ENTERTAINMENTS

Southland Times, Issue 22813, 12 February 1936, Page 4

ENTERTAINMENTS

.REGENT THEATRE “THE LEGION OF VALOUR” The detectives and police .force and the body of men who have cbme to be known qs “G” men—government men upholding tha law—are shown in a very favourable light in “The Legion of Valour,” a fast moving action picture which has been drawing large audiences to the Regent this week. A war against crime by the American Department of Justice gives scope for fast action. But first, some time is given to the training of men who are to be federal agents. To watch their instruction is absorbing. It is perfectly good entertainment in itself, this glimpse at the extraordinary methods of a machinelike law enforcement; but the production is deliberate and clever, obviously made so to whet the appetite, as it were, and to key picturegoers up to a right mood. The cool and observant treatment given to the subject is noteworthy. There are no individual heroics, and nothing is made gruesome What is achieved by the agents is clearly shown to be the result of organization and science. And through the neat mass of clues and deductions, there runs a story which never loses itself or obtrudes upon the main purpose of the film. Tire acting is bold and yet restrained, and the casting has been done thoughtfully. Only one example of the work of the federal agents is given. It is enough to maintain interest and intensity without being bewildering. It is as though a roulette wheel is set going, with the marbles —criminals and police—being whirled in disorder about it. But a set order of events soon develops. Although the authorities make their mistakes, they profit in turn by the mistakes which their quarry never fails to make. So it goes on. The roulette wheel never slows or stops until the marbles are ready to fall into the sockets for which an inexorable system marks them. The supporting features on this programme are remarkably fine. “THE LAST OUTPOST.” THE STORY OF A GREAT ADVENTURE. Said to be a worthy successor to “The Lives of a Bengal Lancer,” Paramount’s “The Last Outpost,” the story of which pays similar tribute to the courage and loyalty of British war officers, is coming to the Regent for a four-day season commencing on Friday next. Claude Rains, in one of the leading roles, gives a vivid, outstanding performance as a British secret service agent. A notable portrayal as his brother officer and rival for the affections of the same woman whose love for one breaks up their friendship only to reunite them in a stronger spirit of comradeship, is given by Cary Grant. Gertrude Michael, as the woman both men love is appealing. The story is an impressive, authentic version of the conflict arising between the Turks and the British army in Mesopotamia during the World War. Two British officers, one in the British Intelligence Service, the other attached to the armoured car division, meet under strange circumstances. Their adventures lead them into many dangers, dangers touched with thrills and romance. They are separated and meet again in a deserted fort in the interior and there, in a tense, dramatic sequence, Rains decides whether he should leave his friend Grant to the mercy of the natives or to die in a seething forest fire, to avenge the memory of his wife, whom Grant has stolen from him. Kathleen Burke and the New Zealander, Colin Tapley are in the cast. STATE THEATRE. “ORCHIDS TO YOU.” “Orchids to You,” featured on the current programme at the State Theatre, comes in the class known as romantic drama, but it has power seldom found in that class, and it has a novelty of theme which is refreshing. Playing the role of the clever society lawyer is John Boles, one of the most popular singing stars at present playing in pictures, and his talents help to make this film one of the best of the year. Jean Muir is seen in the part of the lovely florist and Charles Butterworth, wealthy and idle, clowns his way through the story. “Orchids to You” is a story of broken romances and of a lawyer who engages in a divorce action in which he discovers that his own wife is the co-respondent. Naturally it is a shock, but a year’s travel apparently works wonders, and by the end of the film he is back again and proposing to the girl who sold the orchids which his wife had received from her lover. It sounds a bit complicated, but it is perfectly simple. John Boles is a New York solicitor who appears on the scene when he tries to evict a florist (Jean Muir) from her shop in order to secure the premises for a big business group. He does not succeed, but he at least makes the acquaintance of the florist. She executes his order to send roses to his wife, and then is. somewhat perturbed when she receives an order from another man to send orchids to the same address. When. the wife of the second man learns of his philanderings and make., for the. divorce court, with Boles as her solicitor, it is the florist who is relied on. as the principal witness in giving testimony to the loving husband’s floral wooing. But the girl refuses to disclose the identity of the woman for whom the orchids were ordered, with the idea of preventing Boles from learning that his wife has heen unfaithful. She even braves the judge’s warning concerning contempt of court, and serves a sentence to save the solicitor his heartaches. But it is all in vain. He learns the truth, has a heated scene with his wife, packs his bags and sets off round the world. He comes back 12 months later and at the final fade-out is again headed for matrimony. Ruthelma Stevens, Harvey Stephens, and Arthur Lake, all of whom have featured parts, do well. MAJESTIC THEATRE. “SHE COULDN’T TAKE IT.” LIVELY COMEDY. George Raft and Joan Bennett battle their boisterous way through laughs, thrills and romance in Columbia’s “She Couldn’t Take It,” which commences to-day at the Majestic Theatre. Headed by the stellar pair and cast with a long list of excellent players, the picture relates the colourful tale of an exgangster who undertakes to manage the affairs of the socially prominent Van Dyke family, whose escapades and front-page scandals have kept them tabloid-headlines for a half-score of years. Raft, of course, is the exracketeer, Ricardi, who is commissioned by the elder Van Dyke, Walter Connolly, to “rough ’em up, and tame ’em down!” His greatest problem is the madcap Miss Bennett, whose escapades, marriages, divorces, and police engagements have been the major source of scandalizing publicity. Then, too, there are James Blakely, whose only outlook on life is through the bottom of a whisky tumbler, and Billie Burke, collector of poets, bogus titles and other objects masculine. Raft and Bennett give superb performances in the starring roles, lending a piquant charm to their robust, action-

ful comedy. Walter Connolly and Billie Burke are excellent, as usual, while Blakely, Wallace Ford, Lloyd Nolan and Donald Meek de splendidly in supporting parts. Tay Garnett directed “She Couldn’t Take It” with a' lively finesse and tantalizing robustness. A splendid supporting programme has been assembled and includes “Neighbours,” a delightful all-colour rhapsody, “Hoi Polloi,” a comedy featuring the popular three Stooges, a novelty item, “Voice Experience,” and the Majestic News. EMPIRE THEATRE, RIVERTON. Fox Film’s latent and most baffling mystery thriller “Charlie Chan in Egypt.” is to be screened at Riverton to-night. The story carries Chan to the mystery-scented land of the Pharoahs in the Valley of the Kings, amid the splendour and riches of the last resting places of the mighty monarchs of thousands of years ago. Priceless gold and jewelled treasure have been taken from among those brought to light by the French Historical Society’s expedition near Luxor, on the Nile, and Chan is assigned to trace the thefts and the thieves. Charlie Chan faces an enemy and strange conditions in this, his most baffling case. The supporting programme consists of “Dream House” (comedy), “Air Maniacs” (adventure) and a newsreel.