AMUSEMENTS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20895, 26 November 1937, Page 7

AMUSEMENTS

THRILLER AND WESTERN DOUBLE BILL AT REGENT The thrilling Boris Karloff success “The Walking Dead,” which is supported on a double bill by Dick Foran, the singing cowboy in “Empty Holsters,” will be presented finally at the Regent to-night. “The Walking Dead” is an unusual type of thriller which shows Karloff as a man who has come beyond the grave to strike down his own murderers. Next Attractions To-morrow morning at 10.30 a speci-ally-selected children’s programme will be screened, while the afternoon will bring "Woman Chases Man," which is the next main attraction. "Woman Chases Man," Samuel Goldwy: 's hilarious film comedy, stars Miriam Hopkins, Joel McCrea, Charles Winninger, and Erik Rhodes. Ella Logan, Leona Maricle, and Broderick Crawford are also prominently featured in this story' of a girl who chased a man from pillar to post to get him to sign a contract, got involved in a series of side-splitting situations, and wound up by landing his name on the dotted line—of a marriage license! The refreshing story casts Miriam Hopkins as a starving girl architect In search of a job, who meets Charles Winninger, a lovable, but somewhat eccentric, inventor, who needs 100,000 dollars to finance a model village. Miriam Hopkins learns that his son, Joel McCrea, has a fortune, but is a very cautious young man. She determines to get the 100,000 dollars from the son—and the chase is on! Relentlessly she pursues him through a series of most amusing situations. And, of course, romance blossoms by the wayside. John Blystone directed “Woman Chases Man” from a screen play which Joseph Anthony, Manuel Self, and David Hertz prepared from a story by Lynn Root and Frank Fenton. Gregg Toland was responsible for the photography. Omar Klam designed the gowns, and Richard Day designed the sets. Mickey Mouse Matinee To-morrow morning a special “Mickey Mouse” session will be held for children. In addition to this everdelightful character, the singing cowboy; Dick Foran, will be seen and heard riding, staging and fighting in “Bad Old West.” Devotees of the outdoor film will enjoy this one. The fight scenes are well staged and there are the usual smart gun slinging episodes.

POPULAR PLAY SCREENED "THE 13th CHAIR” AT MAJESTIC The screen version of one of the popular stage plays of recent years, “The 13th Chair," will commence a season at the Majestic Theatre to-day. A brilliant cast of screen players Is assembled for this film, and their performances give the final touch to a strong story, which combines humour, drama and romance. The setting is in India, and that mysterious land provides the atmosphere that permeates this thrilling picture. “Saratoga” To-morrow Behind the release of the new Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture, "Saratoga,” which opens to-morrow at the Majestic Theatre, with Clark Gable and Jean Harlow in the starring roles, lies one of the most unusual technical tasks ever attempted in a Hollywood studio. When the flood of letters began pouring into the M.G.M. studio demanding the release of this picture, Director Jack Conway was faced with the problem of devising a means of finishing the few uncompleted scenes without the feminine star. The solution lay in re-writing these sequences to eliminate as far as possible the character she played; re-editing scenes already filmed to conform with the new treatment; and the use of several technical devices. Fortunately, the ending of the picture with Miss Harlow and Clark Gable had already been filmed. Miss Harlow was In all the scenes up to the next to last reel of the production. A double was used in the few re-written scenes, but her appearances were minimised. In these instances,

only “long shots” were made, the double appearing with her back to the camera. In no place is her face seen. Other details, such as entering doors or running across a lawn to "tie in” with scenes already made by Miss Harlow, were used. “Saratoga,” a race track story from the pen of Anita Loos and Robert Hopkins, deals with the romance between the daughter of a wealthy horse owner and a bookmaker. Much of the action is laid at the Saratoga race track. The final two reels, dealing with intrigue over a horse race and a bet, were re-written so that most of the action was in the exterior reproduction of the race track, where “long shots” with the double could be most easily made. The decision to release the picture was made following the receipt of innumerable letters urging this release, and after polls had been conducted by American newspapers, there was virtually a unanimous desire on the part of Miss Harlow’s fans for the picture. The story deals with a wealthy girl, financial troubles, plots to victimise a man at race betting, and a final romance between the girl and the bookmaker who started as bitter enemies. Settings range from great hotels in New York and London to jockeys’ quarters and stables. "SHALL WE DANCE” AT STATE POPULAR STARS TEAMED AGAIN “Shall We Dance,” which opens today, is the kind of picture that should

draw to the State Theatre all lovers of the famous Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers partnership, and all people who like to see beautifully-photographed specialty dancing, with spectacular dance settings in which the ballet rival the stars in magnificence. The most remarkable of the dancing novelties is, of course, the dance on skates performed by Astaire and Rogers, who swerve and revolve with perfect rhythm in an open-air park setting until they finish up exhausted on the green turf bank. Less of a thrill but equally beautiful are the stage pictures, in which principals and ballet combine to charm the eye and to lift the soul of mankind (also womankind) out of this mundane sphere. But the soft lights and delights of the dance need the season of comedy, and here enters Edward Everett Horton, the comedian who spends his life meeting with unpleasant surprises and turning them to useful account. Horton becomes mixed up with the professional and amatory affairs of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, which prove to be complicated, and result in shifting the scene of action from Paris to America, via an ocean liner, the machinery of which is made to dance in unison with Astaire. The plot that hangs all this together is more than a perfunctory plot; it turns upon the fact that persistent false reports of the marriage of the two dancing stars (Ginger and Fred) so embarrased them that they got married in actuality in order to silence all tongues. There was a secret proviso that the marriage should bq fol- ; lowed by a divorce, but in the pres- ■

sure of more important business the proviso was forgotten. The song hits fox- “Shall We Dance?” include the song that gives the picture its name, also “Tve Got a Beginner’s Luck” and “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off.” THEATRE ROYAL THRILLS AND LAUGHTER Dynamic in its dramatic force and thrilling in a spectacular way, “The Devi! is Driving” opens at the Theatre Royal to-night with Richard Dix as the star. Dix, gives one of the finest performances of his career as the young lawyer who perjures testimony in defence of a wealthy young wastrel charged with manslaughter. He wins acquittal for the drunken driver but eventually has cause to regret it. This situation develops when Dix is elected district attorney and finds himself faced with the job of prosecuting the very same boy for killing a girl in another motor accident. When the defence uses the same tactics of corruption and collusion practised by himself as a defending attorney, Dix solves the problem by baring the entire history of the previous trial, admitting the perjury and accepting his disbarment as an attorney. “Let’s Get Married,” is a rollicking romantic comedy with an extremely talented cast headed by Ida Lupino, Ralph Bellamy and Walter Connolly Episode three of the champion serial Ace Drummond” will also be shown.