ENTERTAINMENTS

Southland Times, Issue 23634, 8 October 1938, Page 21

ENTERTAINMENTS

CIVIC THEATRE

“THE PLOUGH AND THE STARS” A passionate conflict between love of wife and loyalty to a popular “cause,” such as must have tom many a young patriot when the fighters consecrated themselves to revolt, furnishes powerful drama for Preston < Foster, featured player, in “The Plough and the Stars’,” which is based on events ot the “uprising” Of 1916. This film is the main attraction on today’s programme at the Civic Theatre. Foster portrays a man of the Dublin slums who must choose between the call to a dangerous service and his wife’s pleas that he remain with her. The story sweeps to near tragedy as he is made a commander of one of the idealistic regiments of the story. Directed by John Ford who won the Academy award for his work on that other grimly reahstic story of the Dublin slums, The Informer,” “The Plough and the Stars’ is taken from the play by Sean O’Casey, who is hailed as Ireland’s greatest living dramatist. Heading the .cast is Barbara Stanwyck, starred in the wife s role. Five featured players from the celebrated Abbey Theatre, Dublin, as well as Una O’Connor, featured player, J. M. Kerrigan and Bonita Granville have prominent parts. The dramatic force of the picture lies in its romantic theme and that distinctive blending of tragedy and comedy for which Sean O’Casey is world famous. A highspeed romance, unfolded in the heat of a nation-wide advertising contest that gets out of control, forms the theme of “Everybody’s Doing It,” the second feature. Based on the current rage for puzzle contests, the film reveals in lively fashion what happens whgn racketeers decide to profit by various features of a contest originated to sell a breakfast food'product. Cecil Kellaway and Sally Eilers have the romantic leads as commercial artists in the breakfast food company’s advertising department, who perfect the idea of the contest. The two favourites are excellently cast as a pugnacious pair of lovers. Because of various bookings of the theatre this programme can be screened only today and will be shown at the matinee this afternoon, in addition to the usual evening session.

REGENT THEATRE “I SEE ICE” GEORGE FORMBYS FUNNIEST George Formby has already made several highly entertaining pictures which have successfully established him in the forefront of English screen comedians, but nothing he has done can conceivably compare with “I See Ice, which is now at the Regent, for sheer hilarious farce, brisk action and general all-round soundness of entertainment. There are a large number of occasions in which the humour takes on the aspect of unalloyed burlesque, and paramount among these are those occa-. sions in which Formby takes to the ice on skates, of which he is patently not the master. It is doubtful if anything funnier has been seen than his antics as an irregular member of a male skating ballet and an unwilling and definitely unofficial referee in a wild ice hockey match, but these are not tho only amusing episodes of the production, for the popular singing comedian is compelled to undergo a series of strange and undignified adventures right throughout the story. Playing opposite him, Kay Walshe, as Judy Faye, an exhibition skater, and Cyril Ritchard, in a somewhat unsympathetic role as her partner, acquit themselves with distinct success, and help to keep the fun swinging along merrily. Formby is a photographer’s assistant whose ineptitude is phenomenal, but who has succeeded in inventing a miniature camera which is concealed in a bowtie. While on his way to Manchester with his employer, he meets Judy Faye and her partner, and as the result of a long tete-a-tete with the pretty little skater, he forgets to leave the train at a junction and is carried on towards London. When his plight is revealed to him he pulls the communication cord and demands to be taken back to Manchester, but, instead, is told that he will be faced with a £5 fine when he reaches London. From this moment the fates are against him. The train is boarded by officials at London, and a search is made for the miscreant who unlawfully tugged the emergency brake cord, but Formby, aided by the sympathetic Judy, achieves a perilous escape disguised as a weird-looking female, and causes a minor riot on the station platform. Judy gets him a job with the show in which she is appearing at the skating rink and it is here that the fun reaches whirlwind proportions. The supporting programme is one of the usually good ones found at the Regent Seats should be booked early. MAJESTIC THEATRE “CASSIDY OF BAR 20” CLARENCE E. MULFORD WESTERN Clarence E. Mulford’s reputation for thrilling Western stories is fully maintained in “Cassidy of Bar 20,” which is now showing at the Majestic Theatre. This film version of the adventures of “Hopalong” Cassidy, the famous Mulford character, has lost none of the racy style of the story, “Me and Shorty,” from which it was adapted. From the start suspense is mingled with action and humour. A leavening of (romance, too, adds charm to the plot. William Boyd is again in the role of “Hopalong” Cassidy and Russell Hayden is his partner, “Lucky” Jenkins. The third man of this trio is not new to the screen, but he is new to the partnership and he supplies most of the humour. Nora Lane owns an extensive ranch near the border, but her cattle are being stolen in big numbers by a gang of irustlers on an adjoining ranch. She sends for “Hopalong” Cassidy, a friend of former davs, to help her against the gang. How Cassidy and his men outwit the leader and finally rout the rustlers makes a thrilling

story. Lloyd Nolan is well known, for gangster parts, but in “Tip-Off Girls he is cast as a G-Man who has temporarily joined a crew of truck bandits. These truck robbers are systematically pirating freight transport lorries and killing many drivers. Nolan joins the gang after he has established himself as a racketeer in the leader’s eyes. From then on the story moves at a fast pace. More trucks are robbed and more men Eire killed until at last Nolan gets the information he . wants and is able to stop the gang war and quell the bandits’ activities in a thrilling climax. “POPEYE THE SAILOR” MATINEE This afternoon is Popeye the Sailor’s 1938 birthday cake matinee. A. C. Millar’s Ltd. have the huge cake which they nave haked on view in their shop next door to the Majestic Theatre and every child attending Saturday’s Popeye matinee will be given a portion. An attractive programme of featurettes will support “Cassidy of Bar 20 — Popeye the Sailor,” Betty Boop, Scrappy and a colour cartoon will be shown, a Stooges Comedy, and chapter 4of Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars.” Cinesound News completes an attractive list of short features, which have been specially selected for this occasion. STATE THEATRE “CHECKERS” . [' —. —. JANE WITHERS IN COMEDY Jane Withers adds to her already great popularity in “Checkers, . a bright, “human interest” film, which is showing at the State Theatre. The story revolves around an accident that happens to Blue Skies, a race track combination’s racehorse, smd the subsequent efforts to mend his broken leg and race him again. There are many amusing sidelights that help to round off the story and the surprise ending brings an exciting climax to a bright film. Stuart Erwin’s slow manner and whimsical speech fit him for the part of Edgar Connell, a somewhat lackadaisical “owner-trainer,” whose two worries in life are Blue Skies, his horse, and Una Merkel, his sweetheart. As Mamie Appleby, Una Merkel plays convincingly the role of the girl Edgar hopes to marry, but her intense dislike of horses and race tracks has to be overcome. When Blue Skies breaks a leg when yards in the lead in an important race, Checkers’s pleading saves him from being shot and she and Edgar, accompanied hy the jockey, Marvin Stephens, go to Mamie’s farm with the injured horse. A friendly doctor experiments with a new plaster cast and the horse is saved. Complications have. arisen, however, in the form of Tobais Williams, the local banker who hopes to marry Mamie. Edgar’s . “oil” scheme reveals the banker’s’motives, however, and it seems as though everything has been settled. Tobias, however, buys an option bn Mamie’s property and threatens to foreclose, so Edgar, realizing that his scheme has got out of hand, decides to enter Blue Skies in a state Derby in an endeavour to buy the banker’s option. It is Checkers, however, who spoils Tobias’s schemes, and she not only gets the jockey released from wrongful arrest but rides the race with him. The deciding factor in the race was the bringing together of Blue Skies and Nellie, who were mother and son, and Checkers finds a spectacular method of accomplishing this. The race is won by Blue Skies and, although the stake is sufficient to buy the option, Mamie reveals herself as a born gambler. Her backing of the three placed horses, in their correct order, dumbfounds Edgar and makes a substantial contribution to the expenses of their honeymoon. Jane Withers mischievously smiles at the success of her schemes as she and Marvin lead the horse into the paddock. The latest March of Time, containing a review of controversial matters and , picturing the progress of Finland, heads the supporting programme. Two newsreels, a comedy and a Terry Toon car- , toon, are also shown.

REGENT THEATRE, GORE

Barbara Stanwyck and Herbert Marshall are teamed for the first time in the stellar roles of “Breakfast for Two,” R.K.O. Radio comedy romance which begins at the Regent, Gore, today. Cast as a wilful heiress from the South, Barbara Stanwyck falls in love with a lazy ne’er-do-well, portrayed by Herbert Marshall, and tries to straighten him out by iaking away his source of income and putting him “on his own.” How their determined wills clash, but eventually fuse them in romance, involves the pair in innumerable laugh-prov’ok-ing situations. The supporting feature is "Midnight Taxi,” featuring Brian Donlevy. ST. JAMES THEATRE, GORE Each recent year has brought to the screen a finer type of musical picture and 1938 is no exception. “The Firefly,” Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s impressive adaptation of Rudolf Friml’s memorable operetta, with Jeanette Macdonald in her seventeenth musical triumph, is Hollywood’s new offering at the St. James, Gore, today. “The Firefly” presents a powerful story, of dramatic romance, as well as a vehicle for remarkable music. _M.-G.-M. has gone the limit in its settings and in the artistry of presentation. Lavish scenes in the High Sierras and others made on 30 massive sets present the sweeping drama of old Spain in the period when Napoleon was defeated by Wellington at Vittoria. EMPIRE, RIVERTON Rollicking comedy with an undertone of impending drama, screen adaptation of the best-selling novel and a record-breaking play with half a dozen noted figures in the leading roles, that’s “Three Live Ghosts,” Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s contribution to the great art of laughter to be screened at Riverton tonight. It is the merriest fun feast since “A Night at the Opera.” Claude Allister, Charles McNaughton, Dudley Diggs, and Cecelia Parker are included in the cast.