AMUSEMENTS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20611, 28 December 1936, Page 10

AMUSEMENTS

HISTORICAL ROMANCE “MARY OF SCOTLAND” A vivid chapter of historic drama depicting the colourful and tempestuous I career of Mary Stuart is brought to , the screen with lavish, pungent realism |in “Mary of Scotland.” co-starring Katharine Hepburn and Fredric I March, now at the State Theatre. | The hectic life of this naive young girl, Mary Stuart, who suddenly finds her self transplanted from the luxurious warmth of the French Court into turbulent Scotland, its warring factions, its ugly proverty its religious strife, its unscrupulous intrigue, has lent itself admirably to spectacular reproduction 1 on the screen Miss Hepburn finds her greatest role in the delineation of the ’ glamorous Scottish queen’s character. | She is appealingly simple as the girl ■ queen romping with her playmates, the four Marys. She is poignantly allurI ing in the lo’ 7 e scenes with the gallant i Bothwell, played by March. Frederic March is masterful as the Earl c' Bothwell, presenting the most convincing performance of his successful career. He is the virile lover who made a queen forget her throne, her pride, and future, to b.sk in his affections. Mary StiMrt’s conflict with the treacherous Scottish lords; her marriage to her cousin, Lord Darnley, played by the , able Douglas Walton: the murder of her secretary, David Rizzio (John Carradine); Mary’s romance with and marriage to Bothwell; her flight to I England; her long feud with Elizabeth; , and, finally, her execution, are highlights of this thrill-crammed picture. BRIGHT ENTERTAINMENT “STAGE STRUCK” AT REGENT Bright entertainment is provided by “Stage Struck”, which is at the Regent Theatre. It has a strong cast including Dick Powell, Joan Biondell, Warren William, Frank McHugh, Jeanne Madden, the Yacht Club Boys, scores of supporting players and hundreds of extras. The picture depicts the whipping into shape of a Broadway musical comedy from the selection of cast and chorus, through rehearsals to the premiere performance. It is a revelation of the lives of theatrical folk behind the wings, giving an intimate peep into their ronmances, their hatreds and jealousies, their temperamental ravings and their arduous preparatory work before the curtain finally goes up. There are hundreds of beautiful chorus girls taking part in the several dance numbers as well as a specialty number in the New York Aquarium. Special songs are sung by Dick Powell and Jeanne Madden. The Yacht Club Boys also sing two songs of their own composition, besides putting on specialty acts in which they carry out their madcap capers. Leading players in the supporting cast include Carol Hughes, Craig Reynolds, Hobart Cavanaugh, Johnnie Arthur, Spring Byington, Thomas Pogue, Andrew Tombes, Lulu McConnell, Edward Gargan and Mary Gordon.

“SAN FRANCISCO” FINE STORY AND GOOD CAST “San Francisco,” now ,at the Majestic Theatre is a triumph for American screen production. Firstly, the picture contains an all-star cast with such noted players as Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, Jack Holt, and Spencer Tracy; secondly, it has a vigorous theme, in which drama, tragedy, music and humour are nicely interwoven, and last but not least it depicts in graphic and realistic manner the most disastrous earthquake in the history of civilised America. The locale of the film is the Barbary Coast in the year ISOS-6. Gable portrays a gambler and saloon keeper of ’Frisco at the height of that city’s most glamorous period. Miss MacDonald is a smalltown minister’s daughter who seeks adventure in the music halls of the Golden Gate city and rises to fame. Woven into the plot is an absorbing love story for Gable and the singer. Miss MacDonald’s glorious voice is given full scope in a number of favourite songs. The supporting programme is particularly good, mainly because it introduces a new type of film, “Audioscopiks.” The film is viewed through red and green glasses, which produce a stereoscopic effect. For instance, a ball thrown by a player seems to fall into the lap of everyone in the theatre and one almost feels drenched when a soda syphon is discharged. It is a screen novelty which should prove popular. MYSTERY THRILLER ROYALS DOUBLE BILL Thrills and mystery abound in “Blackmailer,” which heads an attractive double bill at the Theatre Royal. Featuring such well known players as William Gargan, Florence Rice and H. B. Warner, the film boasts a strong cast, which is supplemented by George McKay, Drue Leyton, Wryley Birch and Nana Bryant in important supporting roles. Dealing with a clever blackmailer who invites himself to a dinner given by a group of people who are all trapped in the net of intrigue, which Jack Donovan, the blackmailer, has woven, the story fea- • Hires an almost-perfect crime. The blackmailer is murdered at the dinner by one of the persons in the room. It might be any one of the eight guests, or it might be a mass affair. This is the problems the detectives find themselves up against when Donovan is stabbed to death. “M’liss,” a photoplay adaptation of the famous Bret Harte tale, co-starring Anne Shirley and John Beal, is the story of a wild, spirited girl, whose naive '.'harm and vivacity upset a California mining town of 1870. As portrayed by Anne Shirley, this feminine fire-cracker is a girl whose readiness to fight for what she wants divides the community into warring factions. Comedy and moving human drama take form when a giant saloon keeper, a professional gambler, a barber, and a schoolteacher —all converted by M'liss’ loveliness and charm into her staunch defenders—run foul of the town’s leading citizens.