ENTERTAINMENTS

Waikato Times, Volume 123, Issue 20690, 28 December 1938, Page 7

ENTERTAINMENTS

CURRENT PROGRAMMES THEATRE ROYAL “Postal Inspector” is a thrilling drama which shows how suddenly, in a pitch-black night, people are awakened by the terrifying alarm. “The flood is coming! The river has broken over the city!” This remarkable picture reproduces with startling realism the flood conditions that burst down upon so many cities. When the story begins, Ricardo Cortez. an inspector in the mail service, goes after some swindlers who have used the mails to defraud the public. When rushing torrents overflow their banks, he faces the task of creating new finks in the line of communication, to keep the mails moving. At the height of the flood a desperate gang robs the mails, with sensational results. “Millions” is a very amusing comedy, in which Gordon Marker and Frank Pettingell, the two clever English comedians, lead the funmaking in a manner that keeps the audience interested and amused throughout. Jane Carr and Richard Hearne have tlie romantic leads STATE THEATRE “Road Gang” shows in a strikingly realistic manner the terrors to which prisoners are subjected in certain penal institutions. Besides its terrifying aspects which make it of vital interest, there is a romance of a girl who sticks by her man even when he is convicted of a crime. There is a wealth of dynamic drama and fast action, with thrill upon thrill, including a convict’s strike and battle with police guards who use gas bombs, in the bowels of the earth; a fight between police cars and a car in which a convict is fleeing for his life; and the blasting 1 of a mine tunnel with dynamite.

“The Singing Kid” is a powerful drama which swings intermittently between hilarious comedy and heartwrenching pathos. Besides A 1 Jolson, the cast includes Sybil Jason, Beverly Roberts, Edward Everett Horton. Lyle Talbot, Allen Jenkins and Claire Dodd. Spectacular specialty numbers and tuneful melodies are introduced into the story.

CIVIC THEATRE “I’ll Give a Million” deals in entertaining fashion of the efforts of a millionaire, disillusioned by his wealthy friends, to, live a simple life as a tramp. Warner Baxter appears as Tony Newlander, a wealthy young man spending a holiday on a friend’s yacht, in Marseilles. At a party on board the boat he jumps overboard to rescue a tramp and, as he is drying his clothes and talking with the rescued man, the idea comes to him to give up his uneventful life for a period and take to the road. He confides to the tramp, Louis, that he is willing to give a million dollars to anyone who will show him genuine kindness, believing him to be poor. Louis is unable to keep the secret, and this amazing story reaches the newspapers. The result is that Marseilles becomes crowded with hundreds of tramps, and the dignified townspeople go out of their way to treat them well, each hoping that he will receive the million dollars. In the meanwhile Newlander has found the way to a series of romantic adventures.

REGENT THEATRE “It’s in the Air” is the first of the group of new season’s George Formby subjects to be made on the higher financial budget, and this riotous story of what happens to George when he “accidentally” joins the Royal Air Force is very funny. He continually falls foul of’ the sergeant-major and finally finds himself alone at the joyi stick of a nose-diving, tail-spinning, looping-the-loop bomber, miles high in the heavens, with exciting and very amusing results. “DAD COMES TO TOWN” “Dad and Dave Come to Town,” the amusing Australian film, will oe screened on Friday. Bert Bailey has always been the screen Dad, but fie has mellowed and gained a smarter, quizzical outlook. His rages, from which wisdom emerges, are as appealing as his ponderous but genuine sentiments. Mr Bailey will appear in person on the stage. ROXY THEATRE “Live, Love and Learn,” featuring Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell, and “Lancer Spy.” an exciting drama, will be screened to-night. Placed largely in the colourful atmosphere of Greenwich Village’s Bohemian art colony, “Live, Love and I,earn” develops a sparkling story of the married life of a penniless artist and the girl who forsook wealth and society to marry him. In abrupt contrast to the grim scenes of “Night Must Fall.” the most recent teaming triumph of Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Bussell, the settings of “Live, : Love and Learn” are faithful reproductions of Greenwich Village, j If lie lived, this daring British secret agent sitting with the German high command in the uniform of a ! Prussian Lancer could strike a deadlier blow than a million marching 'men! If he succeeded, it- meant heartbreak: if he failed, the fir ng squad. | Characterised by jolting realism that makes it the most suspenseful spystory ever screened. “Lancer Spy” stars Dolores Del Rio. George Sanders ami Peter Lorre.