AMUSEMENTS REGENT THEATRE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21624, 9 April 1940, Page 2

AMUSEMENTS REGENT THEATRE

“MAISIE” “Poison Pen” will give way tomorrow to “Maisie” in which Robert Young and Ann Sothern as a ranch manager and a showgirl stranded in a Wyoming carnival town, are the chief protagonists. Both show what they can do with meaty roles and entertainment-packed situations in this story which, although placed against backgrounds of the cattle country, is decidedly not a Western in the accepted sense, but is an original and highly modern story of four people placed in dramatic juxtaposition. As the woman-hating ranch manager who through circumstantial evidence is put on trial for the murder of his boss. Young gives a straightforward and convincing performance. It is an acting assignment which is at all times convincing and telling. Miss Sothern. likewise, shows herself to be a performer of more than ordinary talent, her part of the impertinent, independent, slightly rowdy but at all times sincere girl keying up every seen' in which she appears. “Bad Man of Brimstone” “The Bad Man of Brimstone,” starring Wallace Beery in an epic saga of the lawless West is the associate feature. Bringing to the screen all the talents which have endeared him to the hearts of America's picturegoing millions, Beery is assisted by Dennis O'Keefe, recent cinematic discovery and by Virginia Bruce. O'Keefe, as a young Eastern prize-fight champion who arrives in the old Western town of Brimstone and straightway begins to clean up the lawless element, stands out as the greatest acting discovery since tne advent of Clark Gable. Miss Bruce, in her role as daughter of Brimstone’s Justice of the Peace, provides an exciting incentive to O'Keefe in his clean-up efforts. A distinguished cast of supporting players includes Joseph Calleia, Lewis Stone, Guy Kibbee, Bruce Cabot, Cliff Edwards, Guinn Williams, Arthur Hohl, Robert Gleckier, Noah Beery and Scotty Beckett. Filmed against the majestic wilderness of the Kanab National Forest in Utah, the picture is replete with startling natural scenic beauty and with fidelity to the exciting period when toe West was a synonym for wilderness. MAJESTIC THEATRE “THE WIZARD OF OZ” How a little Kansas farm girl gets caught in a cyclone and believes she is carried to Oz, where she meets a Scarecrow who wants brains, a Tin Woodman who wants a heart, and a Cowardly Lion who seeks courage, is described in L. Frank Baum’s fantasy, "The Wizard of Oz,” which is screening at the Majestic Theatre. They all go to the Wizard to ask him to grant their wishes. The farm girl wishes to go home again. After many adventures they get what they seek, because the Wizard shows them that it was in their power all the time to have and to do these things. Tire dramatic highlights include the farm girl’s running away to rescue her dog from the vengeful school teacher, her experience with the strange old waggon-show owner, the cyclone, her rescue from the forest of Poppies, by the Lion, their capture by the winged monkeys, her encounters with the Wizard, appearing in many terrifying forms, her rescue from the Witch, and her final victory over the Evil Sorceress. Her return to ordinary life after her delirium is given an unusual dramatic twist. Six new and catchy songs—“ Over the Rainbow," "If I Only Had a Brain, the Nerve, a Heart,” “We’re Off to See the Wizard.' “The Merry Old Land of Oz,” “Ding Dong, the Witch Is Dead,” and “If I Were King of the Forest”—written by that symphonious team, E. Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen, embellish the story.

STATE THEATRE “THE LION HAS WINGS' Alexander Korda, with long experience as a successful producer of stirring films about the British Empire, was the very man to choose for the production of "the first full-length film story of Britain’s war effort, “The Lion Has Wings," which is showing at the State. In the cast are many well-known British stars, headed by Ralph Richardson and Merle Oberon, but their parts, although splendidly done, are naturally subordinated to the enthralling central theme of the might and courage of the Royal Air Force. Opening on scenes of rural quietude, the story runs on to tell of a thriving nation, proficient in the arts of peace, but based on a stubborn martial past. The scenery is a magnificent background to a statement of the efforts to provide a decent standard of living for all, with leisure, good housing and good food. Athletes, sportsmen, children in school, men and women in work and play, with no desire for war, are shown in contrast with the sheeplike regimentation of Hitler's hordes, bleating in their thousands—such is the magic of the “talkies”—like sheep. Shots of Hitler speaking his unmeant promises are interspersed with thumbnail sketches of British speakers—sideshow spielers. Hyde Park orators, and plain, ordinary gossips, sometimes comical, but always kindly. And then comes the threat of war followed, when the ultimatum expires, by its reality. THEATRE ROYAL FAMILY NIGHT; PROGRAMME An ingenious double impersonation to snare an outlaw band is adopted by George O'Brien for his swift-mov-ing role in his new outdoor drama, “Gun Law,” opening to-night at the Theatre Royal. To the honest citizens of the little frontier town, Gunsight, Arizona, O’Brien appears as the United States Marshal he really is. But to a band of outlaws who have entrenched themselves in the town, he poses as a noted desperado who claims to have killed the marshal and taken his badge and papers. As a result, O’Brien is enabled to gather evidence to bring about the conviction of the gang. However, a series of exciting rough-and-tumble battles, gun fights and other gripping exploits occur before the story reaches its breathless ending in O’Brien's fourway six-shooter combat with the crooked mayor and two of his henchmen. Rita Oehmen playing opposite O’Brien as a minister’s daughter complicates matters by becoming romantically involved with O'Brien. “Radio City Revels” is a rollicking musical comedy drama featuring stars of the stage, screen and radio, including Jack Oakie, Bob Burns, Kenny Baker, Ann Miller and Victor Moore.