ENTERTAINMENTS

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21183, 5 August 1940, Page 4

ENTERTAINMENTS

TO=NIGHT’S PROGRAMMES CIVIC THEATRE “Primrose Path” shows what happens when a girl, starved for romance, falls in love with a neighbourhood Prince Charming. Ginger Rogers impersonates the daughter of a dissolute family living on the “wrong side of town.” Joel McCrea is cast as a wise-cracking young worker who, with his grandfather, runs a cheap eating place and gas station near the town’s fish canneries. Fate brings the two together, and when romance springs from their friendship, the girl, ashamed of her disreputable family, pretends to be the daughter of respectable parents who have disowned her. The happy marriage of the youngsters, the disillusionment of the young man when he learns about the girl’s sordid family, their separation and their eventual reunion makes the drama a powerful piece of entertainment. STATE THEATRE “My Wife’s Relatives” is a very amusing comedy of the* “homely” type, in which the Higgins family includes James Gleason as Pa, Lucille Gleason as Ma, and Russell Gleason as Sid the eldest son. The trials and tribulations of the family, as Pa loses his job, saves Grandpa from eloping with a widow, prevents Sid from wrecking the home, and straightens out the romance of his daughter, keep the audience interested throughout. “Gang Bullets,” with Anne Nagel and Robert Kent in the leading roles, combines romance and thrills very effectively. It concerns “Big Bill” Anderson, a corrupt politician who has been thrown out of many towns. He finally lands in Bridgetown, where the district attorney and his young assistant are at first powerless to prevent him indulging in racketeering, but eventually bring about his conviction. THEATRE ROYAL For the first time since the advent of talkies, a British fiction film has a sequel. The film claiming this honour is “This Man is News,” the story of English newspaper life which became one of the hit-pictures of last year and the sequel is “This Man in Paris,” in which Barry K. Barnes and Valerie Hobson as “Mr and Mrs Drake,” the newspaper re-porter-hero and his wife, continue their successful screen partnership. Alastair Sim is once again the harassed news-editor. The first picture to deal with these heroes without medals who are called into action when things get too hot for anyone else to handle, “Emergency Squad” turns the spotlight on a service that is familiarly known as the “suicide battalion” and recounts the adventures as seen through the eyes of a girl reporter on a big city daily. ROXY THEATRE “Jamaica Inn” tells a thrilling story concerning the sinister manner in which small merchant packets are lured into the rocky Cornish coast and plundered, regardless of life. Behind these plunderers is a man mad for the luxuries of life, who directs and reaps the benefits of “Jamaica Inn” and its ruthless killers. The top name, Charles Laughton, needs no introduction to film-lovers, for his portrayals of characters in past productions leave nothing to be desired of this great actor. Infant charm, hilarious comedy and romantic intrigue are combined in a most effective manner in “Unexpected Father.” The infant charm is supplied by baby Sandy, who captured movie audiences in a big way when she appeared on the screen for the first time in “East Side of Heaven.” The comedy comes largely from Mischa Auer and the romantic intrigue is provided by Dennis O’Keefe and Shirley Ross. REGENT THEATRE “Judge Hardy and Son” continues the adventures of the popular family. In this film Mickey Rooney turns detective to help his father fight a foreclosure case; gets involved with three pretty girls with consequent trouble with his “regular” sweetheart, Ann Rutherford; turns hero to ferry Cecilia Parker across a raging flood to reach her sick mother’s bedside; and inspires his father to new courage in an hour of tragedy. There are poignant moments when the family fears the loss of the mother through illness. There are hilarious complications in Andy Hardy’s life, and several tense dramatic moments in the life of the family. Lewis Stone as the Judge and father, Mickey as Andy Hardy, Cecilia Parker as his sister, Fay Holden as the motiie: and Sara liaden as the aunr, with Ann Rutherford as Polly Benedict, Mickey’s high school sweetheart, again do excellent work.