CINEMA PROGRAMMES

Taranaki Daily News, 13 February 1935, Page 2

CINEMA PROGRAMMES

NEW PLYMOUTH OPERA HOUSE. COMEDY-MYSTERY DRAMA. The Story of “The Notorious Sophie Lang,” which commences at the New Plymouth Opera House to-day at 2 and 8 p.m., is a story of a stolen necklace (or necklaces). Police Inspector Pan (played by Arthur Byron) was very anxious to meet this notorious female criminal (played by Gertrude Michael). He did meet her, but he did not know it; she met him under the disguise of a wronged damsel; he took her to his fatherly heart to comfort her, and when Sophie had got off the premises the inspector found that the necklace he had recovered had gone with her. After that there is a great hue and cry after Sophie and after the equally notorious male criminal Max Bernard (played by Paul Cavanagh). The two handsome Crooks start out to cheat each other, but end by falling in love. Alison Skipworth plays well as the elderly female accomplice of Sophie, whose mission it is to carry the goldfish bowl (which Contains something else beswl ■ goldfish). Ferdinand Gottschalk’s unforgettable face finds a good place as the chief jeweller (who photographed himself instead of the criminal). Excellent comedy relief is supplied by Leon Errol in the role of a bewildered assistant to the police inspector. An entertaining supporting programme precedes the main feature and altogether the programme is one that can be highly recommended. REGENT TO-NIGHT. HEPBURN IN “SPITFIRE.”

Filmed in the rugged grandeur of the highest peaks of the San Jacinto mountains in California, Katharine Hepburn’s latest starring vehicle, ‘ Jpitfire,” comes to the Regent Theatre for the first time to-night. Picturised from the Broadway ' stage success, “Trigger,” it is the story of a beautiful girl of the Carolina ’ mountains who is part saint and part devil. Taking literally the texts on cards which she has stolen from a Sunday school, she acquires an implicit faith in the Infinite, and through this faith she undertakes to perform miracles of healing by prayer. She secretly ministers to her mountain neighbours, curing many of their ills, but her beneficence goes unappreciated and unrewarded, for the mountain folk believe her a witch. Soon after the story begins, two men come into her life, men from the civilised and cultured world she has never known, and both fall in love with her. One loves her in an unselfish way, and the other does not, and it is on her misinterpretation of their respective motives that the romance of this drama is built. The supporting features include Pathe News; “In Laws and Out” (comedy), and “J6st of Honour” (cartoon). EVERYBODY’S TO-NIGHT. WHEELER AND WOOLSEY. The novel idea of casting the popular comedians, Wheeler and Woolsey, as a pair of gallant knights in the days of old is carried out in “Cockeyed Cavaliers,” which begins at Everybody’s tonight. The result is first-class burlesque, full of humour and gaiety. There is a touch of joyous abandon about the adventures of this incongruous pair in medieval England which strikes a refreshing note. The antics of Wheeler, Who suffers from kleptomania, are hilarious, and the sight of Woolsey, with his cigar and horn-rimmed glasses, is very amusing. These two players act in their characteristically amusing manner, and the film abounds in witty repartee. With its modern music and dialogue set against an old-world background, the picture is a fine burlesque. The story tells of the efforts of two knights to assist a pretty girl to escape marrying a duke. They journey to the dukes mansion, where one falls in love with his niece. After curing the duke with veterinary methods they enter a boar hunt to raise some money. This hunt is one of the most thrilling incidents produced on the screen, and is screamingly funny, bringing the film to a hilarious climax. A good performance is given by Noah Beery whose fine baritone voice is heard is “The Big Bad Wolf Is Dead.” Another tuneful song is “I Love to Dilly Dally. The charming Dorothy Lee and Thelma Todd have prominent roles and provide much of the romance of the film. The rest of the cast give good support. The featurettes include Universal News, Audio Review, Pathe News, and a reissue of Charlie Chaplin’s two-reel comedy, “The Adventurer.” PLAZA, STRATFORD. “VIVA VILLA.” “Berkeley Square,” in which Leslie Howard and Heather Angel are costarred, is an unusual and delightful entertainment which was screened at the Plaza Theatre last evening. It will b& finally screened to-night. Metro-Gold-wyn-Mayer, which gave the world “Eskimo,” “Trader Horn,” “Ben Hur” and Others, has come through with another great screen classic. It is “Viva Villa, which will open at the Plaza Theatie td-morrow with Wallace Beery as the star. Taking its place among the film masterpieces of all time, “Viva Villa! is at once one of the most powerful and the most human dramas ever screened. It is a fictional version of the life and loyes of PanChp Villa, the great Mexican revolutionary general, whose name was in the headlines almost constantly in the decade preceding the world war yet it is more than biography. His love affair with Katherine De Mille, who plays his fictional wife, is one of the highlights of the picture, as is his mad infatuation for Fay Wray, portraying the proud mistress of a great hacienda. Beery gives easily the greatest performance of his career. KING’S THEATRE. POLICE WORK IN “HEADQUARTERS” “Let’s be Ritzy,” and “Uncertain Lady,”, the delightful double-bill _ attraction which was screened at the Kings Theatre last night will be screened finally to-night. “From Headquarters,” the novel Warner Bros, mystery drama, which will come to the King's Theatre to-morrow, illustrates many of the scientific methods us6d by police in the unearthing of clues. Among them is the microscopic detection of clues in blood-stained handkerchiefs—the reading of invisible markings and writings by the aid of ultraviolet rays, and the ballistic studies which establish beyond a shadow of a doubt whether a bullet has been fired from a certain pistol and how far from the gun the victim was at the time the pistol was fired. Due to these scientific methods the police have been able to do away with the brutal third degree methods of obtaining confessions and in a large measure remove much of the air of “circumstantial evidence” from a majority of homicide cases. Heading the large cast of “From Headquarters” are George Brent, Margaret Lindsay, EugPne Pallette and Hugh Herbert.