REGENT PROGRAMMES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 118, 21 May 1932, Page 6 (Supplement)

REGENT PROGRAMMES

I COMING ATTRACTIONS. I ‘TDK. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE.” I With quite an unusual theme, and a cast of lirst-rate British actors, “77 Park Lane” is now at the Regent Theatre. The fun starts when the hero of the film buys a taxi-cab for a lark, and his first fare is to his own home, which he has left locked. It turns out that there is a gang of crooks in possession and he takes his part in the story from then on. Whirlwind romance, pulse quickening intrigue, thrilling shrieks of powerful racing cars, and good oldfashioned, unrestrained laughs are tightly packed in Universal’s “Racing Youth,” coming to the Regent Theatre next Wednesday. Reminding one forcibly of the honest-to-goodness motion pictures that thrilled us all in the days of Warren Kerrigan, Wallace Reid and William S. Hart, a handsome young fellow by the name of Frank Albertson falls in love with the beautiful heiress who owns the auto factory where he works, wins the vital auto race in a thrilling finish, routs the villains, and then wins his boss in a delicious manner that makes you live it with him. Seven distinct characterisations are enacted by Fredric March during his portrayal of the dual-personality role in Paramount’s “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” which is scheduled to open at the Regent Theatre next Saturday. With the assistance of Director Rouben Mamoulain, March has created different Hydes and three Jekylls for the course of the film. These varying characterisations are necessary in order to show the disintegration of the beloved Dr. Jekyll into the most hideous incarnation of his ev y self. Hyde, when he first appears, is not developed to the fullness of his evil character. As he slowly gains more freedom and enters deeper and deeper into his life of crime and debauchery, he changes physically for the worse. These changes will be shown in four steps of characterisation until the final one, where he has completely conquered Jekyll and is in his most hideous form. At the- same time, Jekyll, in trying to throw off this unloosed evil self, shows more and more the signs of his struggle. Miriam Hopkins, who scored so great a hit in “The Smiling Lieutenant” and “24 Hours,” has the feminine lead, and Rose Hobart is prominently cast. The photography is perfect, and the picture may truly be plflßspd ns a venuine masterpiece.

picture, and the photography enriches the film with tense drama. Yet, in addition to the drama, “Hell Divers” has a goodly supply of humour provided by that central and favourite figure, Wallace Beery. Beery is the hero of the picture. In support are Clark Gable, who appears as Beery’s rival, Dorothy Jordan, Marjorie Rambeau, Cliff Edwards, and Marie Prevost. Adolphe Menjou is now the highest salaried free-lance actor in Hollywood.

Barbara Stanwyck chose and designed all the costumes she wears in “Shopworn,” her new Columbia picture..

Ruth Chatterton, star of Paramount’s picture, “To-morrow and Tomorrow,” was nicknamed “Mike” when she was rather young.

Ben Travers, who wrote “Mischief,” does-all his work at home.