ENTERTAINMENTS

Southland Times, Issue 22475, 10 November 1934, Page 7

ENTERTAINMENTS

THE REGENT. “WONDER BAR.” ANOTHER BRILLIANT PROGRAMME. Once again the Regent Theatre management has come to the fore by presenting another brilliant all-round programme for the week-end season. “Wonder Bar," the feature attraction, is perhaps the finest musical film yet to reach Invercargill, for in addition to lilting music and gorgeous spectacle, the film has a story equal to that which made “Grand Hotel” a worldwide success. The large opening night audience acclaimed “Wonder Bar” last evening as magnificent entertainment, showing that at last Hollywood has succeeded in producing the ideal musical film. In many respects the story and setting may be likened to that of “Grand Hotel,” for all of the action takes place in a luxurious Parisian cabaret, the Wonder Bar, where as in a luxury hotel the lives of pleasureseekers may change their whole course in the space of a single evening. The pivot of the gripping plot is the despairing love of two beautiful women (Dolores Del Rio and Kay Francis) for a handsome professional dancer (played by Guy Kibbee). The wife of a Paris banker, Kay Francis is so bored with her lonely luxury that she feels in love with the dancer, who proves his worthlessness by selling a diamond ring she has given him in order that he may clear out to America. His dancing partner (Dolores) finds that he intends to leave, and passionately persuades him to stay. Kay, too, discovers his intention and declares that if he goes she will go with him. The manager of the cabaret and one of the main stars, Al Wonder (played by Al Jolson) is in love with Dolores, and in order to get the dancer out of the road advances him money-oh the .diamond necklace. From this stage the film moves on through a number of tense scenes to a tremendous climax, a fitting and unusual conclusion to a magnificent production. Too much cannot be said of the spectacular side, which is fully up to the standard of “Footlight Parade” and “42nd Street.” A splendid orchestra provides a lilting musical accompaniment, while there are five song hits outstanding in tune and catchy melody. In the supporting programme are such a fine collection of supports as to provide a satisfying evening in themselves. Laurel and Hardy appear in a longshort comedy, “Any Old Port,” an excruciatingly funny comedy in which these two comedians of genius excel themselves. When these scapegraces wander into a seaside tavern and champion a pretty girl who is in the clutches of the proprietor the laughs follow one another in almost painful succession—last night’s patrons laughed till they cried! Stan Laurel ends up by knocking out the proprietor in an uproarious boxing match chiefly because his glove is filled with bits of iron. Then there is a really excellent musical short, “Let’s Play Post Office,” which contains comedy and spectacle worthy of a full-length film. Scenes of Scott and Black’s landing at _ Melbourne, victors in the air race, in the Cinesound Review conclude an outstanding programme. MAJESTIC THEATRE. “THE MYSTERY OF MR X.” Lovers of a good full-blooded mystery film, replete with exciting incident, and interpreted with due regard to the dramatic possibilities of the plot, should not fail to witness “Mystery of Mr X,” which opens at the Majestic Theatre this evening. Based on the book written by Philip MacDonald, admittedly one of the foremost mystery story writers of the day, the story deals with the interweaving trails of two criminals, one a cold-blooded, ruthless fiend, and the other (who is, incidentally, the hero of the piece) a singularly likeable individual, whose genius for covering his tracks is the despair of Scotland Yard. In “Mr X,” the author has created a villain as sinister as anything that has yet been seen on a local screen, and not until the very last sequence is his identity revealed. His victims are invariably London policemen whom he stabs with a sword-stick, and his movements are made the more engrossing by the fact that before his nightly expeditions, he sends warning of his intentions by means of printed postcards mailed to the London newspapers. Having given the audience uus sinister figure to form, as it were, the body of the story, Mr MacDonald goes on to introduce Nick Revel, a debonair gentleman jewel thief, whose life is one long battle of wits with the police. The mystery and thrills that follow are engineered with clever finesse. The opening incidents, which show how the victims of Mr X meet their deaths, are without doubt somewhat breath-taking, but there is nothing in them to which exception might be taken, and they serve only as an introduction to the gripping story which follows. Into the principal theme a delicate romance is introduced, and the audience is suddenly switched from the tense atmosphere of Scotland Yard with the staff harassed by the moves of a cunning maniac to Nick Revel’s tempectuous wooing of the daughter of the commissioner of Scotland Yard. It is all very cleverly done, not the least attractive element being the deft manner in which the two separate stories bear definitely on each other, whilst each, at the same time, preserves its own identity. Robert Montgomery, although he is cast in a type of role he rarely plays, manages, while drawing a convincing character sketch of the debonair jewel-thief, to remain his ' suave, polished self, and he gives a, superb interpretation of a particularly i difficult part. Never at any stage does i he succumb to any ever-present temp- ( tation to over-act, and his work' throughout is marked by the natural- | ness and understanding that have made j him such a firm favourite with his admirers. The veteran Lewis Stoiie handles the role of a high police official with his accustomed poise and sureness

of touch. Elizabeth Allan makes a charming heroine. The bulk of the comedy work .falls on the capable shoulders of Forrester Harvey, who brings a wealth of sprightly humour to his role of a Cockney taxi driver. A special film will show the arrival at Melbourne of Scott and Black, winners of the Centenary Air Race, also the Duke of Gloucester at Adelaide and the Band of the Grenadier Guards on the march in Melbourne. A Metro-Gold-wyn-Mayer revUe in technicolour presents the famous Alberta Rasch Ballerinas, the Metrotone Sound News is up-to-date and a comedy cartoon will also be shown. This afternoon’s programme is headed by a western attraction entitled “The Painted Desert.” , CIVIC THEATRE. DIANA WYNYARD AND CLIVE BROOK. “THE DOVER ROAD.” “Where Sinners Meet,” co-starring Diana Wynyard and Clive Brook, is the attraction to-day at the Civic Theatre. It is a screen adaptation of A. A. Milne’s highly popular comedy “The Dover Road,” which for many years convulsed audiences in England, America, Canada and Australia. The filiu on the whole follows the original with amazing and highly pleasing fidelity. It is full of the subtle wit and human feeling typical of the author, and it stands out as one of the most brilliant comedies seen on the screen for a long period. The production is American, but the whole atmosphere is English. For the first time since “Cavalcade,” Clive Brook and Diana Wynyard appear together on the screen, and they are fortunate in being given two roles which suit them ideally. Clive Brook can always be relied on to give a finished and whimsical performance, but it is Diana Wynyard who provides the surprise by revealing a Puckish sense of humour far removed from the rather heavier parts in which she has usually appeared. The story is an ingenious rearrangement of a theme which has seen service in many films, but it is given fresh appeal by the charm and humour of the characterizations, from the principals down to the very least of the supporting parts. Clive Brook appears as Latimer, an eccentric and wealthy Englishman who, in effect, acts as a social reformer with a sense of humour. His home is on the road to Dover, the route followed by a large percentage of eloping couples, and by means of care-fully-laid plans he apparently succeeds in inducing some of these to spend a few days on a system of forced “probation.” The opening of the film introduces Leonard, an almost incredibly fatuous and self-satisfied gentleman who is on the way to Dover and Cnlais i with Anne, a character played with the 1 greatest intelligence and charm by Diana Wynyard. Reginald Owen as Leonard, undoubtedly supplies a large percentage of the humour by his pomposity and lack of imagination. Their car unexpectedly breaks down not far from Latimer’s home, and the chauffeur, presumably a part of Latimer s well-laid plans, guides, them to ( the house, which he described as a “sort of hotel.” Leonard, by a series of strange mischances, is deprived of his most essential garments, his shaving gear and the control of his temper, and it is not long before much of the glamour of the proposed elopement is removed from Anne’s mind. In the meantime, the sensational discovery is made that Leonard’s own wife, Eustasia, is also a “guest” at the house with Nicholas, a rather bewildered young man who has found the term of “probation in association with the gushing Eustasia too much for him. Billie Burke and Alan Mowbray are excellent in these two roles, and when the absurdities of their position are accentuated by Latimer’s whimsical machinations Lati- ' mer’s intention to straighten out the matrimonial tangle is already three parts accomplished, and the film moves on to its extraordinary close. There is an excellent supporting programme, one of the features of which is the uproarious comedy-farce entitled “Well Cured Ham,” in which everything is so absurd and topsy-turvy that the head is in a continual whirl trying to follow the curious imagination of the producer. The latest Fox Australian News,. also scenes of the welcome in Australia to the Duke of Gloucester will also be shown. EMPIRE THEATRE, RIVERTON. “THE GIRL FROM MAXIMS.” “The Girl from Maxims,” to be shown at Riverton to-night, is a brilliant and sparkling musical comedy of the gay ’nineties. Besides the catchy music and delightful songs, it contains the stimulating dances of the early days of the 20th century. Two of these dances are shown carried out exactly as they were in Petris in 1904. The music for these dances is provided by one of- the finest Gypsy bands in Europe. The supports include an English Gazette, Cartoon, Cinesound Review and an illustrated overture entitled “Mystery Ship.”