ENTERTAINMENTS.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 18027, 23 May 1930, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS.

STRAND THEATRE. a TO-NIGHT'S PROGRAMMES. “The Love which has heen drawing large audiences all the week, will be screened for the last time tonight. Maurice Chevalier’s nonchalant manner, his French accent, his winning smile, his gay boyishness, and his singing make him a tremendous favourite. Miss Jeanette MacDonald is one of, the loveliest women seen on the screen and she sings delightfully. “ The Love Parade ” is rich in tuneful and catchy music, and there is an undercurrent of humour. The principal ' fun-makers are Lupino Lane and Lillian Roth, as Alfred’s valet and the queen’s personal maid. Miss MacDonald’s singing is a joy always, from the opening bars of “My Dream Lover.” Chevalier sings “ Nobody’s Using It Now ” and “ Paris, Stay the Same,” and he and Miss MacDonald join in the singing of “ The .Love Parade,” and .“Anything* to Please the Queen.” Miss Roth and Lupino Lane give a delightful interpretation of their idea of more humble love in “Let’s Re Common.” Among the choruses “ Song of the Grenadier ” is an arresting number. A MIDNIGHT MATINEE. The midnight matinee to be given at the Strand Theatre on Wednesday, commencing at 10.30 p.m. is sure to be a very popular innovation. “No, No, Nanette,” a screen version of the great stage success, will have its first screening in New Zealand, and is particularly suitable for a midnight performance, being full of romance, humour, and tuneful melodies. TALKIES AT CAMBRIDGE. “ Love, Live and Laugh” tells of Luigi, a cheerful young fellow with all the loquacity to match a Latin temperament. lie is o hurdy-gurdy man, living, loving and laughing a care-free existence. George Jessel, an American actor of high standing is the excitable little Italian to the life, singing, talking a little too much and supremely confident that luck must some day come his way. An element of drama is added when the cheerful Luigi goes off to the war and is reported missing. He returns, blind after three years in an Austrian war prison. Without his eyes he commences a search for his Margherita, the girl he left when he went to fight for his-'beloved Italy. He sings to little children in the parks,, until, one day, a great surgeon gives him back his sight. He goes to his home to thank him and there finds that the man who gave him back his eyes had, all unwittingly, taken from him the girl for whom he had been waiting. THE CIVIC. “ Madame X," will be screened again to-night. Nothing more impressive has been seen on stage or screen than Ruth Chatterton’s performance. as the woman who gradually deteriorates until, she reaches the dregs,' and then is redeemed through love for the son who has never known her. Raymond Hackett as the son and Lewis Stone as the husband also give line performances. Especially moving are the final scenes, in which the son defends his mother, not knowing the relationship bet-ween them, on a charge of murder, and it is safe to say that there are few dry eyes in the theatre as the sad end comes. In this part of the 111 m particularly Miss Chatterton and Mr Hackett rise to emotional heights never before witnessed on the screen. “ Madame X ” tells a gripping story that never loses its hold on the audience. THEATRE ROYAL. Charles (Buddy) Rogers, that handsome young juvenile-hero, and his equally delectable partner, Nancy Carroll, are seen and heard in their second co-featured all-talking picture, “ Illusion,” at the Theatre Royal. Rogers is a young magician who had learned his stage tricks through an early up-bringing in the circus. Nancy Carroll is the girl who was raised in the same environment and-who is the partner in their successful stage act. She is in love with him. But Buddy, through his charm and suave appearance, gets himself invited to parties and fetes of gay Park Avenue society. He falls for a wealthy heiress, played by June Collyer, and an intriguing story develops. There are three memorable songs introduced in a logical manner. FRANKTON’S OWN THEATRE. “Out to Win” is the special feature at this theatre. There is also a gazette and comedy.