AMUSEMENTS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 20104, 10 May 1935, Page 7

AMUSEMENTS

“FATHER BROWN” AT REGENT UNUSUAL DETECTIVE FILM “Father Brown, Detective,” an intriguing mystery film based on the amusing stories of G. K Chesterton, will have its final screenings at the Regent Theatre to-day. “Lest We Forget” A sincere story perfectly performed by an ideal cast headed by Stewart Rome, one of England's best exponents of aristocratic roles, “Lest We Forget” comes to the Regent to-morrow. The plot, dealing as it does with comradeship and the happiness gained by selfeffacement in the service of others less fortunately placed, is treated with the delicacy that constitutes the highest art, and the portraits of the Englishman, the Scotsman, the Irishman, and the Welshman, by Stewart Rome, George Carney, Esmond Knight, and Roddy Hughes respectively, are said to be unforgettable. Anne Yates as Captain Rayner’s daughter is not only beautiful, but invests her role with a delicate charm that captivates and bears the ring of truth. Sound City gave that classic of rural England, “Song of the Plough,” and now with “Lest We Forget” follow with a production that definitely takes its place as one of the artistic triumphs of the year. “THE MIGHTY BARNUM” AT THE MAJESTIC “The Mighty Barnum,” in which Wallace Beery gives a most convincing portrayal of the greatest showman of the age, will be screened finally at the Majestic Theatre to-day. “Outcast Lady.” “Outcast Lady,” a screen version of Michael Arlen’s provocative novel “The Green Hat” opens at the Majestic to-morrow. It is an excellently conceived, beautifully developed, intensely entertaining screen vehicle. Particularly it offers an ideal medium for the presentation of its vivid star, Constance Bennett, and its rapidly rising leading man, Herbert Marshall. As ‘lris” and “Napier,” Miss Bennett and Marshall fit smoothly and easily into the characterisations provided for them by the clever pen of the original author. The story is a strong but simple one, a saga of love under difficulties; of a woman who deliberately be-spatters her own good name to protect that of the husband who married her, then committed suicide on his wedding night. It has been directed with a firm, strong touch by Robert Z. Leonard of “Strange Interlude” fame, and it presents an important supporting cast which includes Hugh Williams, Mrs Patrick Campbell, Henry Stephenson, Robert Lorraine and Lumsden Hare. THEATRE ROYAL GOOD DOUBLE BILL A strong double programme will be screened at the Theatre Royal to-night. It is headed by “Friends of Mr Sweeney,” a riotous comedy. Certainly the situation of a meek mouse of a man turning in a night into a ferocious lion, a devil with the ladies, and the terror of the town, is unique enough to lead to any number of laughable sequences. The mouse’s miraculous change is inspired to a large extent by love, although liquor and the goadings of an old pal contribute their share. Thrills are supplied in a whirlwind climax in which the mouse now become a lion, rounds up a band of crooks and cc npels his domineering and hypocritical boss to buckle to his will. Charlie Ruggles has the leading role, with Ann Dvorak furnishing the romantic part of the story. Others in the cast include Eugene Pallette, Dorothy Burgess, Dorothy Tree, Robert Barrat, Berton Churchill, Harry Tyler, Harry Beresford and William Davidson. The other attraction is “I Am a Thief,” a tensely dramatic story portrayed by .a strong cast.