AMUSEMENTS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20033, 4 September 1939, Page 3

AMUSEMENTS

KING’S THEATRE “WUTHERING HEIGHTS” Based on the masterly novel by Emily Bronte, produced with a fine regard for the compelling beauty of the original story by Samuel Goldwyn, and directed with skill and rare understanding by William Wyler, the powerful emotional drama, “Wuthering Heights” was accorded an enthusiastic reception by packed houses at its screenings at the King's Theatre on Friday and Saturday. The successful creation of a tense, fateful atmosphere in the novel was assured by the vivid character portraits of Emily Bronte. Merle O-beron gives a flawless portrayal as the attractive and high-spirited girl, Cathy. As the brooding half-gipsy, whose tortured mind cannot stand the bitter blow of being denied her love, Laurence Olivier acts with insight and -poignant fervour.

REGENT THEATRE

MAJESTIC THEATRE

DODGEMS

j LAST DAY: “MIDNIGHT” | Claudette Col'bert has a part ideally ' suited to her flair for comedy in “Midnight," the delightful fantastic comedy which should prove popular at the Regent Theatre again to-day. The plot, which develops around a maze of conflicting love affairs, tells of a gild who unexpectedly finds herself living in luxury after having been stranded in Paris without any money. Other members of the outstanding cast are Don Ameche, as a most unusual taxi-driver, Francis Lederer, Mary Astor and John Barrymore. —To-morrow: Clark Gable and Norma Shearer in “Idiot's Delight”—The intriguing love stqry of a vaudeville artist and a beautiful Continental adventuress is traced in the film “Idiot's Delight,” which is to begin a season, at the Regent Theatre tomorrow. An adaptation of a play by Robert Sherwood, which enjoyed remarkable runs in London and New York and won for the author the famous Pulitzer Prize, the picture is also a frank and trenchant commentary on the tragedies of modern warfare. The basic futility, the intrinsic coarseness of war, are revealed as the various characters, so vividly drawn by Sherwood, are forced to remain in a frontier hotel when international conflict is imminent. Under the intense harrowing stress of a bombardment different personalities react according to their type. A notable interlude is the frenzied outburst of a pacifist Marxist, who violently denounces the creators of strife. In the midst of this almost chaotic tension the showman, played convincingly by Clark Gable, attempts to relieve the situation by introducing his vaudeville troupe. He meets and is immediately strangely fascinated by a Russian countess, the fiancee of a munitions manufacturer. Beneath the veneer of her chatter and sophistication he recognises a member of au acrobatic troupe whom he met in America before the war. Despite the opposition of the millionaire armament manufacturer, events prove his assumption to be correct, and he is successful in linking the broken threads of his former romance. Norma Shearer is delightfully provocative in the part of the “Russian countess,” her denunciation of her cruel profiteering lover being one of the most effective scenes of a magnificent film.

LAST DAY: “HOTEL IMPERIAL" AND “WHILE NEW YORK SLEEPS." “Hotel Imperial,” starring Isa Miranda and Ray Milland, tiie first of the Majestic’s big birthday month attractions, will be finally screened to-night. The associate feature, "While New Yoyk Sleeps,” is a bright murder mystery starring Michael Whalen and Chic Chandler. —To-morrow: Two Comedies, "I’m from Missouri,” and “Give me a Sailor.”— “I’m from Missouri," says Bob Burns, who shows that he means what he says when he challenges the heads of the British army to prove they are as .smart as he is, in his latest picture, Paramount’s “I'm from Missouri,” opening to-morrow at the Majestic Theatre. Bob, who has been seen on the screen recently as an Oklahoma Senator and an Arkansas newspaper editor, now runs into plenty of trouble as a Missouri mule-raiser, who faces ruin, along with his friends, when the British army considers motorising its units.. Always one to take a .situation like this in his .stride, Bob packs up his family and sets out for London. The frantic attempts of his wife to crash highest British society, a rival’s campaign to sell mechanisation to the army and the romance of his beautiful young sister-in-law with a handsome British diplomat lead to .hilarious complications and a score of uproarious comedy situations. The man from Missouri is finally saved through the intercession of an old friend who surprises every one when he reveals his true identity. In “I’m from Missouri," Burns has a talented supporting cast, including Gladys George, his newest leading lady, Gene Lockhart, George P. Huntley, Judith Barrett and Patricia Morison. The second attraction is the enjoyable Paramount musical “Give Mo a Sailor," in which the main roles arc portrayed by Martha .Rayc and Bob Hope. The story deals with the efforts of two brothers to win • the hand of a beautiful girl, played bv Betty Grable. According to a pact made , during their childhood days, one of the brothers is to marry the girl’s sister, but her bcautiy is not appreciated until she enters a personality contest and is judged the winner. Immediately, the two brothers desert the sister and devote all their attentions to the girl they formerly had neglected. Several new songs which should win wide popularity are introduced in the film. These include “A Little Kiss at Twilight," "What Goes On Here?" and "The U.S.A. and You." Other players are J. C. Nugent, Clarence Kolb and the talented young dancer. Jack Whiting. The programme will commence with a further chapter of "Secret of Treasure Island."

The week-end saw further crowds patronising Miller’s Dodgems in Peel street. A ride at the wheel of one .cf these small cars certainly tests the driving skill and also provides excitement and amusement. The cars are so strongly constructed and well protected that hard collisions hurt neither the occupants or the colliding cars. Various competitions are introduced during each session and these greatly add to the fun of a ride.