AMUSEMENTS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21818, 22 November 1940, Page 2

AMUSEMENTS

REGENT THEATRE “WAGGONS WESTWARD” With Chester Morris, Anita Louise, Buck Jones and Ona Munson topping a cast of outstanding players, and with a story filled with swift action and thrilling drama, “Waggons Westward,” is coming to the Regent Theatre tomorrow. Chester Morris plays the dual role of Tom Cook, and his twin brother David, with sureness, fire and dbep sincerity, portraying a cruel, sadistic killer on the one hand and a fine, clean-cut Government officer on the other. The actor’s transition from the easy-going character of David to the vicious, ruthless character of Tom is played with great conviction and will add many new admirers to his following. Ona Munson appears in one of the dramatic roles of her screen career as a dance-hall entertainer who tries to protect her younger sister (Anita Louise) from the wiles of outlaw Tom Cook. What happens when she meets David, disguised as his brother Tom, provides tile highlight of the picture, and places Miss Munson in the top bracket as a fine dramatic actress. The fragile beauty of Anita Louise in a tough, New Mexican dance-hall setting is an interesting contrast. A new type of role for her. Miss Louise adds new laurels to her versatility in the role of Phyllis O’Conover, sweetheart of a man wanted for a hundred murders. MAJESTIC THEATRE “ DAD RUDD, M.P." Inimitable humour of the Australian backblocks is once more brought to the screen by Bert Bailey and Fred McDonald in “Dad Rudd, M.P.,” the attraction which concludes at the Majestic to-day. Forthright in manner, the old farmer causes the greatest consternation among the professional politicians, and gives his constituents their most enjoyable election in years. Minor characters are well drawn by Connie Martyn, Yvonne East, Alec Kellaway, Frank Harvey and Barbara Weeks. The film was produced by Australian Cinesound. “French Without Tears” Racy in its dialogue, saucy and crisp in the presentation of its plot, and brilliantly directed, “French Without Tears,” that outstanding farce which became such a success on the stage will have its first screening at the Majestic Theatre to-morrow. The spirit of the original play has been carefully preserved. It moves swiftly and gaily, with frequent changes of scene. The principal setting is a school in the South of France for the teaching of French to would-be English diplomats. The school is presided over by the voluble and weighty Professor Maingot and kept in domestic order by his vivacious daughter Jacqueline. In the house are several typical British types. There is a misogynist author-diplomat, a naval commander, a lovesick shy youth, and an incurable flirt who causes all the havoc. Ellen Drew, vivacious and charming, plays the part of Diana, and gives a brilliant portrayal of the trouble-maker—all curls and coyness. Ray Milland, as polished as ever, is Alan, the young diplomat, who takes an instant dislike to Diana, and he gives a tidy performance. Guy Middleton, who plays,the same part as he did in the stage play,

David Tree, and Ronald Culver represent a trio who all fall to the wiles of Diana, while the voluble professor is played by a French comedian named Jim Gerald. He and Janine Darcy (Jacqueline i run away with a large portion of the acting honours, as well as giving the whole show a real French tang. STATE THEATRE A FINE COMEDY "Charley’s (Big-Hearted) Aunt,” opens a season at the State Theatre to-day. Audiences are helpless with mirth at the antics of Arthur Askey in his latest starring opus. The film version is a modern one, adapted from the recordbreaking stage farce. Never has a film comedy of a stage play been presented with such brilliance—Askey’s rip-roar-ing impersonations of a visiting Aunt by a scallywag Oxford undergraduate to prevent expulsion, has audiences absolutely rolling with laughter, while the flirtation in a punt by the said Aunt with the unsuspecting Proctor, a midstream upset, the rescue of Askey by a bevy of girls and risque complications when they try to tend and redress him, provides a climax to this riotous and hilarious comedy. Richard Murdoch is Stinker; Graham Moffatt is Albert, and Moore Marriott is Jerry, and all three give the star tireless support. J. H. Roberts and Felix Aylmer are Dean and Proctor, respectively, and each acts with a seriousness that gives excellent contrast to the fooling. Wally Patch, Phyllis Calvert, Jeanne de Casalis and Elliot Mason are others who thoroughly enter into the spirit of the play. There is very little connection between this farce and the original “Charley’s Aunt,” but the new version more than competes with the old. THEATRE royal "GAMBLING ON THE HIGH SEAS” The tranquility of operations on board a gambling ship, moored outside the three mile limit off the coast of California, is rather rudely disturbed in the new film at the Theatre Royal, "Gambling on the High Seas,” when robust Wayne Morris, as a newspaper reporter, goes to work unravelling the intricacies of a highly organised gambling racket and putting together a jig-saw of circumstances regarding the murder of two men, both former confreres of Gilbert Roland. Others in the cast of this highly recommended production besides Morris and Roland, are Jane Wyman, John Lite!, Roger Pryor, William Pawley and Robert Strange. “Beyond To-morrow,” featuring Charles Winninger, Richard Carlson, Jean Parker, c. Aubrev Smith, Harry Carey and Helen Vinson, is an unusual stirring drama of a boy and girl who are brought together by three rich lonely old men who subsequently pass on but whose spirits remain on' earth to watch over the two they have befriended. j