AMUSEMENTS MAJESTIC THEATRE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21560, 24 January 1940, Page 9

AMUSEMENTS MAJESTIC THEATRE

“BROADWAY SERENADE" Jeanette MacDonald is as glorious as ever in hex* first solo starring role in “Broadway Serenade," Which is now showing at the Majestic Theatre. Based upon the struggles of a young singer who progresses from cheap nightclubs to musical comedy stardom, the new picture offers Miss MacDonald an opportunity to sing' everything from grand opera to popular selections written especially for the production. Lew Ayers plays his most ixnportant role since his re-entry into fxlxns as the star’s composer husband who, while his wife is winning stage triumphs, hides in the obscurity of playing a piano in a five-and-tep-cent store. Frank Morgan, who is rapidly becoming famous for his interpretations of theatrical producers, essays this role once again. lan Hunter supplies the third point of the love triangle. Outstanding among the songs heard in the production are “For Every Lonely Heart." “Flyin’ High,” "Rhapsody,” “One Look at You,” “Time Changes Everything,” “No Time To Argue,” and “Ridin’ on a Rainbow.” Also a highlight are a medley of old-fashioned songs sung by Miss MacDonald and a chorus, with Lew Ayres at the piano.

“ The Beachcoxnbex- ” Superior even to his memorable performances as Captain Bligh, Henry VIII, or Ruggles, Charles Laughton’s portrayal of “Ginger Ted” in “The Beachcomber," opening at the Majestic Theatre on Friday, is matched only by the delightful perfornxance of his wife, Elsa Lanchester, in the role of Martha Jones, missionary. The scene is an island in the Dutch Indies, inhabited by an attractive native race and four white people, “Ginger Ted,” a drunken, dissolute remittance man and beachcomber, the Rev. Jones (Tyron Guthrie) and his sister, missionaries, and the Dutch Controleur (Robert Newton), an easy-going soul who finds in “Ginger Ted” a congenial person with whom to have a chat over a glass of beer. The missionaries find "Ginger Ted” a real thorn in their side, until trouble breaks out, and the beachcomber and Martha Jones are thrown together in an isolated native village to fight a typhoid epidemic. This juxtaposition leads to some most amusing scenes, with "Ginger Ted” determinedly opposing the earnest Miss Jones’s attempts to reform him. Box plans are open at Begg’s Salon. STATE THEATRE “ ALEXANDER’S RAGTIME BAND ” “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” will be screened at the State Theatre to-day. Periodically Hollywood produces a picture that stands out as a beacon along the highroad of motion picture progress—and such a picture is Irving Berlin’s great saga of three decades jn the march of America. In the bewildering brilliance of “Alexander” one remembers that Tyrone Power starts with a small band in a honky-tonk. Don Ameche writes the tunes which Alice Faye sings. Love smoulders, flares, cools, blows up and is rekindled over the years for Tyrone and Alice. History moves before the eyes with the reminiscent melodies of Berlin as a gentle guide through the plot. Such a story framework—the career of a young musician 6nd the girl who sang the nation’s love songs—two hotheads quarrelling and parting, forgiving and finding love again through the music that was their life—is novel and scintillating. The stars are supported by a brilliant cast—Ethel Merman, Jack Haley, Jean Hersholt, Helen Westley, John Carradine, Paul Hurst, Wally Vernon, Ruth Terry and a dozen others of like calibre.

“The Mind of Mr Reeder,” starring Will Fyffe and Kay* Walsh, is the associate feature. Whether Mr Reeder—as Will Fyffe interprets him—is sipping hot milk and dreaming of his chicken farm in his study, or whethei- he is relentlessly tracking down the gang of criminals that have harassed Scotland Yard for some time, at ail times he is a human, lovable figure. “The Mind of Mi’ Reeder,” as followers of Edgar Wallace are no doubt well aware, deals with the manner in which a gang of counterfeiters are tracked dpwn by the old gentleman who carries an umbrella from the special branch of Scotland Yard. “ Fifth Avenue Girl ” Tile virtual miracles worked by a penniless young woman in straightening out the marital and doixxestic dilemmas of a too-rich family make fox' absorbing drama and amusing comedy in "Fifth Avenue Girl.” GingeiRogers, Walter Connolly, Verree Teasdale, James Ellison, Tim Holt, Kathryn Adams and Franklin Pangborn have the principal roles. Broke, Miss Rogers as a working girl accepts an unusual proposition from a kindly, unhappy millionaire. Hex' duties are to move into his own mansion as a companion, and by arousing the jealousy of his mercenary wife and two grown children, contrive to make them take new interest in him other than as a provider of luxury. REGENT THEATRE “INVITATION TO HAPPINESS” Irene Dunne, who has played in some of the screen’s greatest love stories, tops hex' past accomplishments in one of the greatest love stories ever to reach the screen, “Invitation to Happiness,” which opens to-day at the Regent Theatre. Fred Mac Murray, fresh from his triumph in “Cafe Society,” appears with Miss Dunne. Also in the cast are Charlie Ruggles, little Billy Cook, William Collier sr„ and many others. It is a picture you should not miss if you make it a point to see the screen’s finest. Secrets or no secrets, the whole town will soon be talking about "Grand Jury Secrets,” the associate feature. Laughs, excitement and tense dramatic episodes take their turn before the bar In a fast-moving story of two brothers, one a wise newspaperman, the other a brilliant assistant district attorney, who engage in unending warfare over crime, family affairs and the beautiful girl they both love. Leaders in the cast are John Howard, Gail Patrick, William Frawley and Harvey Stephens. Plans are open at Begg’s.

THEATRE ROYAL THRILLER AND COMEDY SHOWING Charlie Chan, the greatest sleuth the screen has known, is the hero of “Charlie Chan at the Racetrack” which is showing at the Theatre Royal. Thousands of excited racegoers are thrown into confusion when a killer acts amongst them but Charlie Chan is handy to unravel the mystery. When a gang of crazy street musicians invade a film studio, put to riot the technicians and turn around to make a film themselves, you can expect something different and uproarious in comedy situations. This is what happens in the screamingly funny G.-8.-D. attraction "Okay For Sound, the associate feature at the Royal. Starred in this is the Crazy Gang—in other words no less than three famous comedy duos. Nervo and Knox, Flanagan and Allen

and Naughton and Gold. Also In the film are Enid Stamp Taylor, Peter Dawson, Lucienne and Ashour, the Radio Three, H. F. Maltby and the Band of His Majesty’s Royal Marines.