REGENT THEATRE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 229, 30 September 1935, Page 9

REGENT THEATRE

“G-MEN” COMMENCES TO-DAY. Gangsters had to be suppressed. It was obvious to everyone in America, and yet the Federal agents whoso job it was to check tho nation’s crime went unprotected. Finally, with unarmed men shot in the line of duty, policy changed as it.must change. The Government agents, better known as the “G-Afen,” were armed, and the ( ruthless war against all gangsters and particularly the ‘public enemies” began. The story of tho rooting out of the gangsters is known briefly from cable news, to everyone in New Zealand, but everyone who is interested in a page of modern history, rather than a milestone in the history of police work, should sec “G-Men,” which commenced screening Saturday at, the Regent Theatre. It is exceptional entertainment, and not to be judged on ordinary film standards. The acting is as good, or better than in most films, but, the story itself is an amazing and a thrilling record. For sheer speed of action, and for realism, “G-Afen” is remarkable. There is not a dragging moment in tho story, and so swift is the action that events follow one another wi h -r-: fh-taking rapidity, and without s< '’’c least improbable—as they a., .. . James Cagney as a lawyer whose honesty prevents his success, turns into an unforgettable detective. From beginning to end, his performance impresses, and yet he is as unlike the traditional melodramatic hero as Charlie Chaplin would have been. But even his acting is subordinated to the interest of the story, and perhaps that is the highest, compliment that could be paid to a film. Afargaret Lindsay, Ann Dvorak, and a host of minor characters are almost as god as Cagney, and the weaving of a romance in between a tangle of murders, machine-guns, and master

criminals is an interesting and integral part of a good story. It is said of many films that they work to a thrilling climax, of others that they are packed with excitement, but of few can it be said that they present a vivid and accurate record of almost unbelievable warfare that actually happened in a country at peace. The film as entertainment is remarkable, as an exhibition of good acting it is meritorious, but as a record of the history of our own day it is unforgettable. “London Speaks” For years the cry has been from picturegoers: “Give us something different, get away from the stereotyped thriller film—drama, or comedy. Give us something different.” It is said that this has been accomplished in “London Speaks,” the first feature 1 length production made in London by Australian enterprise and capital, to be screened, at the Regent Theatre on Wednesday. Richelieu” Cardinal Richelieu, the red-robed prelate who became -the power behind uh© throne of France 200 years ago, is one of the most fascinating of the | countless colourful figures that parade through history’s romance-filled pages. Some of the greatest minds of the literary world have tussled with the riddle of this baffling man who seemed a saint, one moment and a devil the next. Ami now Darryl Zanuck ha> brought this many-sided charactci again into public focus by choosing him as the subject of George Arliss latest and greatest screen portrait ir “Cardinal Richelieu, ’’ 20th Century': most lavish production to date, whic.l conies to the Regent Theatre on Satur day next.