ENTERTAINMENTS

Southland Times, Issue 23990, 4 December 1939, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

REGENT THEATRE “VALLEY OF THE GIANTS” STIRRING TALE IN COLOUR “The Valley of the Giants” can be described as one of the best technicolour films of the year as well as one of the most stirring screen stories. It. is a tale of the beautiful Californian redwood forests, where the oldest living things in the world still stand—trees that were old even before the white man discovered America. In this region is the Valley of the Giants, so named because of the size of its trees, giants among giants. Here, too, is the peaceful little lumber town of San Hedrin. Wayne Morris’s part in this film is that of the owner of the Valley of the Giants and the owner of most of San Hedrin. The life of the valley is peaceful, and slow cutting leaves the timber country almost untouched till a lumber baron, from the east, sees its riches. He- moves into San Hedrin.and by twisting the law to ‘his' own ends- manages to buy up much of the timber country around the valley. The valley itself is still intact, and when the lumber baron (Charles Bickford) begins to cast his eyes in that direction the action of the film really begins. And there is action in plenty. Claire Trevor plays the part owner of the town’s gambling saloon, a woman whose life has been nothing but gambling and who casts her lot with Bickford in an attempt to force Wayne Morris out of the valley. How the peaceful valley and town are turned into a wide-open gambling den with feeling running high and fists flying freely makes a stirring film. The technicolour photography is excellent and with the beautiful Californian redwood forest as the background it leaves a lasting memory. The supporting cast is worthy of the principals and the performances are uniformly good. _ The rest of the programme includes a cartoon, a musical comedy, and the latest battle scenes from the Polish war front.

MAJESTIC THEATRE “THE FRONTIERSMEN” FINALLY Clarence E. Mulford’s latest thrillpacked Western drama, “The Frontiersmen,” which has his popular fictional characters, Hopalong Cassidy, Windy Hayes and Lucky Jenkins featured, will conclude at the Majestic today. Also on this programme is Paramount’s screen. version of Mark Train’s “Tom Sawyer, Detective,” with Billy Cooke as Tom Sawyer and Donald O’Connor as Huckleberry Finn. The current issue of the Cinesound News shows the opening of the Centennial Exhibition in Wellington by Lord Galway. “SERVICE DE LUXE” AND “S O S!” Universal has assembled an ambitious cast for the principal roles in its madcap comedy, “Service de Luxe,” which commences a three-day season at the Majestic tomorrow, Tuesday. Constance Bennett, Vincent Price, Charlie Ruggles, Mischa Auer, Helen Broderick and Joy Hodges are the principal players in this grand comedy entertainment. The story concerns Constance Bennett as Dorothy Madison, the proprietress of the Dorothy Madison Services, a firm which can iron out anybody’s troubles. However, when Dorothy Madison finds domestic troubles of her own, is when the fun starts. This is a picture with splendid dialogue and brilliant situations and all the members of this top-line cast handle their parts in the expected first-class manner. “S O S Tidal Wave!” has Ralph Byrd, George Barbier, Kay Sutton and Frank Jenks starred in a Jules Verne type of drama in which the audience sees a tidal wave envelop and destroy New York City. “S O S Tidal Wave!” is the supreme thriller among all thrillers'. Plans are now on view at H. and J. Smith’s Departmental Store box office, Rice’s Majestic Theatre confectionery shop, or at the theatre. Telephone 738. CIVIC THEATRE “UNDER TWO FLAGS” “Under Two Flags,” which screens at the Civic finally at 7.45 tonight, is the film version of the

famous story by “Ouida.” Ronald Colman and Claudette Colbert are in the leading roles and the strong support- ' ing cast is headed by Rosalind Russell and Victor McLaglen. The story tells of “Cigarette,” adopted daughter of the famous foreign legion, who falls in love with an obscure corporal and risks death to save him from the vengeance of the Arabs. Her happiness is threatened when an Englishwoman appears in the garrison town and resumes an interrupted romance with the corporal, who is really the son of a noble English house in voluntary exile. The climak is full of action, and the battle scenes in tKe desert are among the best ever filmed. A new kind of Western picture is the Civic’s second attraction tonight. Buck Jones in “Stone of Silver Creek.” It tells an exciting story of events in a frontier town, with a sharply drawn picture of the struggle between good and evil. Never before has an outdoor drama combined so many features which furnish real entertainment to a theatre audience, including as it does a story of exceptional power, acting or the highest quality, lilting songs and the breath-taking scenery of the great West. Noel Francis, Marion Shilling ana Peggy Campbell are .Jones’s three leading ladies in this thrilling picture. Box plans are at the Civic Theatre, telephone 1744. STATE THEATRE “CAPTAIN FURY” TODAY Dramatizing the roaring adventure and rich romance of the pioneering days in Australia in the early 19th century, Hal Roach’s “Captain Fury, costarring Brian Aherne, Victor McLaglen and June lang, is screening at the State at 2.0 and 8.0 daily. Rounding out the hand-picked ' cast of stars who portray the heroes and heroines of those dauntless days are such wellknown Hollywood players as John Carradirie, George Zucco, Paul Lukas and Virginia Field. Briefly, the story concerns the high, wide and handsome adventures of Captain Fury, a political prisoner from Ireland, who arrives in Australia to discover the perfidious and greedy practices of land barons who are trying to oust the settlers and colonists so that they can establish vast feudal estates and rule them like medieval tyrants. Fury is set to work, shearing sheep, on the compound of Arnold Trist, a cold-blooded villain who has been terrorizing the entire settlement, a few hundred miles outside of Sydney. How Fury outwits this man and brings civilized law and order to the community provides a thrilling climax to the story which is filled with many hairraising, blood-and-thunder episodes. Special supports include the newest “March of Time” entitled “Background for War: The Mediterranean.” Box plans are at Begg’s or State Theatre, telephone 645.