ENTERTAINMENTS

Taranaki Daily News, 13 December 1932, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

NEW PLYMOUTH OPERA HOUSE. “SUICIDE FLEET”. • “Suicide Fleet,” a thrilling picture of the sea which has been attracting much, attention at the New Plymouth Opera House will be screened for the last time to-night. “HER MAJESTY LOVE” TO-MORROW. In “Her Majesty Love,”, which opens at the Opera House to-morrow, love laughs, not at locksmiths, but at Ballbearings, the hero being bound at the tail of a vast commercial enterprise which has a monopoly of them. The Von Wellingen Ball-bearing Corporation, of Berlin, has so thriven in three generations that the social rank of all shareholders is at the zenith. Then the only active, youthful brain amongst the figureheads and dowagers who form the directorate falls in love with the barmaid at a fashionable cabaret, and seriously intends to marry her. It is shocking, and the comedy which , revolves round the genuflections to the marks enshrined in ball-bearings is delightful. Marilyn Miller, as Lia, the queenly creature who mixes cocktails for the ballbearing barons and their satellites, proves very human at close range. Ben Lyon, as Fred Von Wellingen, the hero, is faced with a salary of 10,000 marks and a chief directorship in the corporation as the price of relinquishing Lia, whose father (W. C. Fields) has achieved mild success as a barber, after a chequered career in vaudeville. Fred yields to the marks, but cannot keep it up, and a brilliant, richly-staged banqueting and night-life satire on Berlin high life ends in the lovers being re-united. Chester Conklin and Fields supply the humour, while bright dialogue is bandied between the rest of the cast,

REGENT THEATRE. BRITISH- PICTURE “Life Goes On,” the highly entertaining British attraction starring Hugh Wakefield, Elsie Randolph . and Betty Stockfield, will be finally screened at The Regent, New Plymouth, .to-night. There is a varied supporting programme. COMMENCING TO-MORROW NIGHT. “Bachelor’s Affairs,” the Fox production, with Adolphe Menjou in the featured role, comes to the Regent Theatre tomorrow (Wednesday) night. Based on James Forbes’ successful stage play, it tells the story of a middle-aged bachelor who, through the machinations of the girl’s sister, marries a youthful flapper of the beautiful but not brilliant type. Events soon prove to him that he has made a serious mistake and he sets about to extricate himself from the entanglement in which he finds himself. Minna Gombell, one of the outstanding comediennes of films, appears in the leading role of the gold-digging sister, and Joan Marsh, one of the most beautiful blondes in motion pictures, portrays the role of the girl. Other favourites in important roles include Allan Dinehart, Herbert Mundin, Arthur Pierson, Irene Purcell and Don Alvarado. EVERYBODY’S. MARIE DRESSLER IN “EMMA.” Marie Dressier, who alternates successfully between comedy and stirring character portrayals, has brought a blend of both to the screen in “Emma,” the remarkable ■ film now showing to large audiences at Everybody’s ■ Theatre, New Plymouth. Although there are plenty of laughs in her latest story,. “Emma” stands out as a picture which gives Miss Dressier the greatest acting opportunities of her career. There are very few dry eyes in the theatre when the picture makes its final fade out. Incidentally, this is the star’s first straight character portrayal since her work in “Min

and Bill,” the picture which won her the Academy award for the best, performance of any. actress in 1931. “Emma” is an original story of family life,' by Frances Marion, who wrote “Min. and Bill.” Miss Dressier is seen as a servant in a rich man’s home, who works all her life slaving for his children to whom she is a second mother. When she ultimately becomes the wife of the millionaire, the children turn against her, refusing to accept her as a stepmother, because it impairs their social ambitions. . ;,The death of the millionaire results in a notorious will contest, which involves “Emma” in an accusation -of murder. The story is theri brought to a surprising but logical conclusion. Miss Dressier, gives a flawless performance, and again proves that she is in a class of her own, whether she is getting laughs by means of her riotous facial contortions, or tears by her natural and sympathetic acting. Excellent support is given the star in the work of‘Richard Cromwell, as the youngest son who is the only one to stick by the maligned servant, and Jean Hersholt in the role of the millionaire. - Myrna Loy’, John' Miljan, Purnell B. Pratt, Leila Bennett, Barbara Kent and Kathryn Crawford also score. “Emma” screens again tonight and to-morrow night with matinee screenings each afternoon. •_

NEW THEATRE, OPUNAKE.

“NIGHT WORLD.”.

“Night World,” which is to* be . presented at. the New Theatre, Opunake, tonight, is a story of a man who was disgusted with life until he was about to lose it. This Universal drama of. the Great White Way and what goes,on behind the gay scenes in. . Broadway’s pleasure places—“ Night World” sensationally exposes the “cafe racket” which is causing comment all oyer the country. There is a kick in every scene of “Night World.” Lew -Ayres gives his greatest emotional characterisation in the starring role, and Mae Clarke is the sympathetic chorus girl who stirs his emotions. Boris Karloff who chilled you in . “Frankenstein”—is the happy-go-lucky host' whose underworld activities make things happen in a large and exciting way. Dorothy Revier, Russell Hopton,; . Clarence .Muse, Bert Roach, Dorothy Peterson, Huntley Gordon, Gene Morgan and many other prime screen favourites, all directed by the master of human emotion, Director Hobart Henley. “OVER THE HILL.” “Over the Hill,” Fox special which is to be presented at the New Theatre, Opunake, on Wednesday and Thursday, has been heralded as “the finest'human drama since the advent of talking pictures.” A cross-section of a family, “Over the Hill” tells a double story of romance and love. It deals with the drama, the comedy and the pathos of a mother and her growing brood. It depicts the defeats and.the victories of a young couple starting life in a hard and hostile world. James Dunn and Sally Eilers, as the young lovers, give the finest performances of their careers in the new film. Mae Marsh has surpassed her work in “The Birth of a Nation” and “Intolerance.” Returning to the screen after twelve years of motherhood in real life, she gives one of the finest mother performances in the history-of the screen.