GOOD ENTERTAINMENT.

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

GOOD ENTERTAINMENT.

“Finn and Hattie,” which will open to-day at the Theatre Royal, pictures the amazing- adventures of three funny people, on their first trip to Europe, and is hailed as a new departure in talking picture comedy. The stars are Leon Errol and Zasu Pitts. The Haddocks are given a royal send-off as they leave their little home town, a send-off' cut short by the sudden and unexpected departure of the train, under control of little IVlitzi Green. From then on, things happen, in New York, where the family is joined by Jackie Searl, the juvenile brother of “Tom Sawyer”; aboard the boat where Lilyan Tashman, the blond siren, appears as a princess to vamp Finn; in Paris, where Finn’s fun-making and Mitzi’s mischief-making get the whole family into trouble with the police and hotel managements. Finesse of characterisation, dramatic moods and an introspective treatment of human impulses collectively constituting the passion called love, make Paramount's “The "Virtuous Sin,” which will be the second feature, an entertainment of exceptional power. “The Virtuous Sin” is Paramount’s talking picture of the Lajos Zilahy play, “The Oertei-a-l. The stars are Kay Francis, and Walter Huston, the great actor. Kenneth MacKenna is good as the third angle of the triangle, and otheo prominent parts are enacted by Jobyna Howland, Paul Canavagh, Oscar Appel and Victor Potel. MIDNIGHT MATINEE. There will be a grand midnight matinee at the Theatre Royal on New Year’s Eve, when “Palmy Days, the latest talkie by Eddie Cantor, the great comedian of “Whoopee” will be the main attraction on a special carnival programme. Eddie Cantor’s memorable entry into the motion picture firmament by making “Whoopee” has been eclipsed in “Palmy Days,” the famous comic s second screen vehicle. Surrounded by myriads of beautiful girls, an outstanding cast and a story in which Cantor collaborated with Morrie Rvskind and David Freedman, the star of “Palmy Days’’ projects himself from hilar.ty to uproariousness in a series of ingenious Cantor situations. “CITY OF SONG.” In the production of “The City of Song,” the British talkie masterpiece which will open on Christmas night at the Theatre Royal, artficial studio sets have been discarded for the genuine, and much of the charm of the film lies in the wealth of natural setting through which the story moves. Naples, the Isle of Capri, and the ruins of Pompeii lend their splendours to enrich this delightful romance. In one sequence of the film, Jan Kiepura’s golden voice rings through the ancient city of Pompeii. He sings the “Love Song of Naples” in a large openair theatre, in which the inhabitants of this once prosperous city listened to Greek tragedy and Latin comedy while Vesuvius frowned down upon them. Vesuvius still frowns to-day, but the vast theatre has not echoed to the sound of an actor’s voice for nearly 2000 years, and the famous tenor’s only audience, in addition to Betty Stockfield, are rows of broken stone seats and the crumbling remains of Pompeii’s once stately edifices.