NOVELTY IN THRILLERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 83, 8 April 1933, Page 16 (Supplement)

NOVELTY IN THRILLERS

‘‘THE GHOST TRAIN” AT PLAZA. DRAMA AND COMEDY IN TURN. A comedy kick like a back-hand slap from forty mules is introduced in the spine-tingling thrills which pen vade the amazing talkie, “The Ghost Train,” a British Dominions film to be screened at the Plaza Theatre to-day and will continue its Wanganui season until next Thursday. The famous stage thriller, which made Australia shiver in the summer of 1927, and then later as a silent film production, has lost none of its bloodchilling propensities in its transcription to the talking picture screen, and the opportunities offered by the talkie art to still further enhance the comedy

I sequences have been eagrly pounced upon by the producers. Ja'ek Hulbert, the eminent British actor, plays to perfection, the role of the silly ass who pulls the communication cord and stops the train to retrieve his hat, thus causing the rest of the passengers to miss their London train at Fal A r ale Junction. A ter riffle storm breaks, and they are forced to make a night of it in : the little wayside station’s waitingi room, despite the strenuous efforts of the stationmaster to make them leave by telling them of the weird reputation whi’ch the place enjoys. Superblv enacted by a talented cast of players, which includes Jack Hulbert, Cicely Courtneidge, and many other well-known screen, identities, “The Ghost Train” is entertainment of the type calculated to please all •classes of the community. A new George Arliss picture is always an event of importance to the motion picture public, and “A Successful Calamity,” his latest Warner Bros, triumph, opening on Easter Saturday at the Plaza Theatre, promises to excel all of its excellent predecessors in popularity. The story deals with an Amerivan family of great wealth; a great financier, his young and lovely wife and his two grown children; all of whom find themselves so busy with the pleasure and duties imposed upon them by their money and position that no time | is left for the enjoyment of real family i life. In an attempt to remedy this j unhappy situation the father announces suddenly that he is ruined. Amazing and far-reaching complications which jhe little expects, result immediately. The delightful teomedy unfolds against j the most luxurious settings ever de- | vised for a picture of this type. It is i presented with a cast so excellent that j every part is played by an actor or actress of considerable note Although the entire programme is dominated by the character portrayed by Arliss, the supporting cast is even more noteworthy than previous ones seen in Arliss pictures. Mary Astor, one of the loveliest and most capable of the screen’s leading women, plays the part of the young and susceptible wife of the financier Norman McLeod, director of “Horse Feathers” has been assigned the direction of Alison Skipworth and Roland Young in “Good Company.” which Nina Wilcox Putnam is writing especially for Paramount. Michio Ito. Japanese dancer, has been employed by Paramount as technical advisor on “Madame Butterfly,” which will feature Sylvia Sidney, Cary Grant and Charlie Ruggles.