AMUSEMENTS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18652, 22 August 1930, Page 7

AMUSEMENTS.

“ GUILTY.” AT THE GRAND. An interesting theme with strong •situations and stirring climaxes are a few of the features that render “Guilty?”—the Columbia all-talking drama at the Grand Theatre last night, one of the most absorbing dramas of the current season. Virginia Valli and John Holland play the leading roles. George B. Seitz handled the direction. The story is based on a fascinating and novel treatment of the circumstantial evidence theme. A Southern senator is railroaded to prison on a false bribery charge. Ten years later he is released on parole. His daughter falls in love with the son of the judge who is instrumental in convicting him. When the judge refuses to consent to the marriage because of the senator’s prison terms, the old man decides to commit suicide so as not to stand in the way of his daughter’s happiness. How the judge’s son is accused and convicted of the murder of the old senator, even though the case against him is purely circumstantial, supply the rest of the action. Virginia Valli, who plays the leading feminine role, is one cinema star who can never be called a “type.” She has an invaluable gift, the ability to change her personality as often as she changes her gown—or her mind. This versatility, as well as her beauty, are the chief reasons for her screen success. George B. Seitz, director of “Guilty?” began his motion picture career by writing one and two reelers for Pathe. He was later made scenario editor, and then director of serials. From serials Seitz turned his attention to big features. Good supports complete an entertaining programme. “PLEASURE CRAZED.” AT THE ROYAL. Dorothy Burgess and Marguerite Churchill are both seen and heard again in the newest Fox Movietone all talker, “Pleasure Crazed,” at the Royal. The new production has many outdoor sequences that are faithfully reproduced in sound, speech and pictorially, includng a polo game and an exciting automobile “chase.” Kenneth Mac Kenna has the leading male role, and Campbell Gullan, Henry Kolker, Douglas Gilmore, Rex Bell, Frederick Graham and Charlotte Merriam are among the supports. “THE DELIGHTFUL ROGUE.” AT THE MAJESTIC. “The Delightful Rogue,” starring Rod la Rocque and Rita la Roy, was shown again at the Majestic last night, and is the principal feature of a programme of varied interest. “ The Delightful Rogue” tells at length the bold adventures of a modern pirate, the notorious Captain Lastro (Rod la Rocque) and his final success in winning the love of Nydra, a dancing girl in the Barbary Cafe. The supports are of especial interest and combine with the main attraction to make a good evening’s entertainment. THE LOVE PARADE.” SEASON COMMENCES SATURDAY. Comic opera of the jolliest variety awaits the - screengoer at the Majestic Theatre, where Paramount will disclose its widely heralded “The Love Parade.” The audible screen has disclosed no more pleasing entertainer than Chevalier. In none of the earlier talking pictures, dramatic, comic or musical — have there been lines that crackled so crisply with the bon mots of sophistication. Nowhere else may one encounter the effective directorial touches and the elegant photography that have gone into “ The Love Parade.” Maurice Chevalier, with the guiding hand, of Ernst Lubitsch, makes “ The Love Parade” into a romantic comedy that bears the imprint of the boulevards upon it, something provokingly Continental. Without his singing, his mildly-wicked jokes, his accent, his bold way, “The Love Parade” might just be another very pleasing musical romance, but with the Frenchman at the head of the cast it immediately takes its place in the very front rank of talking pictures. It is adapted from the play, “The Prince Consort,” the story of the gay Count Alfred Renard, military attache at the Sylvanian Embassy in Paris, who is recalled to explain away to Queen Louise of Sylvania his scandalous behaviour in the French capital. After being rebuked by her Majesty, he is invited to dinner, for the Queen, being beautiful and human, would know more of this Count Alfred. At the close of the dinner scene the screen immediately presents the wedding scene; and that is only the beginning of the trouble. The erstwhile military attache resents being merely the Prince Consort, “the obedient and docile husband” of the Queen, and his ingenious methods of making himself King of Sylvania are deliciously amusing and subtle. “The Love Parade” is a picture that everyone should see, for to see it is to enjoy two or three hours of Chevalier’s incomparable acting and singing. Some of his songs are “My Love Parade,” “Anything to Please the Queen,” and “Nobody’s Using it Now,” the last-named being particularly funny. Jeanette MacDonald is the Queen, an actress who has a fine voice, the ability to act, a sense of humour and personal beauty, attributes one rarely finds all in the one woman. Lupino Lane as Chevalier’s valet, Edgar Norton as the Master of Ceremonies, and Lionel Belmore as the Prime Minister, are all comedy types who help the picture to be even more amusing. Supporting films include a song cartoon, “I'm Afraid to Go Home in the Dark.” and the fourth Rugby Test played at Wellington between Britain and New Zealand. Box plans for the evening sessions are at the Bristol. Reservations for Saturday’s matinee are at the Majestic office.