ENTERTAINMENTS.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 18024, 20 May 1930, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS.

STRAND THEATRE. TO-NIQHT’S PROGRAMMES. “The Love Parade” -is attracting large audiences to the Strand Theatre. The popular Maurice Chevalier, who plays the leading role, is largely responsible for the success of the picture. Chevalier endeared himself to Waikato audiences in “The Innocents of Paris,” and his acting in “The Love Parade” gains him further popularity. Miss Jeanette McDonald, one of the loveliest women seen on the screen, has the principal feminine role, and is seen and heard to advantage. Prominent among the minor characters are Lilian Roth and Lupino Lane, who supply the greater part of the comedy, in which the story abounds. The i'ove of Miss McDonald, as the queen o\’ a mythical kingdom, and Chevalier, a lecalled ambassador, forms the.theme of the plot. The film is rich in tuneful musical numbers, some of the most popular songs being “Anything to Please the Queen,” “The Love Parade” and “Let’s Be Common.”

THE CIVIC. Rarely is there given to the public a film which couples with the personality of the legitimate stage the breadth and capacity of . the screen in such compelling fashion as “Madame X” which is drawing large audiences to the Civic Theatre. “Madame X” is tremendously dramatic. With strong and sustained notes of bitterness and tragedy it yet leaves no bitter taste. The dramatist has not allowed the comfort of a happyending to spoil the' effect, and the picture ends among scenes that might elsewhere and is less capable hands have left a feeling of sorrow. The acting."honours are lavished upon the leading players, and in some parts of the picture it would be hard to differentiate between the work of such accomplished artists as Ruth Chatterton, whose “Madame” is a piece of brilliant characterisation, and Lewis Stone, cold, hard attorney and selfrighteous husband who too late realises the paths in which his uncharitable nature has forced his more human and more frail wife.. The son, grown to manhood and defending in a court of law the mother he does not know, is played by Raymond Ilackett with the utmost understanding and nicety of action. The fussy, self-confident, domineering old doctor appears for only a few brief moments, but his is a delightful piece of acting that brings a bright ray of humour in an opening chapter that would otherwise be oppressive.

THEATRE ROYAL. “Half Marriage,” featuring the beailtiful Olive Borden and Morgan Farley (a New York star of the stage), is pleasing audiences at the Theatre Royal. It combines romance and action in entertaining fashion, and introduces some delightful musical numbers. Hoot Gibson, the popular-Western; actor, has a part well suited to his' , capabilities as an accomplished horseman in “The Long, Long Trail.” He is cast as a bashful cowboy who, by his disorderly habits and lawless mode of living, has earned an unjustified reputation as a drunkard. Although professing a scorn for women, he falls in love with the daughter of his employer. The evonts of the tongue-tied lover’s courtship make excellent comedy, the plot progressing through a number of entertaining sequences to the exciting climax, in which a thrilling horse race plays a prominent part.

TALKIES AT CAMBRIDGE. Popular Ramon Novarro, one of the most romantic figures of the screen, heads'the cast of “Devil-May-Care,” screened for the first time at, Cambridge on Saturday night before a large audience. - The- handsome Ramon was seen in the uniform of at attache of Napoleon in a musical romance which held the attention throughout. It is his first all-talkie, and gives him an opportunity to extend.his vocal reperballads and love songs written by toire to include a number of Napoleonic Herbert Strathard, co-composer of “Rose Marie." The story itself offers all sorts of possibilities for action and excitement, of which the fullest advantage in taken. The cast includes Dorothy Jordan, Marion Harris, John Miljan, and William Haphrey as Napoleon.

FRANKTON’S OWN THEATRE.

An English racing story “The Lady Owner" is the featured picture at the above theatre to-night. A comedy and gazette are also to be screened.