herself that a young gentleman who comes from Canada to seek her heart and hand, is less nttracted by the- fortune which would accrue from such n union, than by her own personal charms. When it is remembered that the young lover is none other than lan Hunter, that pleasant-faced and debonair screen actor, and when it is recalled that another leading character in the picture is the always delightful Fred Kerr, it will be realised what a treat lies in store for film-lovers. There is not a dull moment in the story. There are heaps of laughs, and, of course, the inevitable and only-to-be-antici-pated happy ending.

•THE HOUND OP BASKERVXLLES.’ Written iu 1902 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyie and considered by many to be this celebrated author’s finest Sherlock Holmes adventure, “The Hound of the Baskcrvilles, ’ ’ that will screen at the Cosy theatre on Thursday next. Combined with the ingenious plot that only an author of Sir Arthur’s calibre was capable of devising, is the added attraction of specially modernised dialogue written by another genius, the late Edgar Wallace, making this picture one of the outstanding mysteries of the year. “Sherlock Holmes’’ again takes a stellar band in solving a baffling mvstc-ry problem which will lift the most unimpressionable theatre patron right out of his or her seat. John Stuart, handsome screen juvenile, is the star, and is ably supported by many outstanding stage and screen luminaries. All the exteriors of the production are delightful glimpses of the English countryside in Devon. Gareth Gundrey directed with his usual finesse and skill.