POPULAR ATTRACTION.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 301, 19 December 1931, Page 25 (Supplement)

POPULAR ATTRACTION.

So great has been the success of “ The Devil to Pay ” at the Plaza, that the season has been again extended, and will now finish on Christmas night. The story, “The Devil to Pay,” moves logically and gaily along, without a break in the continuity, the characters are human and lovable, the acting has a polish in keeping with the sophistication of the plot and dialogue, and the settings provide an English background that at times makes it difficult to believe that the film was made in Hollywood. Colman has a role that suits him as well as any he has ever played during his long and successful career. He is Willie, the lovable black sheep of a noble English family, who has a flair for breaking all the conventions of his class, arousing the wrath of his aged parent, and winning the hearts of all women with whom he comes in contact. Packed off to Kenya Colony to make good, he soon becomes impoverished, sells his father’s furniture to pay his passage home and turns up in Mayfair as gav and sprightly as ever, not one whit disturbed by the prospect of being disowned. “ SMILING LIEUTENANT.” Ernst Lubitsch, claimed by many to be foremost director of motion pictures, and maker of two outstanding successes, “ The Love Parade ” and " Monte Carlo,” has turned out another fast-paced, buoyant entertainment, “ The Smiling Lieutenant,” starring the inimitable Frenchman, Maurice Chevalier, which will open at the Plaza on Boxing Day. “ The Smiling Lieutenant ” is a typical Lubitsch production. Its humour is sly, and, at times, boisterously robust. From the story of a gay and carefree military officer who loves one girl and is forced to marry another, a princess of royal blood, he has fashioned a romantic comedy of indescribable charm, which critics and audiences have labelled his most entertaining film since the advent of talking pictures. In addition to Chevalier who, incidentally sings any number of gay songs, this Paramount-Lubitsch production features two comely and talented leading ladies, Claudette Colbert and Miriam Hopkins. SYDENHAM TALKIES. A charming story of romance concerning a princess and a very “humble” person is told in the “Princess and the Plumber,” which will he screened tonight, Monday and Tuesday, at the King’s Theatre Talkies, Sydenham. At the head of a wonderful cast are Charles Farrell, who appears as the plumber, and Maureen O’Sullivan as the princess. A bright programme has been arranged for Christmas night, when “ Chasing Rainbows ” will be shown. In this wonderful all-techni-colour musical comedy, Charles King, Bessie Love, Marie Dressier and Polly Moran appear. Box plans are now open at the Theatre Sweet Shop.