AMUSEMENTS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 20056, 13 March 1935, Page 6

AMUSEMENTS

MAJESTIC THEATRE “MENACE” PROVIDES THRILLS If the best book thrillers are those which set a problem and, by laying before the reader certain facts, challenge him to find the solution, the best screen thrillers are those in which an atmosphere of danger, fear, and mystery is created. Among those who will see “Menace,” which is to be shown at the Majestic theatre to-day probably no one will hope to find that atmosphere produced by a good story, very fine acting and skilful producing, would say anything other than that his hopes were fulfilled a dozen times over. “Menace” is a picture of rare power, the more so because it does not rely on “spookiness” but on a credible situation. The virtue of the acting lies more in the high even standard attained by the whole cast rather than in any one outstanding performance. As Helen Chalmers and Colonel Crecy, Gertrude Michael and Paul Cavanagh. the leading players, do very well all that is asked of them. As Mrs Thornton, the lady whose age, for she has passed her three score years and ten, allows her to speak her mind openly and to take liberties otherwise denied Henrietta Crosman compels attention and deserves much praise. And there are at least two other players for special mention.

REGENT THEATRE “’f’HE CASE OF THE HOWLING DOG” “The Case of the Howling Dog,” one of the best mystery films of the year, will begin at the Regent Theatre today. An original note is struck in this picture, where instead of the familiar detective taking the central part of the plot, the outstanding character is a criminal lawyer, Perry Mason. Not only does he contrive to be on the spot when a murder is discovered, and to collect some important evidence which the police, in their impetuosity, overlook, but he also has the admirable faculty of playing his cards at an opportune moment, to the embarrassment of a cocksure prosecution. The mystery which surrounds the howling of an Alsatian police-dog, and the subsequent disappearance of a man and his wife are admirably sustained and when Mason discloses in court that not one, but three, murders have been committed, the audience in the theatre is almost as dumbfounded as that In the courtroom on the screen. There are more surprises to follow, and the final unravelling of the case is of intense interest. Warren William is admirably cast as the criminal lawyer who never loses a case, and the leading feminine roles are well taken by Mary Astor and Helen Trenholme. Allen Jenkins, as the “dumb” detective, and Grant Mitchell, as the overbearing and vindictive district attorney, are both excellent in their roles. Others in the cast who do unusually fine work are Helen Lowell, Harry Tyler, Arthur Aylesworth, Russell Hicks, Frank Reieher, and Addison Richards.