ENTERTAINMENTS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 73, Issue 425, 17 November 1930, Page 11

ENTERTAINMENTS

A WORTHY RECEPTION. “TAMING OF THE SHREW” ACCLAIMED. REGENT FILM PLEASES LARGE AUDIENCES. “Taming of the Shrew,” featuring Mary Pickford and her husband, Douglas Fairbanks, opened its Wanganui season at the Regent Theatre on Saturday. Two sessions were held and both were well attended. Miss i’ickfoid is seen as Katherine, an untamed shrew —until Petruchio arrives on the scene and proceeds to tame nor. Katherine ’s appearance is announced by the crashing of pottery, mirrors and furniture as various missiles arc hurled by her at the servants and even her own father. When the audience obtains its first glimpse of this spirited young woman, she is scaled with a whip in her hand ami is boiling with fury and panting like an athlete who has just broken the onc-mile record. One is given the impression that all men are to Katherine as a red rag is to a bull and it is while she is raging and storming and doing her utmost to wreck her father’s house that Petruchio swaggers in to ask for her hand in marriage. The wooing of Katherine has had no equal on the screen and, like so many things, it has to be seen—and heard — to be believed. Suffice it to say that Petruchio woos and wins the fair but turbulent young maiden, but. more by force than by the soft-spoken word that, is usually associated with screen romances. The musical pealing of bells and the rich notes of the organ proclaim that a wedding is about to lake place, and great crowds gather outside the church to await the arrival of the bridegroom who is late. Katherine sits in the back of the church fuming and storming, her countenance clouded and her lips curled with scorn and anger. An excited member of her father’s household announces that Petruchio is on his way, and shortly afterwards the bridegroom stalks into the church, grotesquely attired in rags, a long boot serving as a head-piece, while he unconcernedly munches an apple! It is just Pctruchio’s idea of taming the little rebel who is about to become his own wife. No one appears to enjoy the joke as much as Petruchio himself, not even his friend who struggles to conceal the apple core which Petruchio has handed him. A situation indeed! The wedding over Petruchio seizes his bride and bundles her on to nis waiting steed much in the same manner as he would a sack of grain, and they amble off to their future home. It is raining hard on their arrival, and while Petruchio is dismounting the horse jerks forward, throwing Katherine into a pig wallow 7. Which is scarcely an auspicious reception for any bride on her weddinir night.

lhe events that follow are humorous in the extreme and before the final ‘ 1 fade-out,” Petruchio succeeds in taming Katherine and winning her Jove an I esteem.

GRAND THEATRE. COMEDY HOLDS SWAY IX “THE CUCKOOS.” ‘“The Cuckoos,” now showing at The Grand Theatre, offers a new theme in talking pictures of the musical comedv type. The comedy is the keynote and is featured above singing and dancing. Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, famous funmakers of “Rio Rita,” are headlined. Jobyna Howland, six-foot comedienne of Broadway fame, was brought from New York especially for the picture. Mitchell Lewis, as a gypsy chief instils drama into the plot with his diabolical plans, which are foiled by the antics of Wheeler and Woolsey. Director Paul Sloane had many beautiful sets built, Radio Pictures’ dancing chorus gracefully proceeds through intricate ensembles, Dorothy Lee executes clever specialty dances and Margucrita Fadula sings colourful gypsy songs. Throughout all, however, comedy predominates. In virtually every scene Wheeler and Woolsey are active with their clowning antics and wise-cracks. June Clyde, as the niece of the wealthy Jobyna Howland, is kiilnapped by gypsies. Hugh Trevor plays her sweetheart. Wheeler and Woolsey appear as fortune tellers who use their psychic powers to locate the “gal.” Their efforts along this line are the last word in comedy. On Wednesday Bulldog Drummond’s latest adventure, “Temple Tower,” will be the attraction. Plans are open at the theatre office.

“ONLY THE BRAVE.” MAJESTIC’S FIXE PROGRAMME. “Only the Brave,” which opened at the Majestic Theatre on Saturday, is a picture of pretty girls, dashing officers, booming of guns, men who carried duty through to the bitter but glorious end, and it has a fgood romance running through it all. Gary Cooper makes a great hero as a brave Northerner, who volunteers to carry false dispatches through the Southern lines and allow himself to be caught so that the enemy will act on false information. “Only the Brave” shows Cooper to a better advantage, far better, than his previous satisfactory best. There is something about this tall, manly youth that seems to mark him as the most perfect type. He is virile and gallant, but yet not given to thunderous outpourings of unseemly emotions. His quiet courage inspires hero-worship in the hearts of all who behold him and fear him in his masterful work upon the talking screen. Paramount chose wisely when it selected Mary Brian as the sweetheart of Gary Cooper in this picture: Their tremendous success as lovers in “The Virginian** found great favour with film fans everywhere. “Only the Brave” is from an original story by Keene Thompson. Cooper is cast, as a daring captain of cavalry in this adventure-romance of the war torn days, lie volunteers as a spy behind the lines of battle action. In fulfilling his dangerous mission he meets Mary Brian fashionable Virginia girl and falls in love with her. The plot then advances through a number of thrilling episodes in which Cooper must compromise two loyalties—Love and Duty. After much exciting action the lovers find that good fortune ha.* cleared the way for untroubled romance. The finale is one that will please everyone. The supports are good. Patho Gazette shows the big air pageant at Hendon, with RlOl in flight. 'Planes, streaming coloured smoke, do some really outstanding stunting. The second Test in England is another scene which is interesting in more ways than one. Players of former days are introduced to the audience, and there is also *a moving picture of a Test 2b years ago.. There is a thrilling motor cycle hill climb, and many other scenes which have world interest. A comic which has a good laugh in it is on the programme.

“SONG OF THE FLAME.” By all odds, the most magnificent and colourful play with music thus far made, is to be seen at the Majestic Theatre on Wednesday, where “Sung of the Flame,” a First National-Vita-phone production is to open its Wanganui season. In the matters of story acting and background, “Song of the Flume,” based on a popular uperellu, easily stands out as a notable piece oi work, utilising the latest devices in screen expression. It is gratifying to note that the handling of icclnn-cuiour nas been so far perlected, that lhe blurring, out-oi-locus scenes which have marred a number ql' previous pictures, are no longer in evidence, in “Song of lhe Flame” the colours register at their true value and do much to add to the verisimilitude of the picture. Four players in the large cast deserve particular mention because of their line characterisations and sub-

stantial contributions to the vocal sequences in the picture. They are Bernice Claire, the prima donna, Alexander Gray, who plays ppposite her, Noah Beery in an intensely dramatic portrayal of a leader of the evolution depicted in the production, and Alice Gentle, a foremost operatic star. “Star of the Flame” will be enjoyed by lovers of good music as well as those who are looking for dramatic screen entertainment. It was directed by Alan Crosland with many Russians appearing in the mob sequences which add substantially to the realism of the spectacular scenes. Ihe Petrograd of an earlier day, when it still betokened the wealth and luxury of the Russian aristocracy, is revived in the colourful backgrounds constructed for this picture. Much of the action centres in and around the public square where throngs of revolutionists gather only to be held in check by the Czar’s cossacks. Considered as a spectacle, as a drama or as a stirring romance, “Hong oi the Flame” qualifies as a. extraordarily well-handled film. Director Alan Crosland has managed to impart the movement of life in the mobs surging through the city streets. The songs and other music come as a natural part of the dramatic action. “Song of the Flame” takes a high place among the really worth while pictures of the season.