ENTERTAINMENTS

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21082, 8 April 1940, Page 10

ENTERTAINMENTS

TONIGHT’S PROGRAMMES

CIVIC THEATRE “DODGE CITY” “Dodge City” has as its background the brawling, turbulent, sud-den-death milieu of the toughest town in the American cattle country c-f the 1870’s. There are many hairraising scenes in the production, but those that the spectator is likely to remember longest are a cattle stampede, a rousing saloon brawl in which more than 100 men make a veritable shambles of the place, and a pistol battle in a railway mail car which is given a sudden and horrible twist when the car bursts into flames. Errol Flynn dominates the action of the piece throughout, but he is given splendid assistance by some clever supporting players. Notable among them are Olivia de Havilland, as a pioneer newspaper girl, Ann Sheridan, Bruce Cabot, Frank McHugh, Alan Hale and others. The film is in technicolour, which adds to its attractiveness. The delightful organ solos by Mr and Mrs Jesse Crawford are a popular feature of the supporting programme. STATE THEATRE Big as the sky it fills, dramatic as blind flight, and thrilling as a power dive, “20,000 Men A Year” is a story of college students taking to the air in the new American Civil Aeronautics Authority civilian training programme. Featured in the cast are Randolph Scott, as a flying instructor; Preston Foster, as a C.A.A. official, and Margaret Lindsay, as a girl who had no use for fliers until she fell in love with one. As if the presence of the Jones Family were not sufficient clue to the uproarious hilarity packed into “Too Busy to Work,” Joan Davis has a featured role. The favourite rough-and-tumble comedienne lends her guffawrious touch to this funny comedy of cornerstones, committees, little theatres and “screwball” country cousins. THEATRE ROYAL “The Terror” proves that Edgar Wallace stands unrivalled as a writer of mystery stories. The millions of people who enjoy “thrillers” unhesitatingly take up an Edgar Wallace story. “The Terror” is one of his best yarns, beginning with a bullion robbery on a road to London, entailing the use of a stupefying gas, and moving to a luxurious guest house in the country, where mysterious events are the more macabre in beautiful surroundings. As in all other Wallace stories, the police side has the stamp of authenticity, detectives are convincing and efficient, and not the stupid oafs that some authors delight to depict. “23£ Hours’ Leave” is a very appealing story of a soldier’s romance, with tender sentiment and delightful humour. ROXY THEATRE The most romantic outlaw in the history of America, the desperado whose daring coloured a whole era and endowed it with the title of the “Serious Seventies”—the man who invented bank hold-ups and introduced train robberies—has been brought to the screen at last in “Jesse James,” starring Tyrone Power, Henry Monda, Nancy Kelly and Randolph Scott. The film is all in technicolour, which makes the outdoor scenes very effective.

The modernised version, “Within the Law,” retains all the powerful drama and vivid romance of the play but is strictly up to the minute. Ruth Hussey is splendid in the role of Mary Turner, created on the stage by Jane Cowl. Tom Neal has the male lead and a strong cast includes Paul Kelly, William Gargan, Paul Cavanagh, Rita Johnson. The exciting story tells of the revenge taken by a girl for wrongful imprisonment. REGENT THEATRE “The Women” shows the fair sex in all of her moods and with all of her foibles. Into the story is concentrated all the venom of which feminine nature can be capable. Although the film bears the title “The Women,” it actually deals with men; they are in the background, but are the cause of all the trouble. Norma Shearer portrays the only character in the cast who has anything approaching what are considered to be the correct feminine virtues. Joan Crawford dares the hatred of all the shop girls in the world —and makes a classic job of it. Then Paulette Goddard succeeds in defying both wives and golddiggers. The dialogue, is brilliant. The action abounds in thrilling situations, and the whole is enacted in settings of luxuriance and beauty. The supporting programme includes scenes of the New Zealanders in Egypt.