THE THEATRES

Southland Times, Issue 24440, 21 May 1941, Page 3

THE THEATRES

REGENT MELVYN DOUGLAS AND LORETTA - YOUNG ‘HE STAYED FOR BREAKFAST’ There are plenty of laughs interspersed with the smart dialogue of “He Stayed for Breakfast, ’ which is showing again today and tomorrow at the Regent Theatre. Loretta Young and Melvyn Douglas are co-starred in a story which gives them full scope to display their talent for light satire. Loretta, who agreeably surprised her fans with her performance in The Doctor Takes a Wife,” is seen to even greater advantage in this new him. Douglas, ever since his performance in “She Married Her Boss,” has steadily been climbing the ladder to fame and his role here is really his greatest and most sparkling contribution. He Stayed for Breakfast” is the type of film that will entertain every type of movie-fan and coax them to go away from the theatre feeling that there is quite a lot of fun left in the world after all. The hilarious situations come toppling out one after the other and it is almost difficult to keep track of all the sparkling dialogue above the laughter of the audience. Each reel reveals some surprising new situation which sends them into further uproars. Members of the supporting cast include Eugene Pallette, Alan Marshal and Una O’Connor.

“THE GREAT DICTATOR”

STATE AND CIVIC Charlie Chaplin in “The Great Dictator” screens at the State Theatre at 2.0 and 8.0 today and also at the Civic tonight at 7.45. Final screenings take place at the State only tomorrow at 2.0 and 8.0. “To me the funniest thing in the world can be the ridicule .of ‘phonies’ and ‘stuffed shirts’ in high places,” writes Charles Chaplin in a special article. “The bigger the ‘phony’ you have to work on, the better chance you have for a funny picture—and it would be difficult to find another ‘phony’ as big as Hitler. He is the best target in the world for satire and ridicule. That’s why I enjoyed making ‘The Great Dictator.’ Some people have suggested that I made the picture for propaganda purposes. That is far from the truth. I am not interested in propaganda as such—most propaganda is didactic and dull. I made ‘The Great Dictator’ because I hate dictators and because I want people to laugh. If I had a motive in making the movie other than the desire to provide entertainment, I would not call it propaganda. I am not in politics; I am not particularly impressed with systems of politics, but Ido think I am a humanitarian, as everyone who follows the artistic professions believes himself to be. I don’t like the idea of an individual or a system kicking around a lot of small, helpless people. Hitler, to me, beneath that stern and foreboding appearance he gives in newsreels and news photographs, actually is a small, mean, and petty neurasthenic. Mussolini suggests an entirely different character —loud, noisy, boastful, a peasant at heart.” Box plans for the State are at Begg’s or State Theatre. Civic plans are at Matheson’s till 5 p.m., then at the Civic Theatre.

MAJESTIC

There have been many exciting films of the air, such as “Ceiling Zero,” “Wings” and “Dawn Patrol.” But in Warner Bros.’ new film, “Flight Angels” now showing at the Majestic Theatre, movie-goers will see a thrilling picture whose theme deals with the careers of flight angels (airline hostesses). The film’s all-star cast includes such popular players as Dennis Morgan, Virginia Bruce, Wayne Morris, Ralph Bellamy, Jane Wyman and John Litel. Virginia Bruce plays the role of a charming and efficient hostess. She persuades Dennis Morgan, who plays the part of an ace pilot to take a job as teacher in the air lines training school when he is grounded because his eyesight is failing. Everything goes along smoothly until Morgan learns that the army is going to test a stratosphere plane that he and Wayne Morris, in the role of his co-pilot, have designed. Dennis makes the test flight in an exciting aviation scene which forms the climax of this supercharged air thriller. The associate feature on today’s programme, Warner Bros.’ “Granny Get Your Gun” is a western comedy satire starring May Robson as a two-gun western sheriff with Harry Davenport

as her equally enthusiastic gunning deputy. May returns to Navada where she had grub-staked a fortune from gold 50 years before. She becomes implicated in a murder of which she is innocent and the manner in which she proves her innocence through introducing old western two-gun methods provides some of the best comedy seen in years. Margot Stevenson, Hardie Albright and Ann Todd are in the supporting cast. Plans are now on view at H. and J. Smith’s, Rice’s Majestic sweet shop and at the Majestic Theatre.

EMPIRE, RIVERTON

“An Englishman’s Home,” a British drama featuring Edmund Gwenn and Mary Maguire, will be presented at Riverton tonight. As a stage play it was hissed off the stage in Berlin. Written by Guy du Maurier, it was originally written to warn England of the perils of unpreparedness. The story deals with a typical Englishman who is firmly convinced that all these war preparations are so much waste of good money. It is a timely offering and a thrilling contribution to the war effort.