AMUSEMENTS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18615, 10 July 1930, Page 11

AMUSEMENTS.

“BLACKMAIL.” FINE BRITISH TALKIE. Britain’s first “talkie” picture, “Blackmail,” which has long been awaited by Timaru theatre patrons, is the current attraction at the Majestic Theatre. With it come two littleknown stars, Anny Ondra and John Longden, and their acting is as much a revelation as is the picture itself. With the exception of Miss Ondra, none of the players had had previous screen experience, but their work possesses a polish which only their extensive stage careers cculd have given. Perhaps the most pleasing feature of the production is its clarity of diction, all the actors possessing well-modulated, cultured voices, which add greatly to the enjoyment of the picture. The plot of the story itself is sufficiently gripping to warrant entertainment of rare excellence, and the manner in which it is presented leaves little to be desired. If Alice White, the pretty daughter of a London shopkeeper, had not been angry with her lover, who is a member of the Flying Squad, for being late to keep an appointment, the story would never have been told. They go to the Ice Rink, both angry with each other, where they meet a handsome who offers to take Alice round, as Frank, her boy friend, cannot skate. Later, he sees that the newcomer has grown very friendly with Alice, and leaves the place in a huff. Alice leaves shortly after with the stranger, who describes himself as an artist. They go to his flat, and he attempts to assault her, but in the struggle she grabs a knife from the table, and kills him. In escaping, she is seen by a man who enters the place after her. In the morning, at the shop, she meets Frank, who is in charge of the case. He shows her a glove she left in the compartment, and decides to keep the matter a secret. The man of the night next appears, and produces the other glove. He demands money for his silence, and they pay him off for the time, but a woman who had seen him loitering around the studio, has reported him to the police, who identify him as a notorious blackmailer, and set after him. Frank becomes fed-up of paying, and also puts the Flying Squad on the trail. The chase finishes on the roof of the British Museum, where the quarry falls through the glass dome, and dies with his secret untold. Frank returns to Scotland Yard to report, and sees Alice about I to confess, but the Chief is called to j the telephone, and he takes the oppori tunity of getting the girl out of the | room, all ending satisfactorily. Outj standing featurettes include the fam- ; ous operatic tenor, Giovanni Martini elli, in a pleasing number, May Usher, : the vaudeville comedienne, and a i Paramount Sound News. ( There will be a matinee at 2.15 to- ! day. “HARD TO GET.” AT THEATRE ROYAL. One of the most human, realistic celluloid stories since the films became famous unreels at the Theatre Royal to-night. The film is called “Hard to Get,” but it isn’t hard to take. Dorothy Mackaill stars in it for First National pictures. Miss Mackaill was never better, but even her most radical “fans” will have to admit that she owes a great deal to the wonderful team work of the supporting cast in “Hard To Get.” There’s that young man, Charles Delaney, who plays opposite. He entered pictures as a stunt flier, having been a World War ace. Strange to say, although he has never been on the stage, pictures brought him right to that pot of gold at the end of the film rainbow. It is hard to beat the celluloid miming of Louise Fazenda, Jack Oakie, James Finlayson, Edmund Burns and Clarissa Selwynne in any picture. They’re unusually good in “Hard to Get.” In the cast is a little film girl who some day is likely to be heard from around the stellar broadcasting heights. Her name is Margaret Beaudine, and she is the daughter of Director William Beaudine. It only requires seeing her act her little part, to convince one that that is not why she got the part. Daddy’s influence may help, but “Mickey” carries on for herself. The story is a very human and amusing one of a New York mannequin, who leaves her parents’ flat every morning to spend the day posing for millionaires’ wives in clothes that only millionaires can afford. Consequently morning and night, she stalks the elusive millionaire in the traffic jungles of Fifth Avenue. The way in ■which she bags a garage mechanic by mistake is quite novel. “Hard to Get” is founded on a stage play, but evidently—and fortunately—it has been completely remodelled to fit it to the medium of motion pictures. Excellent featurettes include Johnny Marvin and his orchestra, Adele Rowland in “Stories in Songs,” Harry Wayman and his Debutantes, the Record Boys and a Paramount Sound News. Seats may be reserved through telephone 570.