AMUSEMENTS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19682, 27 December 1933, Page 3

AMUSEMENTS

MAJESTIC THEATRE. “REUNION IN VIENNA.” A new programme will be screened at the Majestic to-day, and will be headed by "Reunion in Vienna." In the film John Barrymore plays the role of the impulsive and irresistible Habsburg archduke, Rudolph, who returns to Vienna from exile to recapture the memory of kisses that lingered long after the royal reign toppled and the glamorous court life faded. The role is said to match Barrymore’s individual talents and personality flawlessly. Diana Wynyard is the leading lady, filling the role of Elena, the Viennese beauty who marries an eminent psychiatrist in an effort to forget the romance that swept her off her feet in the gay court days. From all reports the talking-picture version of “Reunion in Vienna” has been produced on a lavish scale with a number of unusual modern interiors, based on the modern European trend for houses of metal and glass, providing a striking contrast to the resplendent palace backgrounds. The costumes worn by the feminine members of the cast were designed by Adrian, considered to be Hollywood’s foremost stylist. The cast ii. support of Barrymore and Miss Wynyard boasts an impressive array of talent. REGENT THEATRE. “THE EAGLE AND THE HAWK.” “The Eagle and the Hawk,” a story of two wartime flyers who become heroes under the stress of their hatred for each other, opens at the Regent to-day. Fredric March, Cary Grant, Carole Lombard and Jack Oakie play the leading roles in the film, which is from a story by John Monk Saunders, author of “Wings.” Stuart Walker direc 'd the production for Paramount. The story centres around a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps who handles his plane with exceptional brilliance and an observer equally as skilful with his guns. Together in the same plane, they are an unbeatable combination, and one enemy ship after the other is outmanoeuvred by the pilot, sent crashing to the earth by the observer. Soon the pair are heroes, and decoration after decoration is pinned upon them. But though they are the best of combinations in the sky they are the bitterest of enemies on the ground. The brilliance that makes the pilot expert is based on his casual, reckless attitude. The skill that makes the observer expert is based on his cold delight in killing. The supports are excellent. THEATRE ROYAL “MAN OF THE FOREST.” If you’ve never seen a man wrestle a stubborn donkey, prepare to roar at the antics of Guinn Williams and Vince Barnett, as “Big Casino” and “Little Casino”, two comedy cowpunchers. They appear in Zane Grey’s Paramount picture, “Man of the Forest,” which opens at the Royal to-day. In the cast are featured Randolph Scott, Harry Carey, Noah Berry, Verna Hillie and Buster Crabbe. Those two screen comedians, plus “The Wrestling Donkey,” furnish the laugh relief in this fast-moving action story of the old West, the twenty-ninth of the Zane Grey novels to reach the screen. “Man of the Forest” starts a “new” note in Westerns. It gets away from the modern conventional Western drama, and brings back the whirlwind action of the old-fashioned frontierthriller. Scott portrays a strong, silent hero of the forests, and the story tells of his efforts to avenge the death of a friend. The picture speeds through thrilling gun battles before it drives on to a fiery conclusion. Scott, Carey and Noah Berry are the kind of Western characters that made this type of action thriller so famous in the old days. PLEASANT POINT TALKIES. The charactr-s in C. J. Dennis’s Australian epic, “The Sentimental Bloke” are vividly created in the Effee Bloke” are vividly created in the Efftee Australian film production which will head the programme at the Pleasant Point Talkies this evening. Cecil Scott in the title role, Ray Fisher as Doreen, Tal Ordell as Ginger Mick; and Athol Tier as Arty, bring Dennis's immortal characters to life in a truly Australian atmosphere which will appeal immediately to Dominion audiences. Replete with pathos and humour, “The Sentimental Bloke” will do much to enhance the fine reputation which Australian productions have established in a comparatively short time.