ENTERTAINMENTS

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21036, 12 February 1940, Page 10

ENTERTAINMENTS

TO=NIGHT’S PROGRAMMES

REGENT THEATRE Never before has the Hardy family ; appeared more human or more ap- ; pealing than in “Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever.” In this latest of the Hardy saga the family gets a taste ot romance and drama. The Judge, portrayed by j Lewis Stone, becomes involved in a : crooked promotion stunt which ; threatens the savings of the Hardys ! as well as of their friends. The ir- ! repressible Andy (Micky Rooney) | quarrels with his girl friend Polly Benedict, and falls in love with his beautiful dramatics teacher. The latter role is played by a newcomer, Helen Gilbert. To win the esteem of his teacher Andy writes a play for his class show and wins the leading role in it. The young teacher in a moment of loneliness listens to Andy's boyish declaration of love and finds herself suddenly being asked in marriage by the lad. The Judge, despite his own j worries, tries to talk Andy out of 1 his infatuation but the latter won't, listen. Finally, on the day cf the play, the Judge turns a wise trick which saves all the money mulcted by the promoters and Andy discovers that his teacher is engaged to some- | one else.

THEATRE ROYAL “Bulldog Drummond’s Bride,” featuring John Howard (in the title role), Heather Angel, H. B. Warner, Reginald Denny and E. E. Clive will be screened tonight. The story gets under way when “Drummond,” against the wishes of his fiancee and of Scotland Yard, attempts to track down the daring perpetrator of a bank robbery. The thief conceals the money in a portable radio belonging to Drummond’s fiancee. When she departs for the honeymoon cottage in France to await “Drummond’s” arrival for the wedding, she foryets the radio. “Drummond” sends it to her. then learns that the money was concealed in it, and exciting events follow. A romance between the daughter of a small town newspaper owner and the scapegrace son of the local mayor forms the love story of “The Arkansas Traveller,” Paramount’s home town drama. Although the young man, played bv John Beal, has always been regarded as a ne’er-do-well. he shows up his father when the local newspaper editor, Bob Burns, helps him clean up town pclitics. Jean Parker is the girl in the case, and others in the cast are Fay Bainter, Irvin S. Cobb and Porter Hall.

STATE THEATRE Barry Benefield’s famous novel, “Chicken Waggon Family,” comes to the screen with Jane Withers in the role of the adventurous younger daughter. Leo Carrillo is Jane’s Daddy, Marjorie Weaver is her big sister, Spring Byington, the famous Jones Family Mother, is her mother, while Kane Richmond plays the nandsome policeman who falls in love with Marjorie when the family hits the big city. “Chicken Wagon Family” is the story of a gay little family who toss their cares into a bright red bandanna and with Jane and Carrillo in the driver's seat, hit the open road, trading any and everything ! for chickens which they market when j they reach the big city, j The Jones Family’s latest film is I “Quick Millions,” and every Jones iis good for a laugh. The film I takes the family to the Grand ' Canyon to claim a gold mine they j have inherited, but it costs them ten I for every dollar they get out of the mine. Jed Prouty, Spring Byington, I Ken Howell, George Ernest, June j Carlson, Florence Roberts and Billy j Mahan are featured. ROXY THEATRE The story of “The Lambeth Walk,” a gay musical film based on the popular song, is of a young Cockney ! bookmaker, who suddenly finds himj self the heir to an earldom. His 1 efforts to adjust himself to his new j surroundingrs and the reaction of j his newly found relatives provide 1 seme of the funniest situations ! imaginable. I Lupino Lane, as Bill Snibsen, the hero, gives some idea of why he is regarded as England's No. 1 comedian. His encounters with his aunt, the duchess, provide many of the comedy highlights of the show. Sally Gray, as his Lambeth girl friend, and Seymour Hicks, as Sir John, one of his new relations, do I their share towards making the show 1 the big success that it undoubtedly is. Set amid the brilliance and gaiety of Washington night life, “The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt” tells of an enemy of the Lone Wolf, who has his eye on certain War Department plans. A spy steals them and implicates the Lone Wolf, thus plunging events into a thrill-jammed channel. Warren William and Ida Lupino are . tarred and a large supporting cast includes Ralph Morgan. Rita Hayworth. Virginia Weidler, Marc Lawrence and : Leonard Carey. CIVIC THEATRE . “The Lion Has Wings.” spon- ; sored by the British Government, dramatises with a stirring personal story the great organisation and achievements ol' the Royal Air Force, and how Great Britain gradually awoke to the menace of Hitlerism and the threat to the life and liberties of Europe, which the German war machine proclaimed. It is particularly inspiring in its thrilling panoramas ol British fliers and planes engaged in defence and attack. The film shows England's vast preparation to tight, not berate «• she wants to, but berr.i e she must repel Nazi bombers and give

the Nazis a taste of their own aggression. It graphically shows how a great nation devoted to the pursuits of and progress is suddenly transformed into a people mightily armed to resist aggression. In a series of fascinating shots the jrcture contrasts the spirit of She British, devoted to sport and progress. with tiic spirit of Nazi Germany preparing night and day for one purpose and one purpose only— One ol the most interesting episi des of file film shows shots of the oaring raid on the Kiel Canal. Merle U heron, Ralph Richardson, June Duproz and Flora Robson play prominent roles in this most impressive film which should be seen by every New Zealander.