AMUSEMENTS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19881, 7 March 1939, Page 3

AMUSEMENTS

REGENT THEATRE "THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN IIOOD” Never before in the history of the Regent Theatre lias such enthusiasm been shown for any picture as that being shown at present for "The Adventures of RoQin Hood." Thousands of eager patrons have packed the Regent since the commencement of the season, and from the advance booking it looks as though the final days of the season will be as busy as the start. Robin Hood! How strange the fascination, how thrilling the sound of these two words —'the legendary name of a hunted outlaw —beloved by thousands of Englishmen. Well may it thrill, for "The Adventures of Robin Hood,” a Warner Bros.’ film in Technicolor, starring 'Errol Flynn is now thrilling thousands at the Regent. Rich in lore is the story of how a Saxon noble, Sir Robin of Locksley, the ablest archer in all England, gathered a band of stalwarts around him to harass the cruel Norman knights. How the outlawed Robin Hood plundered the rich and fed the poor has been sung and re-sung in ballads and has come down through the centuries—an Incomparably fascinating story. MAJESTIC THEATRE 808 BURNS IN "ARKANSAS TRAVELER AND "BIG TOWN GIRL” To-day, at the Majestic Theatre. Paramount Pictures present a delightfully human refreshing com-edy-drama, "Arkansas Traveler,” starring Bob Burns, the man upon whose shoulders lias fallen the mantle of the great Will Rogers. Bob Burns gives a superb characterisation, which takes its place amongst the great screen portraits of all time. The absorbing story with its blend of comedy, pathos and quaint philosophy brings to life the small town characters of Mark Twain. Burns, in a role reminiscent of the one he played so successfully in “Wells Fargo,” will be seen as a light-hearted wandering printer who stops in a small American town long enough to clean up local politics and bring to the citizens a new .sense of ncigh'bourliness, friendship and communal pride. He assists a widowed newspaper woman and plays cupid to a young couple. When a girl witli a past steps into the spotlight of fame everything can happen—and for Claire Trevor it happens all at once in "Big Town Girl," the exciting new Twentieth Century-Fox picture which is the associate attraction. Three men — Donald Woods, Alan Dinehart and Alan 'Baxter —provide the background for Claire's adventures. One wants to share her life, one wants to take her life and one wants to write the stbry of her life! When her bank-robber husband, Alan Baxter, breaks out of -prison, Claire Trevor realises that her life is in danger. She takes a job as a singer in a live-and-ten where she meets Alan Dinehart, « press agent, who persuades her that she has a marvellous voice. The story comes to a successful, thrilling climax in a (lood-besieged hotel where Claire. Woods and Baxter meet in a tense, danger-laden situation. KING’S THEATRE “GATIi-WAY”: TO-DAY Ellis Island—last portal of freedom —provides the background for the absorbing story in which 20th CenturyFox stars Don Arneche and Arleen Whelan, "Gate-way," opens to-day at the King’s Theatre. According] io the associate producer, Samuel G.i Engel, the screen play by Lamar Trotti, based on an original by Walter Reisch. provides a marked departure from thcusual Hollywood romance. “ ‘Gateway,' ” he said, "depicts those caught in the human .wave beating against Ellis Island, most dramatic spot or. earth. Since 1892 more than 20,000,00 C human beings have passed through there. Adventurers, lovers, lake princes, hungering peasants—all flung together where old lives end and new loves begin—that is the Ellis Island in which Don Arneche and Arleen Whelan is the stars of 'Gate-way’ find themselves. 'Gate-way,' therefore, provides in excellent field for fine portrayals from the most capable actors and actresses.