ENTERTAINMENTS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3826, 28 October 1936, Page 8

ENTERTAINMENTS

REGENT THEATRE. THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. “THE VIRGINIA JUDGE” “Entering motion pictures was the farthest thing from my thoughts states Marsha Hunt, 17-year-old Paramount screen discovery. Miss Hunt without a single day’s experience on the professional stage or in films, makes her debut as a him actress in Paramount’s comedy drama, “The Virginia Judge,” which corner, on Thursday, and Friday to the local Regent Theatre, and features Walter C. Kelly in the title role, Stepin Fetchit, Johnny Downs and Robert Cummings. Stepin Fetchit, negro comedian, will remember his role in “The Virginia Judge,” for a long time to come. During the filming of a carnival scene the drawling voiced comic was accidentally hit on thcl head with a genuine pool ball. The scene, a “hit-the-darky-and-win-a-cigar” sequence was to have been done with “prop” balls, but in the excitement, an actor, not noticing he had a hard ball, threw his for a bull’s eye, cutting a gash in Fetchit’s head. AGAIN TO-NIGHT. “THE PETRIFIED FOREST.” Motion picture audiences all over the world thought they had seen the ultimate in screen characterisations when, for the first time, Leslie Howard and Bette Davis were teamed in “ Of Human Bondage.” Both Mr Howard and Miss Davis were remarkable in their roles in that outstanding production. Both of them have done other fine work in more recent films. It is certain, however, that film fans and critics will for once agree that in the WlarnePßros. picture “ The Petrified Forest,” which had its local premiere at the Regent Theatre yesterday, Howard and Miss Davis dwarf all their previous screen accomplishments. “ The Petrified Forest ” was the Broadway stage success of last year, and Leslie Howard, the star, achieved a personal popularity unrivalled in the dramatic capital of the world. It is on this play written by Robert E. Sherwood that the film version, which is declared to be far better than the stage production, is based. The vast Arizona desert, which could only be suggested on the stage, is shown on

the screen in all its desolate grandeur. It is at a little service station in this desert that Sherwood assembles a collection of world misfits and outmoded personalities, and makes them look at themselves in the mirror of life and death. EMPIRE. NEXT WEEK-END. “INVITATION TO THE WALTZ.” Everything about the 8.1. P. film, “Invitation to the Waltz,” which comes to the Empire Theatre next week-end seems to be. perfect. It has a very engaging story, and the cast is ideal. Lilian Harvey, the charming leading lady, has a role that fits her like a glove, and exactly the same may be said of the handsome young man who plays opposite her, Carl Esmond. Carl is not unknown to filmgoers, for it was he who played the juvenile masculine lead in the Richard Tauber film “Blossom Time.” Carl Esmond, whose real name is Karl Simon, is distantly related to Johann Strauss, the famous composer. In “Invitation to the Waltz” he plays the part of “Max” a dashing young adjutant of the Duke of Wurtemburg and his rival to the hand of Jenny, the dancer. “Invitation to the Waltz,” which is a delightful musical romance, is one of those rare films which should definitely not be missed.