AMUSEMENTS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19883, 9 March 1939, Page 3

AMUSEMENTS

KING’S THEATRE “GATEWAY”: LAST DAY “Gateway," starring Don Amechc, Arleen Whelan, and Binnie Barnes, will conclude a very successful season at the King’s Theatre to-night. “Sue/.": Spectacular Film To-morrow Some of the most amazing scenes ever brought to the screen appear in die spectacular 20th Century-Fox production "Suez,” which will commence ,i season at the King s Theatre tomorrow. The film is a stirring tribute ,o the courage and skill: ol the great French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps who, in the face of every type oi opposition, carried through his project t o join the Mediterranean and Red Seas, and thus provide a short route to the East. Able direction, spectacular scenes and splendid acting make this film a first-class entertainment. The role of de Lesseps is played by Tyrone Power, while the .ending feminine parts are in the capable hands of Loretta Young and .he attractive French actress Annaoelila. The story opens with de Lesieps, a young officer in the French diplomatic service, falling in love with die beautiful Countess Eugenie. He h sent to Egypt on a mission and in Alexandria meets Toni Pcllerin, the daughter of a French officer. She falls m love with the young diplomat and, masquerading as an Arab, accompanies him into the desert. While riding through the desert with Toni, I de Lesseps is struck by the significance of two bodies of water being joined bv an overflow .stream from me to the other. He envisions what .t would mean if a canal were to be tug, connecting Die Mediterranean uid Red Seas and providing a short .rade route to the East. Inspired by ais dream, of severing two continents md uniting two worlds, -de Lesseps wins the support of Mohammed Alt md the Egyptian Government, provided he can obtain the financial oacking of France. The Countess dugenie has, in the meantime, married uouis Napoleon, and she obtains finan•ial support for bis project. He icurns to Egypt and works incessantly mtil the canal is but 10 miles from ■ompletion. He then learns that the French Government has abandoned his ■vcheme and, added to this, a black fimoon approaches and leaves behind r trail of devastation. In despair lie s preapred to give in, when incredible lews comes that the British Government. led bv Disraeli, will give him financial aid. The supporting players' n the film include .1. Edward Bromberg, Joseph Schildkraut and Henry Stephenson. A specially selected supoorting programme includes the lirst 1 if the 1939 "March of Time,” scenes ot 1 he requiem mass at St. Mary's Catheiral, Sydney, for Pope Pius XI, a :oloured cartoon, a sidesplitting comMy, and Australian news. The booking is very heavy. REGENT THEATRE LAST DAY: “ADVENTURES OF ROBIN IIOOD” Although to-night is the final screening of “The Adventures ot Robin Hood,” it is still necessary to make reservations, as the box plan is filling rapidly. Errol Flynn, Olivia De Havilland, Basil Ratlibonc and Claude Rains have the leading roles. “Robin Hood” is more than a picture, it is an event in the Regent’s mrcen history. —Friday: Mickey Rooney and Freddie Bartholomew in “The Boy From Barnardo’s” — The contrasting personalities of Freddie Bartholomew and Mickey Rooney arc revealed in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture “The Boy from Barnardo’s,” which opens a season at the Regent Theatre on Friday. Dedicated to the famous Dr. Baruardo whose homes have been the means of saving thousands of boys from failure in life, the film shows Freddie Bartholomew as an orphan boy “Lord Geoffrey,” who acts as the -decoy of jewel thieves while posing as a member of the British nobility. While assisting in a robbery, he is surprised by the police and is sent to one of the Barnardo Homes. Here, he is assigned to the mercantile narine department, where he rapidly earns the hatred of all his companions by his priggish and conceited air. His unpopularity increases when his attempt to escape from the institution causes an Irish boy, portrayed by Mickey Rooney, to lose his chevrons. The" discipline of the home and his association with the other boys brings about a change in his character, so that when he later encounters bis former undesirable friends, he refuses to join with them' in their schemes. It is a picture with both comedy and pathos, besides giving some interesting glimpses of life at one of England’s most famous institutions for boys. Bartholomew has a role similar in some respects to that which lie played in "‘Captains Courageous,” where his study of the deceitful boy, who finds his manhood through a life at sea, was superb. His performance is equally fine in the present production. Rooney, in his delightful portrayal of the Irish lad, reveals his maturing talents as an actor. \ newcomer Terry Kilburn, Charles Coburn, Gale Sondergnard and Walter Kingsley are also included in the last. Among the excellent associate features are the latest overseas newsreels, a Robert Benchley novelty, an “Our Gang” comedy and a travelogue. MAJESTIC THEATRE LAST DAY: “ARKANSAS TRAVELER” AND “BIG TOWN GIRL” An exceptionally entertaining double programme will conclude tonight at the Majestic Theatre. Bob Burns in “Arkansas Traveler,” a whimsical and. refreshingly human comedy-drama of small town laughter and tears, given an artistic characterisation as an itinerant printer who comes to the assistance of a widowed newspaper woman and her family in her struggle with two political crooks. The second feature is a brightly thrilling comedy-drama with music, “Big Town Girl," starring Claire Trevor and Donald Woods.

—To-morrow: .foe F. Brown in “The Gladiator," and “Crime Ring”— Meet “The Gladiator." lie does not look like a super-maji but . . . he can carry the ball unaided through an entire football team! He can break every record in track and Meld without even gasping for breath! He can wrestle Man Mountain Dean to a farc-thee-well! He can do anything and everything better than anyone else! In the film which commences at the Majestic Theatre tomorrow, Joe E. Brown, the cavemouthed comedian makes his greatest appearance! A human guinea