Cinema ... Snapshots

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20463, 1 April 1938, Page 4

Cinema ... Snapshots

Swiss Cheeses In spite of *1! the stories we've heard about disagreements between

a u r c 1 ana Hardy, the twin comedians have proved that they've g o t over all that bv beginning work on a n e w M-G-M comedy. The

Laurel and Hardy is called Swiss Miss; and, quite obviously, it takes them to Switzerland and involves them in numerous wild adventures with various national institutions. One of the funniest scenes in the picture, so we hear, is the excitement caused by Stan and OUie in a cheese factory. The picture, unlike their last comedy, Way Out West, is a musical, and is being produced by dial Roach, prime minister of comedy out at Culver City. Also prominent in the cast of Swiss "Miss arc M-G-M’a sihgers, Della Lind and .Walter Woolf King. 44 In Old Chicago 99 Dramatic Part for Alice Brady To fllmgoers generally. »*i n Old Chicago,” the 20th Century-Fox picture, is notable as a tremendously stirring spectacle on a scale rarely attempted in .Hollywood. , But to thousands of the more discerning, this production is also interesting for an additional reason in that It records a milestone in the film career of Alice Brady. For nigh on four years, until she became Mrs ' O’Leary of “In Old Chicago,” this famous actress has always appeared in the films as the ftuttery woman of wealth whose antics were always good for spontaneous laughter from the audience. Casting heads and producers, sensing her flair for the comic, seldom permitted her any other roles. They forgot, it seems, that she had a long and arresting history on the stage as a dramatic actress of great force and depth. Consequently, as Alice herself explains It, the role of Mrs. O'Leary was “like a vacation,” It gave her an opportunity once again to demonstrate her unquestioned dramatic talents and she took full advantage of it. “Comedy is great but one needs a little relief from it at times,” the Inimitable Miss Brady said. “In ‘Chicago* I'm a widow' with serious business on my hands and I hope to remain serious for a while now.” Radiant Sonja Henie arid Don Ameche in “ Happy Landing 99 “Happy Landing,” a show aglow with joy-laden wonder, winging from gay Norseland to New Zealand, with a Sonja radiant beyond imagining. This tOth Century-Fox musical of superla- . tive splendour comes from Darryl F. Zanurk and stars Sonja Henie with her “Girl In a Million” sweetheart, Don Ameche. It tells the story of a song-writing band leader (Cesar Romero) who flies across the Atlantic for a publicity stunt and comes down In a Norwegian fog-bank—almost in the middle of a folk festival known as **A Bride’s Fair.” The custom which ■tarts the trouble is a rule that if a young man dances with the same girl % twice, he has proposed. The bandleader, a little bit amused because one lovelorn little girl Is giving plenty of his favourite food—hero worship—dances twice with Sonja Henie. That starts the silvery, sumptuous show on . Its way. Don Ameche, the flying batonwleld•r’s companion, knows there is little or no sincere interest in Romero's intentions, Inasmuch as he is very much engaged to an American girl played by Ethel Merman. From this point on a whole new world of happiness opens for film fans. A Sonja breathlessly in love, breathtaking on the ice, thrills as she never thrilled before. There are the colourful American winter-carnivals, the glittering gaieties otf Paris, and Miami, the breathless lee ballets of New York roof-gardens —and songs! This astonishing girl who captured the hearts of outdoor-loving people with her witchery on the ice and who overnight became the dramatic find of motiedom, is more dazzling than sunshine on ice. as she sweeps her beholders out of a world of day dreams into a world of dreams come true. Goings On in The Alps Under the rather cryptic title of Romance for Three, M-G-M have produced, according to many American reviewers, one of the happiest comedies seen for quite a while. Its cast contains no soul-stirring names, but almost everyone in it can claim a personal reputation with discerning fllmgoers. There's Frank Morgan, for instance, and the everengaging Robert Young. And there’s Florence Mice for romance, followed by Edna May Oliver, Reginald Owen, and Herman Ring for extra comedy. The story is about « big business man v. 10 pose ■ i po ir * no. n and forces hi?* butler to impersonate a rich man. It throws these two into the life of Robert Young who, on a . falls ii> love with Hie rich man's daughter. Isul it isn’t as complicated ms if sounds. \lto in the rant, in a comparatively - right back now, in a new screen career. The director is Eddie Buzzell. who used to appear in comedies, but Is now more adept at making them.