AMUSEMENTS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXV, Issue 18971, 2 September 1931, Page 11

AMUSEMENTS.

GRETA GARBO IN ‘‘INSPIRATION.’’ AT THE MAJESTIC. Glamorous Greta Garbo comes back with more lure than that of the silent days in “Inspiration,” her new Metro-Qoldwyn-Mayer talking picture, which opens at the Majestic Theatre this afternoon. “Anna Christie” may have plumbed life deeper; "Romance” may have outcharmed in charm, but this striking new vehicle for the exotic star eclipses in dramatic appeal anything she has done, silent or sound. As Yvonne, the favourite of the modem Paris art colony, Miss Garbo rises to heights she has never before known. Her grasp is stronger in the dramatic incidents. Her touch of pathos in that last, desperate moment is brilliant. Clarence Brown, who did so well with Garbo’s vocal debut, as well as with some of her most successful silent films, again was responsible for the direction of her new picture. Robert Montgomery plays opposite the star as her provincial lover, and his captivating negotiation of the romantic role should send his screen stock high—if he can go any higher. Montgomery makes an ideal leading man for Garbo. Lewis Stone, contributes another fine performance as Delval, the suave boulevardier, to whom Yvonne turns in need. Marjorie Rambeau, now a regular fllmite, is striking as Lulu, a weather-beaten lady of considerable leisure. Beryl Mercer is Martha, the confidante, Judith Vosselli is Yvonne’s catty rival, and John Miljan portrays a lovelorn sculptor. Others in the splendid supporting cast are Edwin Maxwell, Oscar Apfel, Joan Marsh, Zelda Sears, Karen Morley, Gwen Lee, Paul McAllister, Arthur Hoyt and Richard Tucker. Supporting subjects will embrace a very good Laurel and Hardy comedy “Laughing Gravy,” and the latest Australasian

Movietone News. A holiday matinee will be held on Thursday when the attractions will be Edward Horton in the riotous comedy, “Wide Open," and Laurel and Hardy comedy. “DIRIGIBLE" AT REGENT. OUTSTANDING AIR TALKIE. Airplanes whirling and twisting in dizzy stunts above the aviation field; another ’plane crashing amid a cloud of powdered snow and ice in the desolate wastes of the South Pole; great sausage-shaped gasbags sailing serenely through the air; one of these majestic dirigibles cracking in half in a terrible hurricane over the Carribean Sea and crashing down into the boiling waters beneath—those are some of the highlights of “Dirigible,” the great Columbia talkie which will open today at the Regent, but they are only the highlights, for through this film runs a more than usually gripping story of human interest. There have been great aerial spectacles before this on the screen, but comparison with such a film as “Hell’s Angels” is impossible, for "Dirigible” is not a war ‘picture. This talkie is dedicated to the “lighter-than-air” craft. Made by Frank Capra, who directed “Flight” and “Submarine,” and featuring the same players. Jack Holt and Ralph Graves, it overshadows both of them, while the rivalry over the respective merits of dirigibles and airplanes provides an extra interest for air-minded audiences. It is the story of Jack Bradon (Jack Holt), commander of the American Navy dirigible Pensacola; “Frisky” Pierce (Ralph Graves), a daring pilot; and Helen (Fay Wray), his beautiful wife. Bradon loves Helen, but he keeps this to himself, and Pierce is his best friend. But pierce is a “front-pager,” who neglects his wife and risks his life for the sake of being in the headlines. When Louis Rondelle, noted explorer (Hobart Bosworth), engages Bradon to pilot the Pensacola to the South Pole, it is described that Pierce shall go also, for he is to surmount the great Antarctic ice barrier in his ’plane, which is to be carried there hooked to the belly of the dirigible. But Helen persuades Bradon to leave hei husband behind, which breaks the friendship of the two aviators. The Pensacola Is wrecked on the way to the Pole, and then Pierce sets out on another expedition with Rondelle, in spite of the protests of Helen. Out of bravado Pierce, while flying over the Pole, decides to land and plant the American flag, and in doing so crashes. Back in America Helen, when just preparing to divorce her husband, learns of the disaster, and forgetting everything except that she still loves him persuades Bradon to take another dirigible to rescue Pierce. The privations, sufferings and heroism of the four explorers struggling back through the snow and ice to their base, fighting man’s greatest enemies, cold and hunger, are shown with gripping realism, and then, when their end seems imminent, the Los Angeles arrives to rescue the two survivors, and Pierce, restored to his wife, decides that he loves her more than the plaudits of the fickle mob. This time he lets Bradon occupy the headlines. Dramatically, the story is very soundly constructed and it is made always convincing by the splendid acting of Holt, Graves, Fay Wray and Bosworth. Holt and Graves share the honours equally for their virile interpretations, but the heroine reveals herself as the possessor of unusual dramatic powers. In conjunction with the opening of “Dirigible,” the management have arranged a kite flying competition to be held on Caroline Bay this morning. Competitors are to be at the Regent Theatre at 11 a.m., and all kites must carry the title of the picture on them. The event has been looked forward to by tire children for some days, and kites of all shapes and sizes have been seen lately making trial flights in preparation for the great contest this morning..