ENTERTAINMENTS

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21303, 23 December 1940, Page 5

ENTERTAINMENTS

TONIGHT’S PROGRAMMES ROXY THEATRE An enjoyable double-feature programme is being presented. Everyone lovec a circus. end “At the Circus” has all the attractions of “the big top,” with its thrills, romance and humour. The story is very exciting, dealing with the lives and loves of these unusual people, who really live in a world of their own. Interesting dialogue and diverting situations hold the close interest of the audience as the story works up to the dramatic climax. Especially entertaining are the big circus acts introduced. “The Bad Little Angel” is a film of a totally different kind, but equally entertaining. It is a sparkling production, with merry humour and homely sentiment. CIVIC THEATRE Tiie romantic drama “I Was An Adventuress” is satisfying entertainment. As decoy for two Continental jewel thieves, the attractive ballet, dancer Zorina has a part admirably suited for her personality. The popular English actor Richard Greene takes the male lead of one of Zorina’s victims, with whom she falls in love. The ensuing complications produce many dramatic sequences, and a brilliant climax to the film is provided by the dancing of the ballet “Swan Lake.” Erich Von Stroheim appears as a relentless Parisian swindler who would compel Zorina to continue luring rich men with her beauty while he concocts schemes to cheat them of huge sums. “London Can Take It,” an inspiring film of London’s reaction to air raids, is also screened. THEATRE ROYAL “Sandy is a Lady,” a gay and exciting comedy, revolves around the baby star, who wanders away from Butch and Buddy when she is left in their care. Sandy innocently gets into all kinds of situations; she saves a restaurant from a bomb explosion; she blithely walks along tne high steel girders of an unfinished building while ambulances and fire equipment scream to the rescue on the streets below. It is Sandy who saves the day for her father, gets Billy Gilbert a new job and finds a partner for Mischa Auer in financing some of his queer inventions. “Tundra” is the strange and thrilling story of a white physician lost in the savage wilds of the Alaskan wilderness. A chapter of the thrilling serial; “Drums of Fu Manchu,” is also screened. STATE THEATRE “King of the Lumberjacks” provides plenty of opportunity for John Payne, Gloria Dixon and Stanley Fields to exercise their talents. Stanley Field’s boisterous lumbercamp boss is a finely etched character—hard as nails, gay, devil-may-care, yet lovable. John Payne and Gloria Dixon, of course, provide the romantic interest. Punctuating the dramatic, romantic and humorous episodes are many impressive scenes showing the felling of trees—veritable forest giants—and logs being sent flying at a dizzy pace down greased slipways to the river. “Calling All Marines” is an espionage story, but with an original twist. A handful of ruthless spies pit their strength against the mighty arm of America’s Marines, only to find they are outclassed by something greater than armed force —honour. REGENT THEATRE Spectacular phases of modern sea warfare are brought vividly to the screen in the British film “Convoy.” High lights of “Convoy” are the stalking of a refugee ship by three German submarines, the capture of the ship, and the attempt to use her as a bait for more victims, the destruction of a submarine by gunfire and depth charge, the shooting down of a warship’s seaplane, and as a climax a terrific fight between a German pocket-battleship and a much lighter British cruiser, in which all the pandemonium of a naval battle is realistically conveyed to the audience. Against this background of hectic and dangerous activity a huge convoy of merchant ships sails placidly across the dangerous waters of the North Sea, safe under the shield of the Royal Navy. Clive Brook, John Clements , and Judy Campbell are the stars of the picture.