ENTERTAINMENTS

Southland Times, Issue 23978, 20 November 1939, Page 2

ENTERTAINMENTS

REGENT THEATRE “HONOLULU” ELEANOR, POWELL BRILLIANT a* Brilliant dancing by Eleanor Powell and that type of comedy which is exclusively Robert Young’s are the main features of “Honolulu,” which began a successful season at the Regent Theatre on Saturday evening. Even apart from the attractions provided by the two stars, the film has a host of minor attractions and an unusual plot that would carry it on. to success. George Bruns and Gracie Allen are also in the cast and Gracie Allens inane comedy provides many amusing diversions from the sophisticated wit of Robert Young. Young himself is* cast in two roles—as a popular film star—too popular for his own comfort—:and as the owner of a pineapple plantation in Hawaii. This in itself creates much of the comedy, for the two men agree to change identities for a short period. The complications that arise from the activities of the two men in their different situations and with each other’s fiancees make hilarious comedy. One thing about the film that stamps it with the hallmark of success is the presence of Eleanor Powell. Miss Powell gives several dances, mainly tap dances, but the outstanding one is her “Honolulu drum dance.” This introduces something entirely new to Invercargill audiences. It could be described as ballet dancing, but it is ballet with a difference. This dance should prove one of the main attractions of the film. Miss Powell is supported in the dance by a bevy of Hawaiian beauties and the music is supplied by an orchestra of drums and canes. The story of the film is that Robert Young is a film actor whose popularity is rather too much for him. He has a double, apd the idea comes to him to send his double to New York instead of himself for a personal appearance tour. He himself takes over the double’s life and position as a pineapple grower in Hawaii. But he does not reckon with his double’s fiancee and his activities. He meets Miss Powell on the boat and the romance springs from the meeting. Altogether “Honolulu” is one of the best musical comedies of the year. The supporting programme is outstanding. It includes an “Our Gang comedy—itself an attraction—the latest air mail news of the conquest of Poland, a Robert Benchley comedy, and a Fitzpatrick travelogue of rural Hungary.

STATE THEATRE “WUTHERING HEIGHTS” TODAY Samuel Goldwyn’s “Wuthering Heights,” based on the unforgettable love story of the Emily Bronte novel of the same name screens at the State Theatre at 2 and 8 today. Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier are cast as the romantic lovers who discover the beauty and despair of love as they wander over the desolate moors of the Yorkshire country. The stars are brilliantly supported by a cast of outstanding players, including David Niven, Flora Robson, Hugh Williams, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Donald Crisp and Miles Mander. “Wuthering Heights” was directed with skill, understanding and emotional sweep by William Wyler, who previously turned out such notable screen offerings a§*“D<ft'd End,”'•‘Jezebel,” “These Three,” and “Dodsworth.” Briefly, the story concerns the lives of five strangely-assorted persons. Its mood is one of great love and great disaster, played out in an atmosphere of strange emotions, strange hates, strange moods. Merle Oberon is magnificently past as Cathy, a high-spirited beauty whose life is mysteriously influenced by the moors on which she has lived all her life. Laurence Olivier plays the role of Heathcliff, a brooding, melancholy figure in love with Cathy, with remarkable strength and poignant fervour. David Niven, as Edgar Linton, turns in a portrait of unusual fidelity and conviction, and Flora Robson, known as England’s greatest character actress, is perfectly cast as Cathy’s nurse. ‘ Box plans are on view now at Begg’s or State Theatre, telephone 645.

CIVIC THEATRE “ROMANCE OF THE REDWOODS” “Romance of the Redwoods,” screening finally at 7.45 tonight at the Civic and starring Charles Bickford, Jean Parker and Lloyd Hughes, is set against the majestic savagery of America’s timber belt, the Pacific North-West. It is one of the most beautiful films made in recent years, possessed of all the breathtaking beauty of the backwoods country, with its great trees, its turbulent rivers and riotous mill towns. The new film also possesses a story as sweeping and as savage as the mighty background against which it is played. “Romance of the Redwoods” is primarily concerned with the emotions which struggle within the breast of one man, a rugged lumberjack, who is torn between friendship and love. The logger,, admiring a young backwoods girl, watches her fall in love with the city-bred youth with whom he himself has formed a close friendship. The stirring Columbia melodrama “Hidden Power,” starring Jack Holt as a research scientist who wages a daring struggle against a group of munitions magnates is the Civic’s second attraction. Gertrude Michael ‘and Dickie Moore head the strong supporting cast which includes Regis Toomey, Holmes Herbert, Marilyn Knowlden and Henry Kolker. Popular prices tonight are 1/- and 1/6. MAJESTIC THEATRE “STAND UP AND FIGHT” Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s “Stand Up and Fight,” a red-blooded story of the feud between the stage coach lines and the railroad during the 1850’s, will conclude at the Majestic today. Robert Taylor and Wallace Beery are starred with Florence Rice, Helen Broderick, Charles Bickford and Barton Mac Lane prominently cast. JACK BUCHANAN TOMORROW “The Gang’s All Here” is a comedy satire at the expense of the American gangster, with Jack Buchanan in the leading role. He is supported by Edward Everett Horton, Otto Kruger, Jack Larue, Georgie Withers and Syd Walker. “The Gang’s All Here’,’ is England’s equivalent of Hollywood’s “Thin Man” pictures and combines extremely funny comedy with a well-balanced mystery plot. This picture will begin at the Majestic Theatre tomorrow, Tuesday. The associate feature, “Hollywood Stadium Mystery,” has Neil Hamilton, Evelyn Venable and Jimmy Wallington featured in a baffling murder mystery. Plans are now on view at H. and J. Smith’s Department Store box office, Rice’s Majestic Theatre confectionery shop or at the theatre. Telephone 738.