ENTERTAINMENTS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 272, 17 November 1943, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

TO-DAY’S PROGRAMMES REGENT THEATRE Solid entertainment is contained in “Gambling Daughters” at the Regent Theatre, with Cecilia Parker and Roger Pryor in the leading roles. When Gale Storm and Janet Shaw discover “Angels Roost,” they are persuaded to try their luck in the gaming rooms by Roger Pryor, suave gang lieutenant, upon orders of a mysterious higher-up. Only Pryor and one other man know the real identity of the boss, and all the audience is permitted to see of him is the back of his hand as he crushes the petals of a flower. That habit causes his downfall later in the film, when Gale, who has been forced to steal the family jewels to make good her gambling losses, recognises the movement in a hitherto totally unsuspected character, and denounces him. "Boogie Man” is the associate film. MAJESTIC THEATRE Now screening at the Majestic Theatre is Paramount's funniest picture, “True To The Army.” The film combines such experts at rib-tickling as Judy Canova and Jerry Colonna. Judy plays the part of a circus tightrope walker who is unfortunate enough to witness a gang killing. The gangsters want her—she’s the only eye-witness; the police want her for the same reason. Judy decides to get out of sight. She goes to her boy friend, Jerry Colonna, who is chief pigeon-trainer of a Signal Corps unit at a nearby Army camp. There she walks in on a rehearsal of the army show which Private Allan Jones is directing. She is mistaken for one of the auditioning soldiers, all of whom are dressed as chorus girls. Sequence follows sequence in quick succession until the final climax. “White Cargo.”

The box plan is now open for “White Cargo,” which commences on Friday. OPERA HOUSE ['Joan of Paris” is screening at the Opera House. The film opens with the landing on French soil or five R.A.F. fliers, who are rfhot down by the Germans. They All go through some daring adventures in Paris with Joan, emulating /her patron saint, Joan of Arc, who makes the supreme sacrifice to save the lives of Paul and his comrades

after outwitting Herr Funk, Parii Gestapo chief. Thomas Mitchell is cast as Father Antoine. Laird Cregar, sensationally popular character actor, will long be remembered as the sinister, inscrutable Her Funk. May Robson is the British spy whose aid in the escape plot leads to her own destruction. Alan Ladd, Jimmy Monks, JaJck Briggs and Richard Fraser are the hero's flying companions, and Alex Granach as a Gestapo sleuth is said to give an outstanding performance. "Joan of Paris” was produced by David Hempstead, of “Kitty Foyle” fame, directed by Robert Stevenson. “The First of the Few.” The box plan is now open for "The First of the Few,” starring Leslie Howard and David Niven, which commences on Friday. DUCHESS THEATRE Clarence Mulford’s “Secret of the Wastelands," starring William Boyd, Ls the major film at the Duchess Theatre. The associated feature is "Disputed Passage.” with Dorothy Lamour in the Stella role.