ON THE SCREEN

Putaruru Press, Volume XVI, Issue 956, 13 November 1941, Page 5

ON THE SCREEN

“20 Mule Team ” takes Wallace Beery back to the type »of setting in which he scored one of his greatest successes, “ The Bad Man Of Brimstone.” It takes him out into the wide open spaces of the pioneer West, into Death Valley in the 1890’s, when 20-mule teams pulled borax waggons with their 60,000-pound loads across 160 miles of blistering desert to the railroad at Mojave, The film teams Beefy with Leo Carrillo, reuniting for the first time the duo of “ Viva Villa ! ” with Beery in the title role and Carrillo as his trusted lieutenant. Now Beery appears as Muleskinner Bill Bragg, prize driver over the old borax route, and Carrillo enacts his Indian “ swamper,” Piute Pete. Also screening with “ 20 Mule Team on Friday night is “ Lucky Cisco Kid,” starring Cesar Romero.

Screening on Saturday and Monday, and a week before its first release in Auckland, is Paramount’s blitzkrieg comedy of recruits in the Army, “Caught in The Draft.” It tells of the hectic adventures of Bob Hope and his buddies as they are initiated into the Army and the hilarious escapades they manage to go through. In Sydney and other overseas places this great Army comedy is piling up new records for laughs and attendances. Also screening will be another great first half, including the Newest March Of Time, “ China Fights Back,” etc. Following close on the heels of the Army’s blitzkrieg comedy, “ Caught In The Draft,” comes the Navy’s broadside of laughter, “ The Middle Watch,” on Wednesday and Thursday, starring that popular comedian Jack Buchanan. When two girls get left overnight on a warship it certainly looks as if there will be some fun over it, and that is exactly what happens in lan Hay’s hilarious comedy. It is full of complicated situations that will have you in a hectic state of excitement.