PICTURE THEATRES

Evening Star, Issue 23380, 25 September 1939, Page 12

PICTURE THEATRES

STRAND Sparkling with gay comedy situations and with singing by the golden-voiced Hope Hampton, Universale latest production, ' The Road to Jieno,' is at tho Strand. Set against a majestic background of towering mountains and replete with intimate pictures of the topsy-turvy life found only in Reno, " the city of broken hearts," the film runs the gamut from sophisticated comedy to drama. Co-starring Randolph Scott and Hope Hampton, it features Glenda Farrell, Helen Alan Marshal, and David Oliver It tells tho story of Linda Halliday (Hope Hampton), lovely, but temperamental, opera star, who has decided to divorce her husband, Steve Fortuess (Randolph Scott) because he insists she shall give up her career and live on his ranch near Reno. lailspin Tommy," the famous American cartoon strip hero, is the newest addition to the ranks of movie stars. In the person of John Trent, stalwart extransport pilot, Tommy will appear in ' Mystery Plane,' the supporting feature. Monogram Pictures recently purchased the rights to a series of (pictures based on the adventures of ' Tailspin Tommy,' of which ' Mystery Plane ' is the first. In addition to Trent, others in the cast are Marjorie Reynolds as Betty Lou, Milburn Stone as Skeeter, and Jason Robards and Polly Ann Young., GRAND Mr Moto finds his most breath-taking adventures on ' Danger Island' in Twentieth Century-Fox's exciting new mystery of that title, starring Peter Lorre as Moto, which is the feature at the Grand. Filmed against the background of Porto Rico, the story involves the incomparable sleuth in a great diamond smuggling mystery, embellished by several murders that are completely baffling to local police. Jean Hersholt. Amanda Duff, Warren Hymer, Richard Lane, Leon Ames, and Douglas Dumbrille head the brilliant supporting cast. ' The Live Wire,' the second film, can boast of four leading ladies who have starring and featured roles in the new G.B.D. attraction. They are Jean Gillie, Irene Ware, Kathleen Kelly, and Sally Stewart. FAY BAINTER BRILLIANT. In her first screen appearance since winning an Academy Award, Fay Bainter's performance in ' The Lady and the Mob ' is a scintillant illustration of acting at its best. The Columbia comedy, which will be screened on Wednesday at the Grand, is possessed of a unique, hilarious idea; it is filled with ingenious and thoroughly amusing situations, with dialogue which is both witty and wise, with a supporting cast of character actors well known for their excellent work. _ And yet Miss Bainter's performance is such that it dominates the film. On the other hand, " The Lady ■" whom Miss Bainter portrays also dominates the action of the film, and that perhaps enhances the actress's brilliant work. A ipowerful drama of the lumber camps. ' Romance of the Redwoods,' adapted from the Jack London story, will be shown in support. STATE " There's That Woman Again," referring to Melvyn Douglas's detective spouse in ' There's Always a Woman," is at the State, with Virginia Bruce in the role introduced by Joan Blondell. Douglas, who created the character of tho wife-troubled Bill Reardon in the original romantic mystery-comedy, again plays the harassed detective. The story opens with Melvyn Douglas, as a private detective, faced with a perplexing crime problem. Daily thefts from the exclusive Nacelle Jewellery Company store have everybody—especially tho insurance company—in a dither of excitement. Douglas has but one major suspect, a clerk in the store. When he is about to gaol this clerk, his wife, Virginia Bruce, accepts the suspect as a client. Thus Douglas finds himself faced with the dilemma of trying to prove the clerk guilty whilehis madcap wife is doing rather amazing things to prove him innocent. In the latter connection, much to the detective's disgust, his mate gets herself mixed up in a murder and' in a general robbery of the store. This serves to give serious yet highly comic complications to the melange of difficulties in which Douglas has become entangled. EMPIRE Wayne Morris and Claire Trevor head the cast of ' Valley of the Giants,' the technicolour picture based by Warner Bros, on the famous Peter B. Kyne novel of the same name, which is at the Empire. It is the story of the successful fight waged to prevent the utter dispoliation of California's famous redwood forests by ruthless lumber interests (represented by Charles Bickford) around the turn of the century. While it is concerned with one logical aspect of this fight, telling in highly exciting manner of the clash between one such despoiler and an altruistic young local lumberman, it is typical of the situation in California throughout the redwood country at the time Modern audi, ences will discover a curious parallel between the methods employed by the exploiters of more than 30 years ago and those of the men who have come to be known to-day as racketeers. Graft and corruption, _ legalistic trickery, and physical violence all have their part in the story, but it is the last-mentioned method that gives the new Warner picture its most thrilling moments. The picture has two hair-raising sequences. One depicts the rescue of the heroine from a runaway freight car just a_ moment before it reaches a trestle which, with supports deliberately cut away by the villain's henchmen, collapses under the weight of four lumber-laden flat cars. ST. JAMES Child film stars, more often than not, get themselves into motion picture work. Dickie Moore, therefore, is no exception. Of course, chance and propinquity had to mate and beget this opportunity for Dickie. He lived next door to the secretary of Joseph Schenck. Neither tho secretary nor Joe knew of his existence. One morning, however, Dickie was feeling sociable. The assistant director nulled up to the secretary's house to take her to work Dickie kicked his scooter along the sidewalk by the assistant's open car and said democratically: "Hello, mister. What you doin'? " Dickie went to work at the studio next day.. Born in Los Angeles

on September 12, 1925, Dickie has been for years one of the busiest actors on the screen ever since the day he stopped to chat with the assistant director. His latest role, in the Warner Brothers’ film ‘My Bill,’ now at the St. James, is probably the most important in his career. For he shares acting honours with the star, Kay Francis. The story is .so much his that it was entitled ‘ My Bill,’ using his character name. Robert Allen made his motion picture debut while on a summer vacation from Dartmout College. Today Allen has come up through stock aiid Broadway stage presentations to stand as one of moviedom’s top leading men. Currently he appears in Republic’s ‘ Fighting Thoroughbreds,’ in support. ‘ REGENT Mirror of a world-famous story, and ipreserving all the highlights which made that story a best seller of an unusual type, ‘ The Citadel,’ which is at the Regent, is a feature picture that has all the elements calculated to make it as great a success upon the screen as it lias been in the sphere of literature. A story of gripping human interest is surrounded by a large and even more absorbing motif which idealises, while at the same time it condemns, the medical profession. More than special entertainment, * The Citadel ’ is an inspiration. It takes its place at once amongst the finest pictures of 1939. It has been brilliantly acted. Robert Donat has always been remarkable for his ease of manner. Even his most stirring effects he seems to achieve casually, as though not giving conscious thought to them. Yet, if his performance is coldly analysed, every detail is seen to be perfectly in character. And in Andrew Manson he has an inspiring part that is worthy of him. As a companion piece the character of Christine, afterwards Mrs Manson, has a highly unusual charm. Behind the pretty face there lies the primness of a small town school mistress. But behind that again there exists a womanly temperament of remarkable warmth and loyalty. MAYFAIR ' An epic of engineering skill, tenacity, and pioneering is portrayed in the beautiful technicolour production, ‘ Suez,’ which, with the amusing and exciting 1 Stablemates,’ is at the Mayfair. Annabels, Loretta Young, Tyrone Power, and a host of other well-known players take the leads in the former attraction, which tells of. the building of the famous Suez Canal against great odds. Financial troubles, raiding Arabs backed by a foreign Power, and Nature’s opposition are but a few of the obstacles successfully overcome by the energetic and persistent Ferdinand de Lesseps. Wallace Beery,and Mickey Rooney take the leads in ‘ Stablemates,'’ the first-class associate feature.