Amusements Reviewed

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 225, 21 September 1940, Page 14

Amusements Reviewed

"FOUR WIVES." REGENT THEATRE. Adam Lemp '. Claude Rains. Ann Lcmp Borden Priscilla Lane. Kay Lemp Rosemary Lane. Thea Lemp Crowley Lola Lane. Emma Lcmp Talbot Gale -Page. Felix Dietz Jeffrey Lynn. Director: Michael Curtiz (Warner Bros.). Distinction is given to the Regent Theatre's new bill this week by the special double attraction, which opened its season last night. To the entertainment of a delightful family life portrayal in "The Four Wives" is added a novel speciality by which patrons have the pleasure of seeing the greatest artists of Hollywood over the past quarter-century in vignettes of their most famous roles. Thus George Arliss, Marie Dressier and Norma {Shearer come again to the screen at their best in brief but intimate comparison with Spencer Tracy, Bctte Davis, Luise Rainer and others. Apart from its intrinsic source of entertainment, "Cavalcade of Academy Awards" affords patrons with a vivid contrast ot* their favourites and material for a wealth of controversy.

One of those lovable family pictures after the style of "The Four Daughters," of which it is a followup, "The Four Wives" proved a worthy successor, and it clearly made a special appeal to t lie female section of the audience. More mature than its predecessor, it is, however, crammed with homely human-interest incidents of both romance and comedy with occasional touches of pathos. The three Lane sisters and Gale Page appear on the distaif side in the trials and'triumphs of matrimony in its early stages, while the bulwarks of wisdom and guidance to the young folks are supplied by Claude Kains and May Robson. The story deals with the martial troubles of the four wives, and a number of complications in which babies play a part, but ifc still succccds in holding the interest of the audience throughout with its drama and its mingling of laughter and tears.

In "Cavalcade of Academy Awards" a vivid, interesting and entertaining story is told, illustrated by the artists who have won the awards since their institution in 1927, with flashes from the prizewinning pictures. The climax is the Academy dinner at Hollywood in 1939, showing all the great scrcen personalities of the present day. It is interesting to note that Shirley Temple won an award in 1034, and that George Bernard Shaw appears in the cavalcade for his "Pygmalion." LILLIAN RUSSELL." CENTURY THEATRE. Lillian Russell Alice Faye. Edward Solomon Don Ameclie. Alexander Moore Henry Fonda. Diamond Jim Brady Edward Arnold. The Famous J. L. Warren William. Tony Pastor Leo Carillo. Director: Darryl F. Zanuck (20th Fox). A fine drama with 'music, lavishly and well produced, "Lillian Russell," the j Twentieth Century-Fox production, dealing with the life and loves of Lillian Russell, I belle of another generation, yesterday attracted large attendances at all sessions at the Century Theatre, where; it should ! enjoy a long season. The intensely draj matic events in the life of the famous I actress are brought to the screcu by Alice I Faye in < picture into which the producer, 1 Darryl F: Zanuck, has incorporated the wealth of elements-out of which production experience spells entertainment, glamour, song, costumc brilliancc, action xnd famous names and places.

The film narrative traces the career of Lillian Russell , from her birth, as Helen Leonard, in a small town in lowa, back in the.Civil War days. adaptation of the autobiographical material for a supporting cast headed by Edward Arnold. Henry Fonda and Don Amcchc, gives-a basis for able performance of the parts of Diamond Jim Brady, Alexander Moore, Edward Solomon, Tony Pastor and Jeasc Lowisohn. After Tony Pastor, has made her a sensational-success, Lillian Russell becomes the toast of New York; She marvies Edward Solomon and.they go to London, where his temperament eventually costs her her job. Soon after a daughter is born. Solomon dies. After starring in London, Lillian returns to Ncw York in a Weber and Fields production. Old courtships are resumed and, after romantic complications, she marries Alexander Moore.

A feature of the film is the excellent quality of the musical numbers, and the song hits which she popularised. Some of the tunes, are old and will be enjoyed by those who remember them, while a few new numbers have been added. Most enjoyable are the scenes which particularly bring home the memory of days not 60 dim in a past not so far away. The extended ca.vt names indicate the quality of this picture. Warren William, is there as Lewisohn.r' Leo Carrillo is Tony Pastor,. Nigel and Claude Alistcr portray Gilbert and Sullivan. One of the hiphj lights is the uproarious scene in which | Weber and Fields appear. ; Altogether it is a wonderfully entertaining picturc.

Immensely interesting-are the .two news films just' received, showing a thrilling air raid on a British convoy which is heavily bombed until Spitfires and Hurri-! canes arrive to drive the Nazi bombers away. Following a air .battle, two German machines arc seen hurtling into the sea. In an exclusive film "The Battle for Britain," there arc some fine shots of the King and Mr. Churchill,- and New Zealand troops training. "SANDY IS A LADY." MAJESTIC THEATRE. . Baby Sandy Baby Sandy. Mary Phillips Nan Grey. Joe Phillips Tom Brown. P. J. Barnett Eugene Pallette. Felix Lobo Smith Mischa Auer. Billy Pepino Billy Gilbert. Director: Charles Lamont (Universal). A quintet of coined Baby Sandy—make the film. "Sandy is a .Lady" one of the funniest of tlie series of laughter-producers in which Baby Sandy has stolen the limelight.' Remember them? "East Side of Heaven" . .. . "Little Accident" . .. . "Unexpected Father."'All of them were first-class, but. the audience at. the Majestic Theatre last night voted, by their laughter, that is a Lady" tops.them all. It was the■ type of programme generally that is designed to cut e the worst cases of "bluce," for in addition to the main feature there is another laugh attraction in "Cheer, Boys, Cheer," in which Nova Pilbeam, Edmund Gwenn and Jimmy O'Dea share the leads. . —

"Sandy is a Lady" is the initial starring picture for the two-year-old Baby Sandy, and for the occasion she lias been surrounded with a cast which for comic talent would be "hard to beat. Look at them . . . Mischa Auer, Eugene Pallette, Billy Gilbert, Edgar Kennedy and Fritz Feld! Any one of them is usually regarded as suflicient to raise the rafters in mirth production, and together with the talented little Sandy they make. this. film, something to be remembered. There arc really two other comedians also in eight-year-old Buddy and nine-ycar-okl Butch, those astonishing young mischief-makers and . npsgivings who*.' first came into prominence in "The Undcr-Pup." In fact, the only-(straight roles are those of Nan Grey and Tom Brown as the mother and father of Baby Sandy. The story revolves around the adventures of the. baby.star when she wanders away frorii the carc of Butch and Buddy. She gets into all" sorts of situations, and in one scene is seen blithely walking along the girders of a high, unfinished building. With Mischa Auer in the main comedy role as an eccentric inventor, the rest of the situation can be well imagined.. There is a good supporting programme. W.R.A. DRAMA. One of the classics of modern world drama, "The Sea-gull," by Anton Chekhov, will be staged for a season of four nights, beginning to-night, by the dramatic club of the Workers' Educational Association in the W.E.A. Theatre, Old Grammar School, Symonds Street. The producer ;s Arnold F. Goodwin. Booking arrangements are advertised. STATE THEATRE.' i . The screen version of lan Hay's nautical farce "The Middle Watch," which is;the current attraction at the State Theatre, Symonds Street, stars Jack Buchanan in one of his best portrayals to date. Fred Juvmoy. Greta G.vant and "Kay Walsh are 2-ccu iu supporting roles.

"THE WESTERNER." CIVIC THEATRE. Cole Harden Gary Cooper. . Judge Roy Boan Walter Brennan. I Jane Matthews Doris Davenport. Lily Langtry Lillian Bond. : Director: Samuel Goldwyn (United Artists), j Cattlemen and homesteaders of the old West provide plenty of excitement in "The Westerner," the feature picture that opened a season at the Civic Theatre yesterday. It is thrilling adventure against a spectacular background, and it can be classed as one of the outstanding Western pictures of the year. Then, too, there is the popular star, Gary Cooper, who gives a convincing performance in the leading role. "The Westerner" is a great story, magnificently told, and full of the bitterness of men and the beauty of women. Here is a story dealing with the old days of the cattle ranges, when the homesteader, who wanted to place sheep on what were formerly unjjpneetl ranges, had to fight the cattlemen to gain his ends. The story of this epic Western film deala with the attempt by. the homesteaders to till the land that lies west of the Pecos Kiver in Texas, and it contains all the best elements of the real Western drama. Many of the sequences are tense . one 6ccs the hard-shooting, hard-drinking and hard-riding men with whom picture audiences arc familiar. Then there are the caytises, the sage and the mesa, and the bitter feuds that were carried on iu the ca-ttle country when the guu was law.

The scenery alone nas a strong appeal, and the high standard of the acting is one of the features of the film. As the tall, hard-riding rancher, Gary Cooper has a role admirably suitable to him. Playing opposite to. him is Doris Davenport, while Walter Brennan takes the colourful part of the notorious judge, Roy Bean, and Lilian Bond is seen as the famous actress, Lily Langtry. A travel picture in technicolour entitled "Petra," and other interesting short films, complete an excellent programme. "SOUTH OF PAGO PAGO." PLAZA THEATRE. Bucko Larson Victor McLaslcn. Kchanc Jon Hall. Ruby Taylor Frances Farmer. Molia Olympe Bradna. Lindsay Gene Lockhart. William Douglas Dumbrille. Director: Alfred E. Green (U-A-Small). A worthy successor to "Hurricane," United Artists' "South of Pago Pago," which drew a crowded house to the Plaza Theatre last night, should meet with the enthusiastic approval of all lovers of adventure. The coming of pearl hunters to a peaceful South Sea Island settlement, and their effect upon the guileless natives is the main theme of the story, which is as crammed with action as all good adventure stories should be. The pearl hunters bring with them gin and greed— the white man's curse—and the natives fall willing victims to the bcguilings of these forerunners of civilisation.

Jon Hall, whose perfect physical attributes arc seen at their best dressed mainly in a coat of tan, takes a leadiug role as a young native chief who falls in love with a white girl of the bar rooms, played by I'ranees. Farmer. . Victor McLaglen, as leader of the invaders, is all that might be expected of him. Others to impress are Olvmpc Bradna, Gene Lockhart, Douglas Dumbrille and Francis Ford.

Frcm a technical angle, the photography is splendid, the dance routines and several pearl diving sequences being particularly well handled. Direction is by Alfred E. Green, from the story and screen play by Geor«\i Bruce and Kenneth Garnet. Among an interesting and timely supporting programme is a. further showing of the "March of Time" series, being a, well-produced review of America's younger ! generation. Other s>hort features bring' the war "over there" over here and give some idea of the magnitude of the struggle I with which the interests of everyone arc so closely allied. The bill of fare is j rounded off by another of the "Popular! Science" scries, in Technicolour. I EMBASSY. Telling its inspired story of a mother who renounces her claims to motherhood, "The Old Maid" continues to drawcapacity crowds to the Embassy Theatre. The story, taken from Edith Wharton's novel, which was a Pulitzer Prize 'play, is of a so-called "old maid" who brings her child up to regard her as an aunt, and the effect of this deception on herself and a cousin who comes to regard t'hc child as her own is delicatcly yet powerfully drawn. Bctte Davis, the screen's greatest actress of to-day, has in "The Old Maid" a role in which . her talents eliow to 'best advantage, while Miriam •Hopkins and George Brent offer outstand- ! ing support. Other well-known names in ; a strong cast include Donald Crisp, Jane Bryan, .Louise Fazenda, James Stephenson and Jerome Cowan. It is a powerful film, brilliantly acted by great artists, and capably directed by the versatile Edmund Goulding. The supporting programme is ot the usual high Embassy standard.

ROXV - TIVOLI, "Stage To Chi no," an absorbing story of the old frontier days, is proving to be a popular attraction with lovol's of virile Western films, at the Roxi and Tivoli Theatres. The theme is a new one, dealing with the adventures of postal inepecfors who supervised mail-carrying on the stage coach routes. Veteran of many a successful outdoor film, George O'Brien takes the leading role, and to the roar of guns and the flurry of fisticuffs captures bodi the criminals and .the heroine's heart. Virginia Bruce and Charles Stockdalc provide strong support. The associate feature "Long Shot," starring Gordon Jones and Marsha Hunt, is a story of. outsiders racing 'home at odds t'hat will make followers of horse racing 6igh with envy. - 'Here is racing at its keenest pitch with all the thrills and spills of the track aud all the scheming and heartbreaks popularly associated with the sport*. The programme is packed with action throughout and the crowds attending- both theatres testify to its worth. OXFORD. i The immortal Italian fairy story, "Pinocchio," • which Walt Dispey has chosen for the sccond of this full-length colour cartoons, has returned for a further Auckland season at the Oxford liieatre and there seeriis little doubt that its second season will ibe as successful as I its first. "Snow White" was suflicicntly entertaining to suit most scrcen patrons, I but "Pinocchio" has been made into an j even .-better show' with an even wider I appeal. This story of the adventures of | a little wooden boy who is -brought to I life 'by the fairies will appeal to adult ! audiences as much as it will to the kiddies. Some delightful figurds make their appearance in the-car toon—such fascinatI ing characters as Jimmy Cricket and the old woodcarvcr —and through Walt Disney's craft they arc' not merely figures, "but living, lovaible characters. The colour | system used is an improvement on anything seen to date and, taken all round, "Pinocchio" is a'worthy successor to the record-breaking "Snow White."

STRAND. Maintaining the ihigh standard set by (previous films in the series,- "Dr. Kildarc's Strange Caste," now coutinuin'# its Auckland season at the Strand Theatre, possesses all v the features of good screen entertainment contained in its .predecessors. . As 'before, Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, Lorraine Day and Nat Pendleton take the main roles in a story of -hospital life which at no time becomes technical. A medical story may sometimes become somewhat dull to a.ny .but an expert observer and this fact -has been realised to the full 'by director Harold Bucqiiet in haying any technical points which arise explained not in lecture form but simply as part of the story. The story concerns a surgeon who has supposedly ibungled an important brain operation. Ayres, as impulsive as ever, takes matters into his own hands to shield his friend, and the resulting events cannot fail but to keep an audience thrilled and amused iu turn. Lionel Barrvmorc, as the hospital's cliief diagnostician, has .lost none of his old craft in the lightning dramatic moments with well-timed bursts of humour, while Miss pay is ?£ lovely as ever.'

" FLORIAN." ST. JAMES' THEATRE. i Anton Herbert Young. Diana Helen Gilbert. Hofer Charles Cobum. Oliver Lee Bowman. Emperor Franz Josef Reginald Owen, j Countess Luclle Watson. Director: Edward I*. Marin (M-G-M-Sheehan.) In this historical melodrama, a fine thoroughbred, descendant of a long line of cavalry horses bred by the Hapsburgs for the defence of Austria and trained at a famous Spanish riding school, is seen in a story of the passing of the Hapsburg Empire. Opening about 1910 with scenes at the Court of Emperor Franz Josef, the picture moves on to ..jl4 and the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. Then follow war and revolution, and afterwards a complete change of scenery on the transfer ot the action to New York. Besides the horse, which gives a superb performance, a romance of two younv people, a commoner and a duchess, is featured in absorbing detail, largely against the background or old Austria. The stallion named in the title is one of six of his breed in America, and should win the admiration of all lovers of tine horses. The production is based on the novel by Felix Salten, und -.mcludcs a woudcrfully impressive imperial ballet scqueuce, starring Irina Baronova and rivalling the scenes in expert horsemanship. The beauties of the Austrian landscapes have been captured by the camera at great risk of Nazi displeasure and groundless suspicions of espionage, and the tilm generally attains a very high technical standard.

In the supporting programme, the New Zealand liigh Commissioner is seen inspecting Dominion troops in England; members of the Expeditionary Forces or the Empire arc shown giving a meniorable welcome to the Queen; the King inspects the Anzacs and the Navy secures control of the French fleet. Other war episodes make up a most interesting air mail review. "Buyer Beware" brings to the screen the latest in the "Crime Doesn't Pay" series. TRAINING COLLSGE OPERA. For some time the music club of the Teachers' Training College has been preparing for the production of Edward German's opera, "Tom Jones." So generous has been the support given to the first three performances that it has been found necessary to extend the season to Friday and Saturday, September 27 and 23. 'The -musical productions of the college have always been of a very high, standard, and this year's performance in Ino way departs from the excellcnce of I former 'productions.