ENTERTAINMENTS

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21159, 8 July 1940, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

TONIGHT’S PROGRAMMES STATE THEATRE “All At Sea” introduces Sandy Powell in his funniest screen role — that of A. B. Skipton, who wages a lone fight against a pair of enemy agents who are trying to steal a secret new high explosive. Sandy takes the explosive away with him when he is sacked from a chemical factory where he is employed as a messenger, joins the Navy and is sent to the Mediterranean. The criminals chase after nim, and then ensues a series of hilarious thrills in which first Sandy and then the crooks obtain possession of the explosive. Sandy triumphs in a series of laughter-raising situations. A glimpse into the future is afforded by “SOS—Tidal Wave.” Ralph Byrd is seen as a television news reporter who uses this medium of the airways to smash a corrupt political ring. Kay Sutton is costarred in this action drama. THEATRE ROYAL | Insidous methods used by Nazi agents to win the confidence of unsuspecting Englishmen are revealed in “Traitor Spy.” Bruce Cabot is excellent in the main part as a spy who obtains employment in a torpedo factory and photographs secret blueprints. After many exciting adventures his well-merited downfall is engineered by a girl in the British Secret Service. “Let’s Be Famous,” featuring Sonnie Hale, is a very amusing comedy, presenting Jimmy Houlihan, an Irish grocer and the singing pride of his community, who has some exciting and amusing adventures. “REWI’S LAST STAND” “Rewi’s Last Stand,” the outstanding New Zealand film, with a special appeal to Waikato people, will commence a season tomorrow. ROXY THEATRE The romantic stars of “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”—Tyrone Power and Alice Faye—are joined by A 1 Jolson, the star who sings back the past everyone wants to remember, in “Rose of Washington Square.” Featuring, as did “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” the hit songs of today and yesterday, the film opens the gates of memory, of an appealing romance. Fist-fighting flyers blazing an air trail over the Alaskan wilderness are the central figures in the Richard Arlen-Andy Devine co-starring action drama, “Legion of Lost Flyers,” with Arlen as an ace pilot and Andy as a mechanic at an Alaskan airport. Beginning in a fast-moving manner, the story opens with a fatal air crash for which Arlen is falsely blamed. He follows the real culprit to Alaska. REGENT THEATRE With famous stars in the leading roles the screen version of the great stage success, “Balalaika,” is a fine production. The star is Nelson Eddy, as a Russian prince in the days before the War and before the Revolution. He is also an officer in a Cossack regiment, and, as such, gives a dashing performance. He has a new leading lady in this film, in the person of Ilona Massey, described as Hollywood’s latest singing star. She certainly looks to be all she is claimed to be and has won warm acclaim from critics and public alike. The story is very entertaining and introduces a fine musical score and clever comedy situations. Nine song numbers are presented, including “Flow, Flow, White Wine,” “Ride, Cossack, Ride,” “At the Balalaika” and "Silent Night.” Charlie Ruggles, Frank Morgan, Lionel Atwill, C. Aubrey Smith, and Joyce Compton are in the distinguished supporting cast. CIVIC THEATRE “For Freedom” might be called a cavalcade of great world events—the events directly leading to the present war—told in a dramatic and intensely exciting manner. The passage of these events is narrated around the efforts of a newsreel producer to cover the world with his battery of 1 cameramen, and The passage of affairs, as centralised in his studio, tells the story of grim circumstance which led to the present conflict. The highlight is the Battle of the River Plate, followed by the capture of the Altmark and the release of the British prisoners. These two incidents are most impressively told, and the comment by Vice-Admiral E. T. Harper, the New Zealander, with the actual men of the Exeter, Achilles, and Ajax participating, gives the film a special significance in this country.