ENTERTAINMENTS

Southland Times, Issue 23178, 20 April 1937, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

STATE THEATRE “SWING TIME” Unlike former films made by that popular couple, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, "Swing Time,” which is now being screened at the State Theatre, has a dramatic as well as spectacular and musical angles. Its humour is of the whimsical variety which suits Fred Astaire perfectly, and when the audience is not silent with admiration at the magnificence of the settings, it is convulsed with merriment. The melodies are entrancing and the lyrics delightful, and the story unfolds with a swing that never loses momentum. The dialogue is crisp and the plot entertaining. These are the main essentials of a really bright picture, and so it is no wonder that those who have seen it have instantly marked it as the best Rogers-Astaire effort so far. The musical background was conceived by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields, which is a recommendation in itself, and Fred Astaire is responsible for some of the cleverest dancing seen on the screen. He gave a clever performance in “Top Hat.” He excels himself in “Swing Time.” Ginger Rogers, as usual, is an adept partner. She is as attractive as ever. The scenery is lavish, and for sheer spectacular effect there is a dance number, “Bojangles of Harlem,” than which anything more brilliant has seldom been seen in a film musical extravaganza. Then there is “Waltz in Swing Time,” with its fascinating lilt, “The Way You Look Tonight,” and “A Fine Romance,” which are only three enchanting numbers in a delightfully varied musical repertoire s The two principals are ably supported by an excellent cast including Helen Broderick, Eric Blore, Victor Moore, Betty Furness and Georges Metaxa.

MAJESTIC THEATRE

“THIS’LL MAKE YOU WHISTLE”

That inimitable , comedian Jack Buchanan will be seen in “This’ll Make You Whistle” for the last time at the Majestic Theatre tonight. Buchanan takes the part of a carefree young man —everybody dalls him Bill—who contrives to fall out of one engagement and into another so quickly that nobody else is quite sure which young woman happens to be his fiancee at the moment. Laura, who has just broken her engagement with Bill, repents her hastiness; but in the meantime Bill has found Jean, proposed to her in a canoe and been accepted almost in the act of falling into the river. Joan brings along her mother to meet her fiancee, and is unfortunate in choosing a time when Bill’s two friends, Reggie and Archie, have been preparing some practical, jokes. Sad misunderstandings arise after Joan’s mother has had her jaws sealed by trick sweets and Joan herself has been alarmed by explosive cigarettes. Much time and energy are expended by Bill in his attempts to explain everything; but matters are complicated by a somewhat reckless party which is given solely to shock Laura’s guardian. All is well at the finish, and Bill finds happiness with the right girl. TOMORROW’S PROGRAMME TWO BIG PICTURES INCLUDED Two outstanding pictures, “Adventure in Manhattan” and “Hellship Morgan” will be screened at the Majestic Theatre tomorrow night The former, in which Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea are the principals, is a gay comedy romance which relates the amusing adventures that come to a successful writer of mystery stories when he enters the newspaper field and there disrupts all known traditions by successfully predicting a series of involved robberies long before they are committed. Jean Arthur appears as a Broadway actress who, in‘the course of her engaging romance with McCrea, brings him all manner of woes in his crime direction efforts. Reginald. Owen is seen as the polished continental criminal genius who hides behind the mask of a theatrical producer in order to commit the intricate thefts without arousing suspicion. The screen play is based on a well known story and was adapted to picture form by Sidney Buckman, Harry Sauber and Jack Kirkland. Ann Sothem, George Bancroft and Victor Jory have the principal roles in “Hellship Morgan,” a thrilling tale of adventure on the high seas. Bancroft is cast as brawny Captain Ira Morgan, master of the tuna fishing ship Southern Cross, a man who always gets what he wants by right of might. This type of role is perfectly suited to the powerful and robust Bancroft and his performance in “Hellship Morgan is undoubtedly the best he has offered motion picture fans to date. Ann Sothem plays the part of Mary Taylor, a penniless girl whom the hard-as-nails Morgan marries ana brings aboard the Southern Cross to live. She falls in love with Jim Allen, played by the handsome Victor Jory, first mate of the Southern Cross.

“IT ISN’T DONE”

N.Z. PREMIERE ON FRIDAY On Friday night the Majestic Theatre will present an Australian film on its New Zealand premiere—and the film is worthy of the honour. “It Isn’t Done” is the first Australian picture with an all-star cast. In it is included the world-famous favourite of stage and screen, Cecil Kellaway. whose remarkable performance in “On Our Selection” and “Grandad Rudd” will not easily be forgotten. Co-starred with him is Shirley Ann Richards, the young ingenue who is taking Australia by storm. John Longdon, the young Englishman whose outstanding acting ability in “The Silence of Dean Maitland” will be remembered by all is also starring in this picture. Others who give a remarkable performance are Harvey Adams, Nellie Ferguson, and Campbell Copelin. This is Australia’s best to date. Cecil .Kellaway is a squatter who inherits a title and goes to England where he finds many things just “aren’t done,” especially the use of some “dinkum Aussie” expressions which are forcible but scarcely the thing in the best society.

REGENT THEATRE

“THE GARDEN OF ALLAH” AN OUTSTANDING PICTURE Reproduced as it is in natural colour, “The Garden of Allah,” which will have its final screenings today at the Regent Theatre, must rank as an outstanding picture. Not that the colour dominates the film, for both the desert settings in which the film abounds and the interiors are chosen with irreproachable taste. The colours for the most part are quiet and it is rarely that bright contrasts are introduced. When they are, they are unusually attractive, such as a rich blue, desert sky over golden desert sands, their surface rippled by the wind. Against such a notably beautiful background is thrown a story, deeper than the average screen plot. The dominant issue is the love of a beautiful girl who is seeking peace in the desert after the loss of her cherished father, and a man unused to

the ways of the world, an escapee from a Trappist monastery. A strange courtship, in which the woman does her best to allay the unrest in her lover s soul, marriage and a honeymoon in the desert lead up to a protracted climax, in which the man is revealed as one who has broken vbws more sacred than those of marriage—a contract with the Church. It is at this stage that Charles Boyer, the leading actor in the film, rises to great heights, as he tells of the unrest he has suffered since he' forsook the Church for the world. Marlene Dietrich, too, plays her slightly less difficult part surely and sincerely. Mickey Mouse and his troupe also figure on this i rogramme as “Alpine Climbers.”

THEATRE ROYAL, WINTON

Coming to the Theatre Royal, Winton, on Friday and Saturday next is “Mr Deeds Goes to Town," a story which tells of the adventures of Longfellow Deeds, whose uncle has left him 20,000,000 dollars. He goes to New York, where editions of big dailies send out reporters to get a story from this millionaire farmer. But only one succeeds and that is Babe Bennett, who tells Deeds that she is an out-of-work stenographer. They dine together and Deed’s simplicity makes a great story for Babe, who has .to send in her stories about him, even though they are falling in love with one another. Finally, Longfellow gives away all his money, but is put on trial for his sanity. However, the story comes to a happy conclusion, Babe and Longfellow being united when the judge is convinced that Longfellow is as sane as anyone else.