PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 22444, 15 September 1936, Page 13

PICTURE THEATRES

ST. JAMES Jean Harlow, with Spencer Tracy as liur leading man, appears in ‘ Riff-raff, the picture which is having a local season at the St. James. It is a story or the primitive emotions of men and women who go down to the sea in ships, wresting an existence from the constant struggle with the deep. Like ‘ China Seas,’ ‘ Riff-raff ’ gives Miss Harlow a tremendous opportunity to display her dramatic ability. This is no society drama, no polite comedy of the drawing room. This is a love story without a word of love, a romance as savagely elemental as the environment in which it takes place. Jean Harlow gives an excellent portrayal of a young woman whose attempts to win the affections of a boastful young fisherman lead her into prison when she endeavours to help him out of his difficulties, while Spencer Tracy, as her lover, is also outstanding. Una Merkel and Joseph Calleia. who scored a notable success.in ‘Public Hero,’ head a strong supporting cast. ‘PAGE MISS GLORY.’ A film that has been preceded by its reputation of offering screen entertainment in a novel and thoroughly amusing manner is ‘ Pago Miss Glory,’ which will open at the St. James on Friday. The star is Marion Davies, and supporting her are such celebrities as Dick Powell, Pat O’Brien, Mary Astor, Frank MTlugh, Lyle Talbot, PatsyKelly, Barton Mac Laue, Allen Jenkins, Hobart Cavanaugh, and a score of others. ‘ Page Miss Glory ’ was a big hit on the Broadway stage. A new song, also bearing the title ‘ Page Miss Glory,’ written by Hollywood’s leading team of “ hit ” writers, Warren and Dubin, is sung as a duet by Miss Davies and Dick Powell. The story of ‘ Page Miss Glory ’ is as funny as it is unique. Miss Davies, in the role of a country girl, neither pretty nor bright, gets a job as chambermaid in a big New York hotel, in which reside a promoter, portrayed by Pat O’Brien, who has nothing to promote, and Frank M'Hugh, a jobless newspaper photographer. EMPIRE . No finer entertainment could he desired than that provided in the film ‘ Three Live Ghosts,’ at the Empire. The story has proved a success many times over on tl(6 stage and with the wider facilities offered by the screen it has been improved upon to a considerable degree. The story tells of three comrades in arms who escape from a German prison camp and make their way to London, One is an American, one a Cockney, and one, “ Spoofy,” who is obviously a gentleman born, is mentally unbalanced and has, in addition to other shortcomings, a tendency toward kleptomania. The three make their way to the boarding house owned by the Cockney’s mother, Mrs Gubbins (Beryl Mercer), and here a most amusing series of incidents leads up to the crowning point in the piay. Bill, the American, is accused and later proved innocent of a crime in America, and “ Spoofy ” proves to be a noblyborn peer. Richard Arlen,' Gus M'Naughton, and Claude Allister are the principal players. •KLONDYKE ANNIE.’ The name of the world-famous Mae West should in itself be sufficient attraction to draw audiences, but coupled with a story of such outstanding merit as that of ‘ Klohdyko Annie,’ it is little wonder that this film has been given an extended season throughout the north. It will commence its local season at the Empire on. Friday. No one other than a superb actress could make convincing the amazing characters in which Mae West specialises—and in which she exploits the manners and costumes of the ’nineties for the entertainment of the present generation—but the response of filmgoers the world over to her first pictures left no doubt that Miss West had hit upon a gold mine when she ceated a modern version of the alluring ladies of New York’s golden age. In ‘ Klondyke Annie,’ the scene changes to San Francisco and Alaska, but for all that the spirit of the gay ’nineties is preserved intact. Victor M'Laglen heads the supporting cast. RESENT Jeffery Farnol's most fascinating and exciting romance, ‘ The Amateur Gentleman,’ has been made into a film which both English and American critics hail as a triumph for the new British studio of Criterion Film Productions Ltd. It is the current attraction at the Regent. The amateur gentleman is the son of an ex-prize-fighter, but he has been brought up as a gentleman. He breaks sensationally into the society of Regency England in order to discover the truth about some stolen pearls, on account of which his father has been clapped into the condemned cell. In the course of his quest he becomes a friend of the Prince Regent, the worshipper of the proud, but -romantic, ' Lady Cleone (Elissa Landi), and the enemy of the suavely villainous _ Chichester. At various stages he is the hero of a bare-knickle fight, the instigator of a gaol break, and the quarry of Bow street runners. ‘DESIRE.’ It is claimed for ‘ Desire,’ which commences a season at the Regent on Friday," that it presents a “ different ” Marlene Dietrich from that whom the picture-going public has seen hitherto. So vast already is the public of this glamorous, fascinating German star that some may be given to wonder what will be the result of this new claim on her behalf. It would seem, however, that it will have only one result, and that that will be an increase in her present legion of admirers. A change has'been made in directorship, and under the direction of Frank Borzage, a new Dietrich certainly is presented—a Dietrich more human than previously, and one possessing an unsuspected sense of real humour. Gary Cooper has the male lead, and makes a thoroughly good job of it as a young American on vacation in Spain. Paris is the locale for the opening of ‘ Desire.’ There a jewel raid is cleverly executed, and Dietrich, an adventuress, flees to the Spanish border, but en route circumstances arise which cause her and the booty to part company. Gary Cooper here lends a hand. He helps the beautiful jewel thief to escape, but is unable to do so himself. Some exciting and amusing events follow and lead up to the climax. STATE The heart-warming story of a 1 dimpled tot and a sweet old maii—both of whom had found “ the right somebody to love ” —is delightfully told in the new Shirley Temple picture ‘ Captain January,’ which is in an extended local season at the State. In a delightful mixture of song, dance, and comedy the new picture follows the adventures

of Shirley and Guy Kibbee, the grizzled old lighthouse-keeper, who, had rescued her from the sea, and who was jealously determined to keep her for himself. Aided by another old salt, Slim Summerville, Kibbee succeeds for a time in sheltering Shirley from the vixenish truant officer. Then Shirley is taken away and all is consternation, but not for long. Friends turn up to free her from Miss Haden’s grip, and the little lady and the old sailor of the lighthouse are happily rejoined. Buddy Ebsen, of Follies fame, is Shirley’s dancing partner in the new picture, and is also romantically teamed with lovely June Lang. The supporting programme is a strong one. ■ FOLLOW THE FLEET.’ 1 Follow the Fleet,’ which will commence its local season at the State on Friday, goes one better than the famous ‘ Top Hat,’ and provides magnificent opportunities for comedy and spectacle. In short, it may bo said that ‘ Follow the Fleet,’ with that splendid combination of stars, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, rises to the top standard in screen musical comedy. The story illustrates the old saying, “ The course of true love never runs smooth,” hut innumerable complexities arise from the fact that both the men whose love stories are followed (Fred Astaire and Randolph Scott) ’are sailors. Full opportunity is therefore taken for witty repartee, for which Astaire is famous, and several dances are introduced in appropriate places The opposite leads are played by Ginger Rogers and Harriett Hilliard as sisters. Particularly witty lyrics are sung by Astaire to music of the usual high standard of Irving Berlin, the best of which are ‘ We Saw the Sea,’ ‘ Let Yourself Go,’ and ‘ Let’s Face the Music and Dance.’ OCTAGON ‘ Roberta ’ is still attracting large audiences to the Octagon. It is in one respect, although largely from the point of view of womenfolk, a fashion cocktail in celluloid and sound, with Fred. Astaire and Ginger Rogers, the pair with the amazing dancing feet, supplying the pep, and Irene Dunne and others the softer ingredients. Together they made a delightful confection with qualities calculated to please all tastes. The story tells of an American football player who inherits from his adorable old Aunt Minnie the very fashionable “ Roberta ” gown salon in Paris, to which the best people go. In this situation there is ample room for some good comedy, and the onetime football player and his bosom friend, the leader of an orchestra, exploit the possibilities thus presented very well indeed. Edna May Oliver and James Gleason are one of the most amusing pairs of entertainers to appear on the screen. In ‘ Murder on a Honeymoon,’ which is in support, they have parts which give them opportunity to exploit their talents to the full. Miss Oliver is cast as an inquisitive school mistress who suspects that every death is .a murder, and Gleason is, a fast-talking, but stupid, police inspector. HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE Shakespeare, with a splendour and faithfulness which has never _ before been possible; Shakespeare, with not one line of the text altered! Nearly three and a-half centuries after ; he wrote his famous fantasy, * A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ which _ commences to-morrow at His Majesty’s Theatre, the .greatest dramatist comes into his own. Science, art, the storied culture of centuries, and finally the stage, supplied Professor Max Reinhardt, the famous Continental producer, with the means to interpret this wholly delightful play, packed with whimsical and human emotion for mankind through Warner Bros., who spent over £250,000 upon it. Giving freest rein to his astounding and creative imagination and sense of humour, Shakespeare baffled the stage and the finest actors, the Alleyns and the Garricks, the Irvings and the Holloways, for the size of any theatre severely restricted both directors and actors. But with all the world for his stage, and not confined by physical dimensions, _ Reinhardt’s genius for the superlative in presenting the immortal playwright has achieved alike the incredible and the impossible in his films. Distinguished people who have had the privilege of seeing the film and are intellectually in a position to sing either its anthems or its anathema, are universal in unanimous praise of its general excellence and the happy assignment of the roles. The immense case includes:—lan Hunter, Veree Teasdale, Hobart Cavanaugh, Dick Powell, Ross Alexander, Jean Muir, Olivia de Havilland, Grant Mitchell, James Cagney, Joe E. Brown, Hugh Herbert. Frank M'Hugh. Dewey Robinson, Otis Harlan, Arthur Treacher, Mickey Rooney, Anita Louise, Victor Jory, Nini Theilade. Katherine Frey, Hleen Westcott, Fred Sale, Billy Barty. LAURIER, PORT CHALMERS In creating the role of Clarence E. Mulford’s ‘ Hopalong Cassidy,’ coming to-day to the Laurier, William Boyd, realising he must keep faith with thousands x)f readers of the Mulford stories, has made every effort to make the flesh and blood characterisation correspond with the celebrated fiction hero as closely as possible. ‘ Hopalong Cassidy ’ deals with the exciting adventures of the courageous “ Hopalong ” and his two range-riding pals, in the days of the old, lawless West when cattle barons and cattle rustlers fought for supremacy with a quick draw on a six gun. How “ Hopalong ” and his pals round up a ruthless gang of rustlers and avenge their crimes against honest ranch owners makes for heart-stirring drama and full-blooded action, The cast includes Jimmy Ellison, new screen sensation, Paula Stone, daughter of comedian Fred Stone. Robert Warwick, Charles Middleton, Kenneth Thomson, Frank M'Glynn, jun., Willie Fung, George Hayes. GRAND Astonishing possibilities, presented years before their time, are shown in ‘ The Invisible Ray,’ which will have its final! screening at the Grand this evening. Many futuristic films have been placed belore the public, but never before has such an exceptional picture as this been produced. It is woven around some of our established theories and predicts the direction in which recent scientific theories are leading. Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi are starred. ‘A MESSAGE TO GARCIA.’ Wallace Beery, whose magnificent acting in character roles in ‘ The Champ,’ ‘Viva Villa,’ and ‘ The Bowery ’ won him hosts of admirers, heads the cast in Twentieth Century’s exciting adventure romance, ‘ A Message to Garcia,’ which begins a local season at the Grand to-morrow. Associated with him are two other popular stars, John Boles and Babara Stanwyck, and there is a strong supporting cast, including Herbert Mundin, Enrique Acosta, and Mona Barrie. The hero of the story

is Lieutenant Rowan, the man who carries the message to Garcia 'in the tropical interior of Cuba, and in this part John Boles gives a remarkably clear-cut and impressive performance. Wallace Beery has the role of an amusing and lovable rogue, who accompanies Boles on his mission to find Garcia, and though he is first a timorous coward he vindicates his character by his willingness to give his life for those he loves. In tneir wanderings they meet Barbara Stamvyck, and she agrees to lead them to Garcia. Innumerable exciting adventures follow. The dramatic tension is increased when the heroine is wounded and has to be left behind, and the climax is reached when Boles falls into a trap. ‘ A Message to Garcia ’ is rollicking entertainment, packed full of fast action, and containing abundant humour. - Wallace Beery has never had a role that has suited him better, and the other principals are happily cast. MAYFfUR The full programme which is being screened at the Mayfair offers wellvaried entertainment, with comedy predominating. ‘ Peck’s Bad Boy ’ is one of the chief attractions. It tells a human story in which there are situations both amusing and pathetic, and the principal role is ably filled by Jackie Cooper. He portrays with a keen understanding of the requirements of the part a misunderstood boy whose lively spirits get him into all kinds of mischief, but who is at heart a fine, manly youngster, liked by everyone. William Powell is seen with Ginger Rogers in ‘ Star of Midnight,’ a mystery drama telling of the disappearance of a beautiful woman, Romance and subtle comedy are combined with the mystery element to make the film speci'ally attractive. A third picture, ‘ Pardon My Pups,’ features the extraordinary Shirley Temple. ‘ CALL OF THE WILD.’ ‘ Call of the Wild ’ is no misnomer for Twentieth Century’s filmisation of Jack London’s famous classic of the Klondkye gold rush of 1897, which will commence at the Mayfair to-morrow, with Clark Gable, Loretta Young, and Jack Oakie in its leading roles. A story of unbridled romance which recognises only Nature’s laws, it is a literal interpretation of “ the call of the wild,” and Darryl Zanuck, who produced the stirring saga of the last of our great frontiers, has invested the original text with a dramatic love story. Gable swashbuckles through the gold " camps, a picturesque prospector ready to stake his fortune on the flip of a coin. His code is the code of the frontier—a rough but ' honest variation of the “ golden rule.” “ Buck,” the huge St. Bernard, has a prominent ipart in the picture. STRAND Another well-balanced double-feature programme will be presented at the Strand to-day, when ‘ HeW Ship Morgan ’ is having a local season. A dramatic story of life on the high seas and the rough treatment meted out to mutineers by a captain who believes in the iron law of discipline, provides excellent entertainment. Victor Jory and’ George Bancroft, both players who have achieved considerable success in action films, have the leading roles, while Ann Sothern makes a delightful heroine. Billie Seward, brunette Columbia actress, is again teamed with Colonel Tim M‘Coy, virile Western star, in Columbia’s ‘ Justice of the Range,’ a hard-riding, exciting romance of the early West, which will be the associate feature in the programme. ‘ Justice of the Range.’ which was directed by David Selman from an original story and screen play by Ford Beebe, gives Miss Seward her fourth role opposite M‘Coy.