ENTERTAINMENTS.

Waikato Times, Volume 109, Issue 18257, 19 February 1931, Page 9

ENTERTAINMENTS.

TO-NIGHT’S PROGRAMMES. STRAND THEATRE. In “The Devil’s Holiday” Nancy Carrol starts with an enforced handicap, for the picture discloses her at the outset as an unsympathetic character. She plays the- role of a manhating, gold-digging manicurist in a big Western hotel. She with farm machinery salesmen to take down” wealthy ranchers by the wining and dining route. After getting the prospects in Lhe right “mood, ’ the salesmen talk them itno buying their farm equipment. Thus Nancy meets Phillips Holmes, son of Hobart Bosworth, the wealthiest farmer in the State. Phil falls for her, and she sees easy pickings for a big harvester sale. But” James Kirkwood, Phil’s older brother, steps in and brands Nancy as a common cheat who has been trying to hook Phil. Nancy, infuriated, plots a mighty revenge. She decides to marry Phil and then collect heavily from his father as a pay-off. They are married and things turn out as Nancy expected. Bosw’orth finds that her marriage was vengeful. He pays her £12,500 to leave them all alone. Meanwhile Phil Is dangerously injured in a fight with Kirkwood. The climax is charged with dramatic power. In addition to Holmes, Kirlcwood, and Bosworth, there are Ned Sparks, Morgan Farley, Paul Lukas, Zasu Pitts, and Morton Downey. THE ROXY THEATRE. “The Benson Murder Case,” which will head the new programme tonight, is one of those thrilling mysteries which audiences find so intriguing. There are romance, sensation and humour, and the mystery is well maintained until the surprising climax. That polished actor, William Powell, appears as the great detective, and the manner In which he unravels the plot 'keeps the interest at fever heat. The rest of the players support him splendidly. CIVIC THEATRE. Produced with a lavishness seldom before seen on the talking, -screen. “Dixiana,” the colourful musical drama heads the programme at the Civic Theatre. Bebe Daniels, wbo will be remembered for her performance in “Rio Rita,” has the part of a beautiful entertainer in one of the fashionable gaming rooms of the New Orleans of 1840, and much of the comedy in which the picture abounds is provided by Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, the inimitable comedians of “Rio Rita” and, more recenly, “The Cuckoos,Tho story running through the film is more substantial than in the majority of pictures of this type and affords Miss Daniels full scope for her dramatic powers. It outlines the growth of a deep rivalry between “Royal” Montague, the owner of the gaming houses, and Carl Van Horn, a wealthy young planter. No expense base been spared by the producers to reproduce laithfully the picturesque New Olreans of the early part of last century, and some remarkably fine scenic effects have been achieved. The final setting, depicting the coronation of Dixiana as queen of the great March Gras carnival, filed in technicolour, is among the most spectacular -scenes the talking screen has produced.

THEATRE ROYAL Dorothy Mackail plays the heroine in “The 'Great Divide,” which is an adaptation of William Vaughan Moody’s famous stage classic. Her role shows her as the same type of hard-shelled but soft-hearted girl she portrayed in “His Captive Woman” and “The Barker,” two of the popular actress’s recent successes. lan Keith Is the representative of the modern West, playing a mine owner. Myrna Loy appears as a half-breed Mexican girl, giving an exotic characterisation similar to those in “The Squall” and “The Black Watch.” Others in the cast are Ben Hendricks, Lucien Littlefield, Roy Stewart, Creoghton Hale, Claude Gillingwater, George Fawcett, Jean Laverty, James Ford, and Jean Lorraine. A second attraction is an English farce, “Raising the Roof,” featuring Betty Balfour, a charming comedienne who know-s how to raise the laughs as well as provide the romance. She lias the support of an excellent cast.