AMUSEMENTS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19893, 22 March 1939, Page 3

AMUSEMENTS

MAJESTIC THEATRE "SERGEANT MURPHY" AND VICTOR McLAGLEN IN •LAUGHING AT LIFE" Two entertaining features of widely different themes form the strong programme screening to-day and tomorrow at the Majestic Theatre. The first feature is a human comedydrama, concerning an old army horse, "Sergeant Murphy," who makes a come-back and wins the Grand National Steeplechase. Ronald Reagan, a handsome newcomer from the radio ranks, plays the part of Danny Murphy, who loved his horse so well —and "a fine looking animal it is, too, that plays "The Sarge." Mary Maguire. sft., 18-year-old starlet from Australia, is the colonel's daughter, with whom Reagan falls in love. Donj aid Crisp, always grand in military parts, is the colonel himself. There are many gripping scenes of cavalry charges and artillery tactics; beauty is introduced in some Santa Barbara Horse Show sequences, and the height of thrills comes along with a reproduction of the Grand National Steeplechase. No director in Hollywood, they say, can make racing or other fast-action scenes like B. Reeves (Breezy) Eason. It was he who directed the breath-taking charge in "The Charge of the Light Brigade" and it was he again who directed the whole picture of "Sergeant Murphy." The adventures of this great horse and its rider make a highly recommended story. It is a relief at times to turn from the modern school of over-plot-ted and self-concious film stories to tales of unabashed adventure, and so "Laughing at Life," the associate feature, starring Victor McLaglen, is certain to be greeted with considerable enthusiasm, for it is a robust and vivid tale of a soldier of fortune. Offering McLaglen an almost perfect role as Captain Easter, a dare-devil adventurer and gun-runner, it has varied and colourful backgrounds. KING'S THEATRE MARX BROS. IN "ROOM SERVICE' Sufficient as a tribute to the quality of the entertainment which is showing at the King's Theatre is tin fact that the Marx brothers are tin stars; and another insurance of ; hilarious evening is that the show . "Room Service," has been taken iron one cf the brightest and" best stage plays presented on Broadway foi several years. As the would-be producers of a show, the Marx brothers are. concerned with the difficulty o; keeping their company in an bote: without money and with producing the show while lacking the- same important commodity. They are alreadj C 220 behind with their rent whci the hotel superintendent arrives t< check over the accounts; and tin superintendent is not pleased. Tin show can be recommended to al on its own account. The programme can also be recommended because it contains Edgar Kennedy in "High Beer Pressure"; Leon Errol in "Hil tnd Rum"; Walter Catlett in "Upped Cutlets"; the Three Stooges ii: "Half Shot Shooters"; and Walt Disloy's "Mickey's- Parrot." —"The Young in Heart": Friday— If you really enjoy a good laugl you must meet the screen's most loveable family, the Carltons, in "The Young in Heart," which comes tc the King's Theatre next Friday A brilliant cast includes, Janet Gaynor, Douglas Fairbanks. jun., Paulette Goddard, Roland Young ind Billie Burke. REGENT THEATRE DOUBLE FEATURE: "LOVE IS ON HIE AIR" AND "THE PATIENT IN ROOM 18" "Love is on the' Air." Warner Bros.' radio drama featuring Ronald Reagan and June Travis, and now al the Regent Theatre, is a novel and thrilling mystery story, involving a gangster-controlled political administration, exposed through the power of radio broadcasting. A prominent business man disappears and while the police officials are helpless in their attempts to unravel the mystery, a radio news broadcaster ferrets out the mob behind the scheme of intimidation, bringing to justice the higher-up politicians, party to the plot. An excellent cast •Of players enact the supporting roles with vivacious June Travis as the romantic interest, opposite Reagan. In the second film, "The Patient in Room 18." an unusual murder story is unfolded. At a hospital a wealthy patient is found murdered and the radium with which he is being treated is stolen. A detective, who isconvalescing in a nearby ward commences investigations and the mystery is solved in an original manner. The cast includes Patric Knowies, Ann Sheridan and Eric Stanley. —Friday: "Marie Antoinette" — "Marie Antoinette," whic.li opens on Friday at the Regent Theatre, is a triumph of the motion picture art. More than that; it is a triumph for Norma Shearer. Magnificent in its pageantry, with brilliant costumes and setting, flawlessly cast with such famed film names as Tyrone- Power, John Barrymore, Anita Louise, Joseph Schildkraut, Gladys George, and scores of others, these were secondary to Miss Shearer's absorbingly human interpretation of a woman sometimes carefree, oftimes desperate, seeking for happiness. The story lias gripping power on the screen because it is .so simply told. Miss Shearer's "Antoinette' is a girl eager to be in love and to be loved, who finds herself married to a moronic husband, a role superbly played by Robert Morley, a young English actor making his first motion picture appearand;. When he fails her and his country through weakness of mind and spirit, she seeks escape in mad pleasures and dangerous flirtations. But in the end, she cannot escape her destiny as the last Queen of France. "(Marie Antoinette" is thoroughly entertaining. Power is a handsome, gallant, and convincing Count Axel de Fersen, the man who dared to love a Queen. There are moments of great drama and poignant tragedy, but also delightful comedy. Much of the humour is provided by Barrymore, whose performance as the cynical, worldweary King (Louis XV, is among his finest. Miss George's du Barry is lusty and amusing. Schildkraut, a recent Academy Award winner, is a thoroughly villainous Duke d'Orleans.