ENTERTAINMENTS

Southland Times, Issue 22012, 11 May 1933, Page 4

ENTERTAINMENTS

THE REGENT. GEORGE ARLISS AGAIN. “THE MILLIONAIRE.” George Arliss has proved to be the most popular personality brought to us by the talking picture. Each one of his pictures has proved to be an outstanding attraction, and to bring their successful Revival Week to a close no better choice than an Arliss picture could have been made by the Regent management. Certainly no more satisfying picture than “The Millionaire ’ could have been chosen. In “The Millionaire” Mr Arliss plays the part of James Alden, a self-made millionaire automobile manufacturer, who in the quest for wealth has depleted his health. His physician advises his going West for a rest cure. This Alden reluctantly does, urged by his pretty daughter Barbara, and his wife who has social ambitions. Time hangs heavily, the claims of society prove irksome, and he is in fear that .his daughter will marry one of the idle rich. To add to his discomfiture an. insurance agent tells him that retired business men are considered higher risks than those who are still active. Alden determines to get busy, and without his family’s knowledge, answers the ad of the owner of gas filling station. He arrives at the address just after a likeable young man, Bill Merrick, has paid all his capital for a half interest in the garage. Posing as a working man with just a small amount of cash, Alden buys the other half and becomes Bill’s partner. The first customer for gas is his own daughter. He keeps out of sight, and notices with interest that the young people have met before. No further part of the whimsical and amusing story need be told. It is enough to say that Mr Arliss’s brilliant repertory contains no more delightful characterization. An excellent supporting cast includes such names as Florence Arliss, David Manners, Noah Beery, Sam Hardy, J. Farrell MacDonald and Tully Marshall in addition to others. “The Millionaire” is a picture for the whole family and will be screened this evening and twice to-morrow —at 2 p.m. and 7.45. Unfortunately the bad weather has caused delay to shipping and the film may not arrive in time for to-day’s matinee. Should it not come to hand in time “Hell’s Angels” will be screened again this afternoon. THE MAJESTIC. “LORD CAMBER'S LADIES.” AN ABSORBING DRAMA. The marriage of a philandering peer and a temperamental comedy actress with its comedy highlights which so soon develop into tragedy supplies, the main theme of “Lord Camber’s Ladies,” the absorbing drama which commenced a season at the Majestic Theatre yesterday. The high-spirited Shirley is exquisitely played by that versatile artiste, Gertrude Lawrence, who in the first stage scenes gives a lively portrayal of the actress, rendering in her own inimitable fashion a number specially written for her by the director of the film, Benn Levy and Harry Acres, the musical director, entitled “What I do do, I do do well.” Her marriage to Lord Camber, in the person of that well-known stage actor, Nigel Bruce, is very unhappy and after one hectic year of travel Shirley collapses from an overstrained heart and enters a Dr. Napier’s Nursing Home. She discovers that her nurse is carrying on an intrigue with her husband, and by a ruse succeeds in bringing them together at her bedside, the excitement of which causes a relapse to which she finally succumbs. The family surgeon refuses to sign the death warrant on the grounds that Lady Camber may have been poisoned, but Napier on the assurance of his nurse supplies the required signature. The old doctor remains adamant and threatens to bring in the police, but a timely confession is extracted from Camber by an astute piece of psychological detective work on the part of Napier, followed by an even more astounding admission on the part of the nurse. For sheer suspense, “Lord Camber’s Ladess,” which rises to the very heights of comedy and drama will live in filmgoers’ minds for many a day as the most moving and engrossing production ever brought to the screen. Gerald du Maurier and Benita Hume, also principal players in the cast, contribute the polished performances of which they alone are capable, in the roles of Napier and his nurse, respectively, and with the rising young dramatist Benn Levy as director and Alfred Hitchcock supervising, it will be realized that “Lord Camber’s. Ladies” is the very cream of entertainment de luxe. Headed by such excellent cast and containing such a fine plot, this is indeed a programme which ought not to be missed, as it is one of sterling merit. The supports are most interesting and include the latest Rathe Pictorial and a feature called “Denizens of the Zoo.” CIVIC THEATRE. RUTH CHATTERTON'S TRIUMPH. The Ruth Chatterton of her glorious successes “Madame X” and “Sarah and Son” returned to the screen of the Civic Theatre yesterday in First National’s colourful drama of the Barbary Coast, “Frisco Jenny,” and gave the greatest performance of her career in this powerful drama. In “Frisco Jenny” Miss Chatterton returns as one of the finest emotional actresses on the screen. Her portrayal of the sinsteeped mother who breaks every law of man but holds fast to the one great law of nature, mother-love, can be best described by that simple but sincere word “masterpiece.” Miss Chatterton as Jenny, daughter of a tough waterfront saloon-keeper in old San Francisco, is in love with the piano-player of her father’s dive, but before they are able to marry, the earthquake occurs, killing both her lover and her father. The disaster is more than a double tragedy for the girl as it forces her to become city’s Chinatown squalor. Because of city’s Chinatown squallor. Because of her environments, the girl is judged as unfitted for the child, and her baby, Dan, is taken from her and placed in the custody of a respectable couple. Stunned by this blow and engulfed in the net of her miserable conditions, Jenny seeks a livelihood the easiest way and with the passing of years becomes a power in the underworld and the politics which it controls. Dan grows up, graduates from college, enters politics, and through his mother s unseen power is elected to the district attorney’s office. As a reformer his first move is to stamp out Jenny and her associates, little dreaming that this notorious woman is his mother. One of the arrested ring knows Jenny’s secret and threatens to win his freedom by telling. To prevent him, the woman is forced to commit murder to save her son’s name. In a climax that clutched the audience with the strong emotional fabric, the son unknowingly flays and scorns his mother-and her past and succeeds in gaining a death penalty, aided materially by her refusal to offer a defence. And thus he, who received life from her, returns death in its stead. “LOVE ON WHEELS.” SATURDAY NEXT.

The Civic Theatre management take pleasure in announcing the first screening of England’s one and only

Jack Hulbert in his latest electrifying success, “Love on Wheels.” After ‘‘Sun* shine Susie 0 and u Jack’s the Boy it is needless to say that Jack Hulbert is a great comedian, and it is said that he has never been seen to greater, advantage than in this operetta of mirth and melody. He is Hulbert at his best, acting the stupid fool, singing and dancing in the picture all the time. This merry mirthquake tells the story of the business lives of ordinary people who get a lot of fun as well as a lot of anxiety out of business life. It is a fantasy of love making which begins in a bus, where it continues and ends after mixed up merriment in “Gallop s Stores.” Jack Hulbert is ably assisted by Gordon Harker, whose idea of a Cockney bus conductor is apparently to be “match maker” between many of his passengers. Another sterling actor in the splendid cast is Edmund GwennJ who proves to be a dignified general manager of “Gallop’s Stores and. a capable business man quick to seize an opportunity. The exuberance of Hulbert, however, smashes his reserve and adds to the gaiety. The feminine interest lies in the capable hands of Leonora Corbett, who possesses charm and ability to sing and dance. Directed by Victor Saville, the genius of “Sunshine Susie” and “Michael and Maiy, this clever, light and gay production promises to be a musical and comedy treat for young and old.