CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 155, 29 December 1938, Page 5

CURRENT ENTERTAINMENTS

REGENT THEATRE. An' ultra-modern story ot a "quadrangle" supplants the age-old tale of the triangle in a new, bright, and breezy comedy. "Three Loves Has Nancy," comes to the Regent Theatre today. Miss Gaynor; in the best part she has had since the me- y morable "Seventh Heaven" and "A Star Was Born," gives a persuasive and sympathetic portrayal of a small-town girl who is given an insight into the" sophistications of New York by Montgomery and Tone, her rivals in love. Montgomery has a made-to-order assignment as the flippant novelist. Franchot Tone handles the part of the publisher with polish and suavity. The carefully-chosen supporting cast includes Guy Kibbee as a bewildered and helpless father, Claire Dodd as a designing actress, and Reginald Owen as a light-fingered and very funny butler. Richard Thorpe, whose latest contribution Was "The Crowd Roars," continues to turn out hits as is evidenced in his direction of the new comedy. The story, laid ag&inst a background of ultra-modern New York life, tells of the troubles resulting from a novelist's casual invitation to a small-town girl to avail herself of his help if she ever encountered trouble on a visit to the big city. MAJESTIC THEATRE. Robert Taylor appears in an entirely new type of role in "The Crowd Roars," which is now showing at the Majestic Theatre. Its appeal lies in the series of excellent character studies presented by the leading figures. Robert Taylor is cast as a fine, sincere young man unwillingly drawn into the boxing game. • Frank Morgan is a pathetic figure as the young fighter's father —a broken-down actor who is sincere at heart but weak in character. Nat Pendleton is one iof the gangster type. Maureen O'Sullivan is a very appealing .recipient of TayJor's affections. Supports include newsreels, a travelogue in colour, and a Pete Smith speciality dealing with ice hockey. ST. JAMES THEATRE. A well-written story containing the best elements of a mystery plot, light and clever humour, crisp dialogue, and above all the good acting of Melvyn Douglas and Florence Rice are the principal ingredients of "Fast Company," which will be finally shown at St. r James Theatre tonight. The supporting items include a laughable "Our Gang" .comedy, an interesting newsreel, and a fascinating account in picture of the fight waged by medical scientists against diabetes. PARAMOUNT THEATRE. "That Certain Age," starring Deanna Durbiri, will be given its final showing tonight at the, Paramount Theatre. Deanna embarks upon a troubled romance , when regarded by everyone as a child. She makes a unwilling hero of a returned war correspondentr a part admirably played by Melvyn Douglas.* A feature of the excellent supporting programme is the presentation of the five animated colour cartoons by Walt Disney, which have won the academy award every year jsince it was inaugurated in 1932. r REX THEATRE. The main attraction at the Rex tonight is the 20th Century Fox production, "Show Them No Mercy." This exciting melodrama is a daring exposure of gangster kidnapping methods in the United States. Bruee Cabot, Rochelle Hudson, and Cesar Romero have the featured roles. In "Every Saturday Night" June Lang enacts the role of the eldest daughter of a family of modern youngsters who make life lively for a horse-and-buggy father. —— ■ ~ ROXY THEATRE. "The Invisible Menace" and "Blazing Sixes" will be shown finally tonight. Proclaimed as the greatest motion picture ever made of an undersea boat, "Submarine D.I" will be screened at the Roxy Theatre tomorrow. The story was written by Commander Frank Wead, U.S.N., the author of "Ceiling Zero." Pat O'Brien and Wayne Morris play a couple of young submarine crewmen who have developed two great inventions —a device to shoot men safely to the ocean's surface if a ship is sunk, and another device to raise the U-Boat itself. The D.I is sunk during some manoeuvres, and the boys are successful in saying the whole crew. The supporting film is "Vivacious Lady," with Ginger Rogers in the lead. TUDOR THEATRE. "My Lucky Star," featuring Sonja Henie, is the main film tonight at the Tudor Theatre. Sonja's latest triumph' presents her in an entirely new setting, far removed from Switzerland's alpine peaks and Norway's remote peasant villages. She is a radiant modern girl* having a modern good time on a co-ed campus. Sharing star honours with her is Richard Greene, handsome young British actor. In order to raise some money to oay alimony to free Richard from his wife Sonja agrees to stage an ice carnival in a Fifth Avenue store. EMPIRE THEATRE, ISLAND BAY. Two fine holiday pictures are showing at the Empire Theatre, Island Bay, tonight. Jackie Cooper's "Boy of the Streets," a story of a boy who came through "with honours in the tough East Side tenement district, thanks largely to the good influence of Nora (Maureen O'Connor) of the same environment; and "The Sheik Steps Out," with Ramon Novarro and Lola Lane as an amorous lover and a^ glamorous girl. Two of the song numbers are "Ride With the Wind" and "Song of the Sands." , OUR THEATRE, NEWTOWN. In a return season of popular demand, the Bounty sails again to bring to the screen the .most gripping sea adventure of all time in7"Mutiny on the Bounty" at Our Theatre, with Charles Laughton as Captain Bligh, Franchot Tone as Roger Byam, Clark Gable as Fletcher Christian, and the most impressive character cast in screen history. The additional feature of this exceptional double-feature programme is "Counsel for Crime," starring Otto Kruger and Jacqueline Wells. REGAL, KARORI. There are plenty of thrills in the current programme at the Regal Theatre, Karori. Richard Dix plays the lead in "Blind Alibi," a dramatic story of the determined efforts of an American sculptor in Paris to obtain a packet of letters hidden in a museum before a group of blackmailers use them to ruin his sister's name. Whitney Bourne and Eduardo Ciannelli play the main supporting roles. "Born Reckless" is a drama of speed, sudden death, and swift romance, with Brian Donlevy as the devil-may-care hero. NEW PRINCESS THEATRE. "Our Fighting Navy" and "Rose of the Rio Grande" will conclude tonight at the New Princess Theatre. "Second Best Bed" commences at the New .Princess tomorrow, and is a polished Capitol production. A riotous comedy of marriage in Ben Travers's funniest vein," the 'film presents Tom Walls as a modern shrew-tamer, while Jane Baxter is seen in the feminine lead as the fiery but attractive shrew, whose will has never been crossed, but she is swept off to the altar by Tom Walls. The associate feature is "King of the Newsboys," starring Lew Ayres, Helen, Mack, and Alison Skipworth.

CITY AND SUBURBAN THEATRES

KING'S THEATRE. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," I at the King's Theatre, fulfils all that [ has been expected of this Walt. Disney ; s creation. The picture is dainty, for Snow : White is dainty; colourful, for she : and her prince lover are colourfuJ; 'f quaint, because dwarfs are always ! quaint; harsh and terrible, because the i jealous step-mother is a thoroughly ; nasty person, stopping at nothing in the ! black arts; and always there is the ' Grimm woodland and enchanting castle : '. background. It is a complete break away from motion picture convention ; and a complete return to fireside read* ings of Snow White, of maybe many I ' ysears ago, with the vast advantage 1 " over, the book or the reader that music : •is added. "The Wishing Well" and the dwarfs' marching song, "Heigh Ho," i are two of the best songs. The woodland < birds and animals, hoppers and i stumblers Uhe tortoise that is always i late) are brought to life in delightful fantasy For a minute or so one j notices the "animation" of the figures, j but then the theme takes hold in the < delight of the gorgeousness of the < colour and the artistic balance of every scene. ( TIVOLJ THEATRE. ] Mr. and Mrs. Thin Man are oack l again in another uproarious comedy hit. This time the famous William Powell-Myrna Loy co-starring team makes its appearance in ''Double Wedding," an adaption of the Ference Molnar continental stage success "Great Love," now showing at the Tivoli Theatre. The cast includes Florence Rice, John Beal, Jessie Ralph, Edgar Kennedy, Sidney Toler, \ Mary Gordon, Barnett Parker, Kath- j arine Alexander, and Priscilla*' Law- . son. ' : ' 1 RIVOLI THEATRE. 1 The management of the Rivoli The- ] atre has an attractive offering in "Mys- < tery Night," finally tonight. And noted ] for his powerful dramatic por- ] trayals, Richard Dix has one of the . most gripping roles of his career<in "Sky , Giant." As a transport pilot assigned y to manage a big aviation school, and ( later to command mapping a flight £ across the Arctic wastes on a pro- . jected , air route to Europe, Dix has ( unusual opportunities. Chester Morris, a Joan Fontaine, Harry Carey, and Paul i Guilfoyle are in the principal support- • ing roles. ] :• ] PLAZA THEATRE. { At the Plaza Theatre Shirley Temple, * precocious star of many pictures, shines i in "Little Miss Broadway"; and a pro- J gramme of merit includes a March • of Time on the G-men of the American » naval service, the coastguards, and a i reissue of the Coronation of George i VI in technicolour. Shirley Temple's i picture concerns the adventures of a i set of down-and-out vaudeville troup- I ers living in "Hotel Variety" and con- \ tinuously contending with an implac- c able landlady, Edna May Oliver. The c vaudeville troupers are aided by Shir- I ley in their hunt for funds and through I her the place is saved. But other dan- c gers are plentiful. Tney include a truant officer, out to return Shirley to her orphanage. But they are finally overcome. The picture is very i strongly cast, as a matter of fact, and Shirley's powers are as great as ever. . It is a first-raxe programme for entertainment purposes. OE LUXE THEATRE. J "Swing Your Lady," s at the.De Luxe t Theatre, is of the American" knockabout humour type, full of action and vitality. The cast includes Humphrey t Bcgart, Frank McHugh, Louise Fa- £ zenda, Nat Pendleton, Penny Singleton, t Allen Jenkins, and Weaver Bros., and c Elviry (the original "Hill-Billies"), i "Sergeant Murphy," the second fea- 1 ture, is the story of a horse in the 1 United State artiflery. A newsreel con- : tains interesting glimpses or the "iron i lung," a new and formidable armoured 1 car. arid the latest in motor-cars. < i ■ ■ s ■ •■' - ' f i STATE THEATRE. i "Safety in Numbers" and "Passport * Husband," the films on the programme at the State Theatre, conclude their j seasons tonight. r Annommced as the first of Jane ; Withers's 1938-39 picture for 20th Cen- , tury-Fox, "Miss Fix-it," which opens ; tomorrow at the State Theatre, finds ; Jane in the grandest surprise hit she \ has ever made. The story opens with Jane in a fashionable girls' boarding school, selling her clothes to raise the i fare to * Hollywood, where she plans , to visit her movie-director uncle. Jane . discovers that her uncle has taken to , drink, and can no longer get a job. \ She crashes a big studio, and lands a c. job in the movies herself. When the . hot-headed director "blows up," Jane's ' uncle is given the chance to take over, ( with his old crew cheering his come- ' back and the girl he loves right by ) his side. Gloria Stuart and Henry J Wilcoxon head the cast, which includes Helen Westley, Jed Prouty, Douglas Fowley, and Robert Allen. "Speed to Burn," first of a new series from 20th Century-Fox, is to be the associate feature. GRAND THEATRE, PETONE. c An outstanding double-feature programme is offered at the Grand * Theatre. The trackless Malayan jungle t formed the scene of the filming of * "Booloo." For over a year Clyde E. £ Elliott, who filmed "Bring 'Em Back "< Alive" arid his cast, headed by hand- "< some young Colin Tapley, worked to < bring this adventure story to the « screen. "Booloo" tells a tale of a young ' Englishman in search of ,a mysterious ; white tiger. Harold Lloyd's comedy, < "Professor Beware," is the second « feature. STATE THEATRE, PETONE. | "Three Blind Mice" is the feature, • film at the State Theatre. With Loretta t Young and Joel McCrea in a story f which provides a plausible excuse for c the utmost in chic and charm, million- 3 aire colony, gay Mexican fiesta scenes, c and pachting parties. In the fiesta t scenes Miss Young wears an adaptation t of the costume worn by fair senontas I of old Madrid, and throughout the -, dressing is an outstanding feature of < the picture. lPALACE THEATRE, PETONE. Mysterious and intrigue-ridden Morocco forms the romantic setting for "Bulldrog Drummond in Africa,' which will have its first local showing tonight at the Palace Theatre. The story. *of course, comes from the pen of H. C. "Sapper" McNeile, of the ever- \ popular "Drummond" character. The i associate attraction "Campus Confessions" is a merry story of college life, * with an all-star cast. There will be a ] special matinee tomorrow. { NICOLA, THE MAGICIAN. Nicola's season at the Grand Opera < House continues, with a programme of j old and new and spectacular stage mysteries. Nicola's show is described . as a revue of magic, 'a term which per- « mits the employment of colourful and J elaborate settings, and he himself is ] the presiding genius throughout. .In ; artless manner and in quick succession , he presents illusion after illusion, as , well as sleight-of-hand tricks m gen- , erous profusion and of divers kinds. As an interlude, Al de Clercq, described as the Hollywood Hill-Billy, 1 lives up to his reputation of being an 85-year-old Lothario on the loose, and 3 Lucille Roberts, "the girl with the - X-ray eyes," uncannily answers questions put to her. -There is a performance every night this week, with J a matinee on. Saturday.