ENTERTAINMENTS

Southland Times, Issue 22732, 7 November 1935, Page 14

ENTERTAINMENTS

REGENT THEATRE /.' “PRIVATE WORLDS” The story of a woman who knew all about love in others’ lives but feared it herself, “Private Worlds” stars glamorous Claudette Colbert with Charles Boyer and Joan Bennett. A dramatic picture of the impulses behind love, “Private Worlds” presents Miss Colbert as a female doctor in the unusual setting of a hospital fox- the insane. With extraordinary insight into the tragedies which have driven others insane, this woman is yet blind to the need of her own heart. The picture tells the adventures of a band of doctors in an American sanatorium, how they fight the illness of their patients, and how they aid, struggle with, hate, and love one another. Claudette Colbei't again rises to the occasion and gives an in-, tensely alive and appealing portrait of a woman psychiatrist who has always worked in company with a fellowdoctor in the great mental home where she is employed. It is when the life of this fellow-doctor takes a turn which leaves him momentarily defeated and seeking escape, when the whole tenor of life changes with the appointment of a new head of the institution, that the foundations . of the subsequent events are laid. Miss Colbert and her associate doctor, Joel McCrea, are happy in the work they are doing until the intrusion of Charles Boyer, another doctor, upsets theix- work. Boyer’s vampire sister, Helen Vinson, lures McCrea away from his faithful and uncomplaining wife, Joan Bennett. In a short time the lives of this small group are snarled in a web of love, intrigue and conflicting wills. The denouement of the drama occurs when Joan Bennett is driven to the verge of insanity by hex - husband’s unfaithfulness and Claudette Colbert is awakened to the love that awaits her. “WEREWOLF OF LONDON.” THE REGENT, SATURDAY. The oddest, most gripping and daring film of the yeai’ has been booked fox - a showing at the Regent Theatre on Saturday. It is Universal’s “Werewolf of London,” a story based on the fabled werewolf legend which has been handed down through the ages, and is still prevalent in Central Europe. A werewolf is a man who becomes transformed into a wolf each night during the full of the moon. The remainder of the time he assumes his natural form and leads the same life as any other human. The legend is that if a man is bitten by a werewolf he then becomes a werewolf himself. In “Werewolf of London” Henry Hull, great character actor, is the man who has been bitten by a werewolf. And the entire story is laid around his life and actions in England after he has become aware of his terrible affliction. His struggle to prevent his transformation is terrific but he loses his fight and becomes a wolf and throws horror into all of London, as he prowls the dark streets nightly, murdering innocent women. The climax comes with his attempt to kill his own wife. Warner Gland, Valerie Hobson, Lester Matthews, Spring Byington, Clark Williams, J. M. Kerrigan and Charlotte Granville are a few of the other noted players in this film which was directed by Stuart Walker. THE MAJESTIC. “THE CASINO MURDER CASE.” AN OUTSTANDING MYSTERY. “The Casino Murder Case,” which again drew a large audience to the Majestic last .night, is a picture possessing exceptional merit and boasting a well-chosen cast. Here is a real detective film in a class all of its own. It constitutes a chapter from the life of the well-known fictional detective Philo Vance, telling how he outwits a clevex- murderer who displays considerable ingenuity in his efforts to throw the investigators off the track. The attempt made by Paul Lukas to give to Philo Vance his appropriate air- is among the best attempts yet made. Lukas’s slightly foreign but pleasant accent is an advantage; he gives glimpses of his wide and deep practical knowledge, but not obtrusively perhaps as the Philo Vance of S. S. van Dine; his acting is done naturally, without any hint of stress or overemphasis. Lukas is given excellent support by a strong cast. Ted Healy, as Sergeant Heath, who is gifted with a rather large number of human weaknesses for a policeman, is splendidly cast. Louise Fazenda takes the part of Becky, the maid, who has a propensity for listening at keyholes, but proves in the crisis a true and faithful servant. Charles Sellon gives another distinctive portrayal of the police doctor, Di- Doremus, a man who has long since adopted an impersonal attitude towards his profession. Rosalind Russell, who might, if thrillers permitted the name, be called the heroine, and Lynn Llewellyn, another central character, both carry their parts through with great success. The general standard of the acting is high, and it is in parts excellent. The incidents of the crimes are full of excitement. The seasoned reader of detective stories would be hard put to it to find the solution, for the plot has been laid by a very clever man who is planning to perpetuate the perfect crime. His efforts are directed against members of the Llewellyn family, and later against Philo Vance, whom the criminal fears because he knows too much. Lynn Llewellyn is poisoned at a casino owned by his uncle, his wife is poisoned at home and dies. After the police have worked on the case, old Mrs Llewellyn writes a confession, stating that she committed both these crimes, and then commits suicide. The police are satisfied; but Philo Vance is not. He can see signs which prove that the plot is a much more deeply-laid one than that suggested by Mrs Llewellyn in hexconfession. Attention is directed to the uncle in a very definite way, but again Vance is suspicious. He apprehends the real murderer at the apparent risk of his life. The settings and the atmosphere of this plot, the solution of which hinges on the use of a certain drug, are successfully designed to produce the real thriller effect. The supporting programme is also of a high entertainment value. NOEL COWARD IN “THE SCOUNDREL.” of the hig productions of the film • worlcl is due at the Majestic Theatre on Saturday, where a great deal of interest is certain to be aroused by the presentation of the remarkable young man Noel Coward in his first screen appearance. Very often the contact with a celebrity in the flesh, or as in this instance in-the shadow, is a disappointment. Not so with Noel Coward. He lives up to one’s highest expectations. As drama, “The Scoundrel” is very meaty meat, and requires an unimpaired digestion for its assimilation. The climax to which it works is one in which the jitters flourish like a green bay tree. Two or three times towards the end one wonders what was suffocating him, and finds he is unconsciously holding his breath. When it comes to hair raisers, the Frankenstein and Dracula school, with their | coffins and vampires and such, is mild compared with the grim technique of Noel Coward, who relies solely on .words and implications to make one’s

flesh to creep and one’s spine to crawl. Anthony Mallare (Noel Coward) is a publisher. He is a cold-blooded, vicious, degenerate woman-chaser. His boast is that the best he can give a woman is one month of diversion and six of farewell. He is surrounded by a gang of sophisticated literary lights, who are about as virtuous as he is. There comes Cora Moore (Julie Haydon), a trusting innocent, who is engaged to marry Paul Decker. Cora is fascinated by Anthony, and will not believe him when he warns her of his manners and customs where women are concerned. She deserts Paul and goes to Anthony, who conforms to specifications in his treatment of her. After he has turned her out and is busy chasing a fresh attraction, Cora appeals to him for help for Paul, who is losing all his self-respect. Anthony, who is about to leave for the Bermudas by air, refuses, and makes the refusal particularly foul. Then Cora throws diplomacy to the winds, and says she hopes the plane will crash, and, further, that every soul who knows him will be delighted to hear it. Both Noel Coward and Julie Haydon lose themselves in this scene of vitriolic recrimination, so that it gains the punch of a steam hammer. Then the plane crashes and Anthony is killed. It is with praiseworthy restraint that one can refrain from telling the rest. To obtain the fullest enjoyment from the film, it is necessary to enjoy the intense drama that follows without warning. The authors, in writing the story, certainly put a cushion to soften the last bump, but even with the cushion one has the sensation of landing on the pavement after a nose dive from a skyscraper It is not exactly exhilarating, but there certainly is a thrill in the experierice. The cast is about as long as a piece of string, and its members all fit nicely into the fabric, but Noel Coward and Julie Haydon swamp everything else. If an elephant were charging one, a passing butterfly would not command much notice. 'lt is just like that with Noel Coward and the cast. “The Scoundrel is supported by an outstanding programme. CIVIC THEATRE “OH! DADDY.” “ONE NIGHT OF LOVE.” Based on the successful London stage farce, “Oh! Daddy,” the Gainsborough picture released by Gaumont-British and distributed by Fox Film which was screened at the Civic Theatre last night, is an excellent example of the power of clever direction to develop, from the narrower confines of a stage presentation, a picturesque, kaleidoscopic confection presenting an infinitely more varied entertainment. An atmosphere of infectious gaiety is quickly created by Leslie Henson (Lord Pye) and Robertson Hare (Rupert Boddy) who, as a screen team are an unqualified success. They appear as a couple of “purity campaigners who, missing the train that would have carried them to Birmingham for a convention, become involved with a daring cabaret star (Benita de Lys), who, unknown to Pye, is his step-daughter. Determined to teach the killjoys a lesson, she invades their country retreat, accompanied by motor coaches packed with chorus girls and free beer for all, with results that can be imagined! Leslie Henson fully justifies his reputation as one of the most popular of English comedians. His facial gymnastics, no less than the expression he gives every point in his satisfyingly large share of the amusing dialogue, keeps his audience in an almost continuous ripple of laughter. At one period, in the course of a tipsy dream, he is seen as Pan, dancing in a woodland glade with numerous nymphs—a sequen - that successfully combines fantasy, humour and grace. Robertson Hare, who can turn a line of ordinary dialogue into a merry quip, is in excellent form in a role that can be colloquially described as “right down his alley.” Frances Day brings a new type of feminine piquancy to the role of Benita in addition to singing and dancing with more than ordinary ability. Alfred Drayton, as a sniffling, narrow-minded old fraud, gives a strong performance. Barry Mackay and Marie Lohr turning in good supporting portrayals. Does to-day’s girl have any chance of winning fame in an artistic career against the competition of foreign artists? In “One Night of Love” showing at the Civic Theatre, will be seen the grief and struggle such an ambition involves. The story of “One Night of Love” is largely the true story of Grace Moore, star of the picture, an American girl who made a spectacular struggle upward to fame in musical comedy and grand opera. In “One Night of Love” Miss Moore emerges as a sensational motion picture personality, a glorious, dazzling film figure. Miss Moore ran away from her objecting parents to study voice in New York City. She worked in a village cafe to earn her meals. Winning a singing role in musical comedy, she spent most of her pay on more voice training. When roles in Irving Berlin’s Music Box Revue in 1923, 1924 and 1925 brought big pay, she saved to study in Italy with Mary Garden. When Miss Moore obtained a Meropolitan Opera audition in 1926, and lost, she made a bet she would sing at the Metropolitan in two years. And like the stor” of “One Night of Love,” it was her concert debut in Milan which won her a Metropolitan contract just two weeks before the two years were up. All the .charm of European scenes and people; all the glamour of life abroad; all the glorious beauty of the finest Italian, French and Spanish music, form the charming and thrilling background for this exceptional, romantic motion picture. The handsome Tullio Carminati, Italian born screen lover, plays the romantic lead opposite the famous songstress.