ENTERTAINMENTS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 213, 9 August 1937, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

STATE THEATRE. < ‘se venthTie A VEN. ” 'Flic honours of “Seventh Ilcavcn” and there are plenty of them for all concerned —are divided primarily between the tremendously moving picturisation of this, the tendcrcst romance of our time, and the fact that in it emerges fully an actress destined to be known as the greatest £tar on the screen —Simone Simon, co-starrcd with James Stewart in the Twentieth Cen tury-Fox production which screens finally to-night at the State Theatre. Tor tho background of “Seventh Heaven,” Twentieth Century-Fox has recreated a vivid and picturesque Montmarte, sot in the turbulent days of 1914. In the huge, _ subterranean Paris sewer, Chico spends his working day *, scornful of tho Providence that failed, first, to make him a street washer, and, second, lobring him a fine, intelligent wife. Chico saves the waif, Diane, from a beating, and also from gendarmes who would arrest her for tbowing wine in the face of a cafe cus tomer who annoyed her. To do this, he has to pose as Diane’s husband, and the gendarmes announce that they will check up on him. Forced to live up to his story, Chico takes Diane to his garret, where the vista of the stars at night makes him forget tho day-long toil in the dank sower. When war "breaks out, and Chico is called to the army, he realises that he is in love with the waif ho befriended, and pledges to return to her in spirit at 11 o’clock every clay. Despite news of Chico’s death, Diane continues to keep her tryst, a faith that leads to one of the screen s great emotional momenta in a powerful conclusion to the tcndcrcot love story of our time. REGENT. THEATRE. “GOD’S COUNTRY AND THE WOMAN.” Another technicolonr film of Hie outdoors, “God’s Country and the Woman, will screen at the Regent i hoatre tonight. It is fully up to the standard set by “Tho Trail of the Lonesome Pino, and its natural colour is scon to full advantage in some magnificent scenes of the mountainous country of the American backwoods. The storv opens with Steve Russett, played by George Brent, being recalled from Bans by his elder brother (Robert Barrat), who is manager of the Russett Lumber Company. Steve escapes from his brother’s camp in an aeroplane, but is forced down near the rival eamp of Jo Barton, who proves to he an attractive girl, played by Beverly Roberts. In a desperate feud for transportation rights Steve takes tho girl’s part, first against his brother’s gang and then against the rebelling Barton lumberjacks. Events reach a thrilling climax when hundreds of logs jam in the river and Stove is forced to dvnainite them in the face of rifle fire from the rival camp. The picture closes with a happy reconciliation between the two companies. In the leading role George Brent plays a part that requires both tho sophistication of, a “playbo3 f ’ and . the virile strength of a woodsman, and his interpretation is an excellent one. Beverly Roberts gives a pleasing portrayal. The supporting cast includes Barton Maclano, Alan Ilalc, Roscoo Atcs and El Brendel.