ENTERTAINMENTS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 56, Issue 4016, 23 February 1938, Page 12

ENTERTAINMENTS

AT THE REGENT. • THE ROAD BACK.” COMMENCING TO-NIGHT. “What does to-morrow hold?” That is a question which many people are asking themselves as they peruse the cable news from day to day. Enrich Maria Remarque, author of “All Quiet on the Western Front,” did his best in that book to show' to what animal depths man could sink in the prosecution of war. He has since written two more sober and studied accounts of the aftermath of the last war. One is “The Road Back,” and the other “Three Comrades.” In view of the trend of current events, therefore, untold significance attaches to the film version of “The Road Back” made by the same company which made “All Quiet on the Western Front.” The film version of the story has been written by R. C. Sherriff, author of “Journey’s End,” and a reading of the original book and actual film script shows that Sherriff has faithfully retained all the essential parts of the story and dramatised them most effectively. The film will be released tonight in Te Awamutu and should create a stir as a powerful indictment of the futility of war and its aftereffects. AT THE EMPIRE. COMMENCING TO-NIGHT. “IDOL OF THE CROWDS.” Hollywood believes the most important ingredient of a good motion picture is action. Many other ingredients are necessary. There may be youth, beauty, talent, plot, sparkling sets, good photography, careful direction, but unless the story moves swiftly it misses fire. A good example of an action picture is “Idol of the Crowds” opening at the Empire Theatre to-night. There is action from opening scene, which presents a surprise introduction. The scene in which two racing taxicabs smash into one another and careen across a sidewalk into a building is breath-taking. The scenes at the roller skating rink, and the later and

more spectacular scenes at the ice hockey rink, throb with action. Progressing throughout at top speed, the picture deals with the adventures of a handsome young amateur hockey player, John Wayne, who joins a professional ice hockey team in New York,