PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 23376, 20 September 1939, Page 3

PICTURE THEATRES

STATE

Hurt fine old actor, Adolphe Menjou, plays the name part in the United Artists’ picture, ‘King of the Turf,’ ■*bioh is now at the State. He portravs * drink-sodden tramp who has fallen from the giddy heights of 70,000dollar banquets. He teams u,p with a youngster, Roger Hamel, who pulls him back to self-respect, and then, as a'.top-notch jockey on a two-doUar horse,” makes money enough for both of them to live in the luxury to which Menjou had been accustomed. Menjou, as Jim Mason, does not know at first that Roger is his own son by his former wife, who is now happily married to someone else. The mother, Dolores Costello, persuades Menjou to renounce his. son, and he does this by acting crooked ” till Roger’s faith in him is undermined. The much-publicised authenticity of the racing backgrounds should interest* good many, for Alfred Green, who directed ‘ King of the Turf * was founder and first ipresiclent of the Hollywood) Turf Club, which, one gathers, is amongst the most beautiful in the world.

DETECTIVE AND HIS SPOUSE. ‘ There’s That Woman Again,’ referring to Melvyn Douglas’s dimWitted ” detective spouse in There s Always a Woman,’ will be shown at the State on Friday with Virginia Bruce in the role introduced by Joan Blondell. Utouglas, who created the character of life wife-troubled Bill Reardon in the original mystery-comedy, again plays the harassed detective. The story opens With Douglas, as a private detective, faced with a perplexing'crime problem. Daily thefts from an exclusive jewellery establishment cause great excitement, and, Douglas is about to gaol a clerk, his one suspect, when his wife, Virginia Bruce, accents the suspect as a client. 3 bus Douglas finds-himself faced with le dilemma of proving the clerk guilty, while his madcap wife does amazing things to, prove nixn innocent. A delightful series of complications naturally ensues to build up really attractive entertainment. Margaret Lindsay plays the beautiful “ menace,” and Tom Dugan that of Douglas’s easy-going assistant, and others m the cast are Gorlon Oliver, Paul Harvey, Jonathan Hale, ahd Stanley Ridges.

EMPIRE

A follow-up of the. grim ‘ Frankenstein,’ the story of ‘ Son of FrankenJein,’ now at the Empire, starts, a generation later, from the point where the original horror finished, and-Basil fl'athbone, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Lionel Atwill ensure, jn the leading roles, that the Frankenstein reign of terror is carried on to an artistic degree, challenging that of the original. The-memory of the horror provoked by tie man-made monster still endures when “ Baron Frankenstein,” his wife •nd aon arrive to claim his father’s ancestral estate. Finding that the monster still lives 'under the care of the awful Ygor, the baron undertakes to carry on the. experiment of his father by giving that piece of inhuman humanity new animation, in the hope that the secret of the artificial creation of human life has been stumbled on by his father. As before, the monstrosity proves -intractable, and two brutal murders arouse the populace to panic *nd to threats of retaliation against the baron. FIGHT FOR FOREST TRACTS. Wayne Morris and Claire Trevor head ■ the'cast ,of the Warner Bros.’ technicolotrr picture 1 Valley of the Giants,’ which will be screened at the Empire on Friday. Based upon the famous Peter B. Kyne novel of the same name, the picture tells a story typical of the valiant fight waged about 30 years ago to prevent the utter despoliation of California’s noted redwood forests by ruthlessly selfish lumber , interests. Graft and corruption, legal trickery and plenty of outright • physical violence were employed by the would-he despoilers to gain their ends, and all of this is strikingly depicted in-the tense and exciting course of the new Warner colour picture. Most of the action of the , picture takes place outdoors, and all of these outdoor scenes were filmed in the heart of the redwood country, with the result that the picture is not only tan exciting piece of drama, but also ene of the most beautiful and one of the most impressive productions ever filmed. For people who have never seen these forests of giant trees, the film probably will also he a rare educational treat.

ST. JAMES

Stanley Lupine, Fred. Emney, and Sally Gray head the cast of the principal attraction at the St. James. * Hold My Hand ’ is a British comedy which traces the adventures and misadventures of the owner of a newspaper. Lupino is this man, and his business is “ going to pieces ” in both

a literal and figurative sense. The office furniture, for instance, breaks apart at the slightest touch. Supporting ‘ Hold My Hand ’ is ‘ Star Reporter,’ an exciting drama concerning the more serious side of a newspaper. Warren Hull and Marsha Hunt are the stars of this production. WOMAN’S DRAMATIC FIGHT. Blonde Mary Carlisle, one of filmdoom’s loveliest stars, is cast in Republic’s ‘ Fighting Thoroughbreds.’ which will be shown on Friday at the St. James. ’ Ralph Byrd and Robert Allen play opposite her, and the supporting cast lists such seasoned performers as Marvin Stephens, George Hayes, Victor Kilian, Charles Wilson, Eddie Brian, Charles Foy, Don Rowan, and Kenneth Duncan. Sidney Salkow directed under Associate Producer Armand Schaefer. The original screen play came from the pens of Clarence E. Marks and Robert Wyler. The story of ‘My Bill,’ the supporting film, is that of a mature woman, much more mature than the actual Kay Francis, who stars in it. The woman is the widowed mother of four children, the oldest of whom is supposed to be 16 years of age, and while she is permitted to appear as a beautiful matron, the character is devoid of that glittery glamour which Miss Francis is so skilful at projecting. In this picture the star’s task is to depict a simple, human, and courageous woman, and she does that with a talent so fine that she easily captures the hearts of the audience. The story was based on Tom Barry’s stage play, ‘ Courage,’ and made into a screen play by Vincent Sherman and Robertson White.

REGENT

Based on a story by Lloyd C. Douglas, author of those two great dramas ‘ Magnificent Obsession ’ and ‘ Green Light,’ the current attraction at the Regent, ‘ White Banners,’ has made a deep impression on local theatregoers. There is nothing particularly pretentious about this film, but its simple sincerity and humaneness set it in a class apart from most contemporary productions. The story is of how a toil-worn peddling woman comes into the home of the family of an impecunious college science masterj an<i of the great influence for good she gains over the lives of the members of the household. The plot, unfolds dramatically when it is divulged that she is the real mother of the son of the town banker, and the story moves on to an impressive climax. Fay Bainter is outstanding as the woman peddler, and Claude Rains just as impressive as the science master. DRAMA OF DOCTOR’S LIFE. Against the background of grim, merciless coal mining valleys of the south is placed ‘ The Citadel, and for the first time the pattern of Wales is brought to the screen as the setting for a film drama of magnitude. This Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture, filmed at their British studios with Robert Donat and Rosalind Russell co-starred, opens on Friday at the Regent. I'roiu a host of photographs and sketches artists designed replicas, of Welsh scenes. Weeks of trudging through slums, alleys, along rail tracks, down mines, scrambling against the coal face, talking with miners, gave the art staff material for conjuring the Welsh scene into being on a studio stage. Most imaginative of all the sets was the complete coal mine, with rails running away into the gloom along, the , galleries, and naked coal face with miners drilling into the surface. Here is played the vivid amputation scene where Robert Donat, as the doctor, frees a trapped miner from agony beneath fallen rock. From the Welsh mines the pattern of the 60 sets moves to London, affording settings of smart Mayfair apartments, flashy nursing homes, the London street scenes, and the glistening accoutrements of modern operating theatres and clinics.

STRAND

Not nearly enough is seen on tho local screen of the outstanding dramatic talents of the Canadian-born actor (Raymond Massey. His latest 'film, one of the best he has yet made, is a screen version of the London stage success ‘ Black Limelight,’ which is being shown at the Strand. Opposite him plays Joan Marion, the Tasmanian actress, who is now among the leading English players. The film deals with the passionate struggle by a wife for establishment of her husband’s innocence after he has been accused of a series. of lunatic murders. ‘ Freshman Year,’ a gay musical romance,'is the second attraction. THRILLS IN THE AIR. Renie Riano had two unusual things happen to her during the making of (Jniversal’s ‘ The Road to Reno,’ which comes to the- Strand on Friday, starring Randolph Scott and Hope Hampton, and featuring Glenda Farrell, Helen Broderick, Alan Marshall, and Dave Oliver. The first thing out of the ordinary was that Mies Riano was given the part of a bailiff in the hilarious Divorce Court scene, wherein Miss Hampton and Scott battle out tbeir differences, with Cupid the eventual victor. When _ the technical adviser on the picture said that women bailiffs were not used in courts, several of the real “ grass widows ” working ns extras in the cast gave him the laugh, stating that “ we have been to Reno and they do so rise women bailiffs.” So Ronie got that job. Then, a few days later, she learned that a nationally-known publishing house had

just accepted a 1,000-page book written by her entitled ‘ Fogs Never Lift.’ The plot relates to life in New Guinea. Milburn Stone, who is seen as Skeeter in Monogram’s ‘ Mystery Plane,’ which will be in support, is a nephew of Fred. Stone, the noted Broadway star. ‘ Mystery Plane ’ is based on the popular American newspaper strip, with John Trent seen as Tommy.

GRAND

Mr Mato gets mixed up in an international racket and finds the international police on his trail in ‘ Danger Island,’ Twentieth Century-Fox’s new mystery thriller which stars Peter Lorre as Moto at the Grand. The story has its setting in Porto Rico, where American life rubs elbows with strange native customs and modern efficiency finds itself confronted with the weird superstitions that hover about the ghosts of the Spanish Main. In this vivid setting the sleuth gets involved in a gigantic diamond smuggling case and a series of murders as breath-tak-ing as they are baffling. After a series of adventures the story ends ona surprise climax in the course of which, the dead man points out the master criminal who is head of the smugglers and perpetrator of the mystifying murders. Jean Hersholt, Amanda Duff., Warren Hymer, Richard Lane, Leon Ames, and Douglas Dumbrille head the supporting cast of ‘ Danger Island.’ The cast of ‘ The Live Wire,’ the second film, is headed by Jean Gillie, Iren© Ware, Kathleen Kelly, and Sally Stewart. Bernard Nedell is the star, playing the role of an American efficiency expert who is called in to help a London firm of real estate agents who are facing bankruptcy. The only assets the firm '’possesses is a muddy tract of ground in Essex, so Nedell decides to build a huge health spa on the site.

MAYFAIR

Two veterans of screen and stage, Charles Winninger and Alice Brady, head the sparkling cast of the comedyromance, ‘ Good-bye Broadway,’ which, with the epic story of the first ascent of the famed Matterhorn, ‘ The Challenge,’ opened at the Mayfair to-day. The plight of a stranded theatrical troupe from New York’s “ Great White Way ” provides the basis of the plot of the former attraction, which moves with commendable speed. Younger screen talent is well represented, while a whole host of new melodious tunes mingle with smart comedy situations. How the troupe retrieves its financial position and attains professional success makes interesting entertainment. Dramatic fare, is offered in ‘ The Challenge,’ an epic of man’s courage. A sterling cast has been assembled tor this outstanding production, which has earned tributes from critics and audiences wherever it has been screened. Amid snow-coated heights, ‘ The Challenge ’ unfolds the story, of a great friendship almost unique in its appeal, while Nature’s contributions to the success of the film We equalled only by tho skill of the photographer’s art.