ENTERTAINMENTS

Southland Times, Issue 23827, 26 May 1939, Page 12

ENTERTAINMENTS

STATE THEATRE “SUEZ” TODAY That rare combination of romantic glamour and he-man appeal so essential to the ideal screen hero are perfectly exemplified in the heroic figure of Ferdinand de Lesseps, played by Tyrone Power in 20th Century-Fox “Suez,” which opens today at the State Theatre. In dramatizing on film the exploits of famous characters of history, there are few so generously endowed with there qualities that grip the imagination and stir the heart as Ferdinand de Lesseps., Most great lovers of history were' notorious for their lack of fire and colour in the fields of adventure and daring, and likewise many of the doers of valorous deeds turned out to be duds in the subtler arts of love and romance. Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal, on the contrary embodied all those attributes that make for inspired cinematic material. De Lesseps was a bold adventurer, driven by the love of two women—one ever at his side and grateful for anything he would give, one haunting him with the vision of love denied him—facinr the raids of Bedouin tribesmen and the terror of the black simoon, to wrest a mighty waterway from the desert sands. His was a personalitv and “Suez" a theme to conjure with in the field of entertainment, and into it 20th Century-Fox poured all of its vast resources and Darryl F. Zanuck all of his great production skill. De Lesseps seems to have been the possessor of that sort of magic that could make the French housewife dig the last sou from her portemonnaie to invest it in anything de Lesseps advocated. It was the kind of magic that could sway a beautiful woman to enthusiasm for digging a ditch through a hundred miles of sand in a country she’d never seen. History also reveals that in addition to being an extremely romantic figure de Lesseps was a man of action. He had served his country well and been honoured in the diplomatic service before he undertook the work that was to bring him his lasting fame. It was de Lesseps, who, on receiving word two days before the formal opening of his great work that the canal was blocked, ordered the obstacle dynamited, knowing that a charge of dynamite could cause miles and miles of the shifting sand banks of the canal to tumble into the cut. His words were “Go- get powder, powder in masses, and then if we cannot blow up the rock, we will blow ourselves up!” To fill such a romantic, not to say heroic role, 20 th CenturyFox selected Tyrone Power. The tw'o beautiful women who exert such a pc./erful influence on 'his life are played by Loretta Ydung and Annabella. The supporting cast includes J. Edward Bromberg, Joseph Schildkraut, Henry Stephenson, Sidney Blackmer, and many others. Special supports will introduce the picture. Box plans are at Begg’s or State Theatre, telephone 645.

MAJESTIC THEATRE HOP ALONG CASSIDY RETURNS MULFORD’S “PRIDE OF THE WEST” Clarence E. Mulford’s “Pride of the West,” one of the ever-popular Hopalong Cassidy series, in which William Boyd, his famous horse, and his two mates, “Lucky” and “Windy,” are very much to the fore, is now the attraction at the Majestic Theatre. The story tells of the lawless days of the West, when the stage-coach was the one means of communication between the widely-spread towns. When the stage is held up and plundered, the ranchers, led by Cassidy and his friends, rise up against the bandits who are terrorizing the countryside. A pair of criminals, posing as respectable citizens of the pioneer town in which the action of the story takes place, make their big mistake when they try to pin the blame for the robbery on Hopalong’s two friends, as this brings the Bar 20 foreman into action against them. How Cassidy, with the assistance of a daring youngster and a beautiful girl, capture the thieves redhanded, brings the picture to an exciting conclusion. With Boyd, the featured players are George Hayes, Russell Hayden, Earle Hodgins and Charlotte Field. A thrilling story of an escaped convict’s desperate effort to escape following a “break” out of Alcatraz, supposedly America’s most “unbreakable” prison, opens the story of Paramount’s new screen drama, “King of Alcatraz,” which will have its first local showing today at the Majestic Theatre. With J. Carroll Naish cast as Public Enemy No. 1, “King of Alcatraz” shows what can happen when a prisoner breaks from Alcatraz and with his loyal henchmen tries to make off with an ocean-going steamer. Paramount’s newest star discovery Robert Preston and Lloyd Nolan are the two radio operators who give Naish the battle of his life. This action-packed programme will be a very popular attraction at the Majestic.

CIVIC THEATRE “FLIGHT TO FAME” “THE LITTLE ADVENTURESS” “Flight to Fame,” Columbia’s thrilling romantic aviation drama featuring Charles Farrell and Jacqueline Wells, is the first of the two action pictures commencing at the Civic tonight. One of the most exciting and dramatic films in many months, “Flight to Fame” presents Farrell as a daredevil army pilot. The plot revolves around the invention of a mysterious “death ray” gun which turns flying planes into flaming ruins. The world’s most unique weapon figures prominently in “Flight to Fame.” It is a “death ray” gun, patterned after designs on which several scientists are now at work. The gun “fires’” an electronic beam and this beam affects metal much like a blow torch. Jason Robards, Frederick Burton, Alexander D’Arcy, Addison Richards, Charles D. Brown, Hugh Sothern and Ed Stanley head the supporting cast of “Flight to Fame.’”

With Cliff Edwards as her teammate, Columbia’s little Edith Fellows makes her reappearance in “The Little Adventuress,” a heart-thrilling tale which advance report deejares her “best to date.” Rollicking comedy, the keynote of “The Little Adventuress,” despite its heartstopping early scenes, in which Edith’s dare-devil acrobat parents perform a thrilling slide for life . . . until a wire snaps! The sensational accident sends “The Little Adventuress” on a crosscountry trek to relations in California with her only possessions a trailer and Counto, the Wonder Horse, which can do vaudeville tricks; her only friend, the banjo strumming “Ukelele Ike” of musical comedy, vaudeville and screen fame. In addition, the cast of “The Little Adventuress” boasts of Richard Fiske, sensational screen newcomer playing his first major role, and Jacqueline Wells, attractive star of many a Columbia film. Others in the brilliant supporting cast are Virginia Howell, Harry C. Bradley, Charles Waldron, Ann Doran, Stanley Brown, Edmund,

Cobb, Kenneth Harlan and others. Plans are at Begg’s or Civic, telephone 1744.

REGENT THEATRE

“THREE LOVES HAS NANCY” ’ Scintillating comedy typifies “Three Loves Has Nancy,” the cheerful screen play which will be showing today at the Regent Theatre. Janet Gaynor, Franchot Tone, and Robert Montgomery are the leading players, each in parte most suited to their talents. Janet Gaynor, after being typical of the more sentimental type of romance, emerges as a first-class comedienne. She is seen as a simple country ‘girl who comes to New York to look for a lost boy friend. Instead she finds a sophisticated novelist and his publisher (Montgomery and Tone), and, by being “neighbourly gets them and herself into many amusing complications, i and, incidentally, causes them both to fall in love with her. A tangled skein of romances is unravelled in the final sequences of the film, all ending happily. “YOUNG DR KILDARE” REFRESHING DRAMA TOMORROW Something entirely different in conception and treatment is presented in the powerful romantic drama, Young Dr Kildare,” which will have its first showing at'the Regent Theatre tomorrow. “Young Dr Kildare is different from other pictures of hospital life. First of all, its outstanding characteristic, perhaps, is the presence of two players who represent the cream Of Hollywood’s character actors. Lew Ayres’s performance in the title role is even better than those in “Rich Man, Poor Girl,” and “Holiday.” His companion, Lionel Barrymore, is world-famous for his character acting. . In fact, it would be presumption even to attempt criticism. With them are associated Lynne Carver and Jo Ann Sayers, who add much to the film’s success. Nat Pendleton and Samuel S. Hinds are also present with distinction. Kildare (Ayres) is seen as a young medical student fighting to make a success of his career at a city hospital, but suffering many setbacks at the hands of an irascible old chief, Dr Gillespie (Barrymore). Box plans are at H. and J. Smith’s, Rice s Regent shop and the Theatre.

THEATRE ROYAL, WINTON A new Hepburn, glowingly human, gloriously modern, with Cary Grant as her co-star, offers a sparkling performance, and one of the finest characterizations of the season in “Holiday.” The story of the society “black sheep” who tries to conceal her affection for her sister’s fiance, and of the promising young business man who wants to take a “Holiday” in order to learn the real meaning of life but is certain that it does not lie in money-grubbing, is brought to glorious screen fulfilment by Columbia and director George Zukor.