FEATURE AT MAJESTIC

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 178, 30 July 1932, Page 18 (Supplement)

FEATURE AT MAJESTIC

“AMATEUR DADDY” WARNER BAXTER STARRED Thrills, action, excitement and romance arc part of the daily existence of lilm stars; but now and again a story conies along that intermingles these qualities so closely and so rapidly that even a veteran player must call upon every faculty at his command to handle the role. Such a story is “Amateur Daddy,” Warner Baxter’s latest Fox picture now at the Majestic Theatre. During its filming, Baxter was called upon to perform no less than eight dramatic episodes, each of which was attended with extreme personal danger. First, as a construction engineer, Baxter* is seen, in an accident which sweeps him from a steel girder high above the floor of a mountain canyon. Following the accident, in which his best friend i 9 killed, Baxter goes to the little town of Scotch Valley, in California, to care for the orphaned children of his friend. There he finds their little ranch the object of a despicable neighbour’s avarice, and his arrival leads inevitably to a fight in which he demonstrates his fistic ability.

As a-reprisal for his physical defeat, David Landau, who portrays the neighbour, next resorts to a bomb to blow up the ranch’s irrigation canal. The action continues and romance later plays its part.

Put half a dozen top-notch players, an expert director and a delightful story full of breathless action and j side-splitting comedy all together, and the result is very apt to be as excellent as “Cheaters at Play,” the new Fox picture which opens at the Majestic Theatre on Wednesday. Thomas Meighan, whose popularity has been growing anew since his return to the screen, and the inimitable Charlotte Greenwood carry off the leading honours brilliantly—Meighan as a suave and respectable man of the world who can look back with a smile on his early career as a master-crook, and Miss Greenwood as the worried nouveauriche whose emeralds, which she is trying to smuggle into the country, cause all the trouble. William Bakewell and Barbara Weeks are equally good as the romantic team, the former as an ambitious young crook who covets both the emeralds and the girl, and Miss Weeks as the lovely and unsuspicious niece of Miss Greenwood.

With such successes to his name as “Man in Possession,” “Private Lives,” “Lovers Courageous,” Robert Montgomery’s new pictures aro alw r ays eagerly awaited—and his most recent Metro-Goldwyn-Mayor picture, “ —But the Flesh is Weak,” comes to the Majestic Theatre next Saturday. His role in the new show is that of a man who stops at nothing to secure the love of the girl, and he resorts to some laughable methods in the inimitable Montgomery fashion. “ —But the Flesh is Weak” has an exceptionally brilliant cast, in addition to the star, and serves to introduce two new players to the audiences of Wanganui. Nora Gregor, who has the role of Rosine, the girl with whom Max (Montgomery) falls in love, and Heather Thatcher, who is cast as Lady Joan, who loves Max. C. Aubrey Smith, who needs no introduction, is Florian, the father of Max, and Edward Everett Horton, well-known comedian, is Sir George.

Ralph Morgan gave up an established legal practice in New York City to become an actor instead.

Kay Francis has a pair of lucky boudoir slippers which sne wears on the set between scenes. She considers that they bring her good luck. Their origin and the reason for their charm is a secret.

Long rehearsals, usually necessary before a talking picture goes into production, were dispensed with almost en tirely in the cast of “To-night or Never.” This was possible only because most of tho members of the cast, with the exception of Gloria Swanson, the star, had already played their roles in the New York production of this romantic comedy which was the last production of the late David Belasco. Melvyn Douglas, who plays opposite Miss Swanson, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Warburton Gamble, Robert Grieg, and Greta Mayer, now appearing in the picture version of “To-night or Never,” all were selected by Belasco for the original production and were retained by Mr. Goldwyn. This picture is to be released by United Artists.