ENTERTAINMENTS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 41, 17 January 1938, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

KOSY THEATRE. “THE LAST TRAIN FROM MADRID.” Now showing at the Kosy Theatre “The Last Train from Madrid,” Paramount’s thrilling war picture of war-torn Spain. With the recapture of a salient through which the Madrid-Valencia railroad line passes, the Madrid Government announces that a train will be permitted to leave the beleaguered capital for Valencia —and safety. Only those who have important reasons to leave are to be given passes The issuing of the passes is detailed to Captain Alvarez. lie makes out a pass for his sweetheart, Carmelita, a patrician beauty. Then, learning that his best friend, Eduardo De Soto, is to be released from prison, where he is held as a political prisoner, he arranges for him to escape from Madrid. As soon as he is free De Soto goes to the girl he loves— Carmelita 1 Alvarez soon learns of the love between Carmelita and De Soto, but decides to wait until all three are on the train to a§k her to name the man of her choice. Returning; to his office he is arrested for having permitted De Soto to escape. Madrid, meanwhile, is in turmoil. Air raids and bombardments threaten. In the melee of souls seeking escape is young Juan Sanchez, a deserter sick of the horror around him. lie meets Helena ,a girl of the streets, and they fall in love. Dexter, an American newspapermeets Marie Ferrar, a member of the Women’s Battalion. They, too, fall ill love. De Soto chances to meet an old flame, a baroness, who has arrange to flee to Paris from Madrid with a gigolo, Balk. She urges De Soto to fleo to Paris with her, promising him Balk’s pass. De Soto accepts. Balk is murdered by the baroness. Alvarez manages to escape, locates De Soto and, gives him a pass, lie asks his friend to take Carmelita to the train and that he will join them later. Train time arrives. There' is confusion and panic at the station. Suddenly the soldiery arrives to arrest Alvarez for treason, the baroness for murder, and De Soto for desertion. Determined to sacrifice himself so that the girl he loves can find happiness with another, Alvarez forces his way into the office of the military commander of the town. The supporting picture is “Sophie Lang Geos West,” METEOR THEATRE. “FRISCu KID.” One of the most dynamic and colourful dramas of the year, “Frisco Kid,” will bo shown on the screen of the Meteor Theatre finally to-night with James Cag-noy heading the all-star cast. Warner Bros. liavo produced a number- of pictures with historical backgrounds and authentic as well as outstanding characteis, such as “Silver Dollar,” “I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang,” “T wenty Thousand Years in Sing Sing” and others. But none surpasses “Frisco Kid” in the intensity of its action, in exciting episodes, in its flaming colour and picturesqiieness. Set on the Barbary coast of old San Francisco in the early fifties it is a story of the tumultuous gold rush days when adventurers from the world over congregated on ‘Frisco's waterfront. In this seething hellhole were gathered criminals, cut-throats, murderers, gamblers, women of the demimonde and every typo of human shark who lived by preying on Ins neighbour. There a band of crimps would slip knock-out drops to an innocent sailor, knock him cold with a billy, rob him of the stake he had saved to prospect the goldfields, and attempt to shanghai him. But the shanghai artists caught a tartar in one indomitable sailor, who after escaping from their net, shanghaied the very crimp who had slugged him and in a terrific hand-to-hand battle slays the man's partner with the sharpened iron hook of his own false arm. James Cagney has the most powerful role of his screen career as this sailor, a crude, ignorant, but dominating character with a driving force and. a magnetism that not only wins his battles with the underworld, but eventually the love of a beautiful and talented woman of the underworld. Cagney gives a sterling performance, making of this character a living, breathing human figure tn the screen. Margaret Lindsay, as the girl, gives a fine and 1 artistic portrayal in this picture. Her iin- • pasisoned plea for the life cf the man she finally confesses she loves brought tears to the eyes of spectators just as it did mercy from the vigilantes in the story. Ricardo Cortex is outstanding in his characterisation of a famous underworld gambler who rises to power by throwing in his lot with the sailor, but is eventually wiped out by the hangman’s noose of the vigilantes. A fine portrayal of the flashily-gowned and beautiful but evil common law wife of the gambler is given by Lili Damita, the exotic screen beauty. STATE THEATRE. “IT HAPPENED OUT (VEST.” Explosivo excitement and fast action paced with comedy and tender romance, with Harold Bell. Wright’s startling/ new hero making the wild West wilder/when ho tackles a gun-toting band frern the badlands, marks the noted outdoors author's gayest and grandest story, “It Happened Out West,” 20th Century-Fox release, featuring Paul Kelly and Judith Allen, which commences to-morrow at the State Theatre. Introducing a new .Wright leading man who hails from the East, and who out-bluffs and out-roughs the toughest Westerners who menace his romance, the film was directed by Howard Brotherton and produced by Sol Lesser. This pair have brought .many of the beloved writer's stories to virile life on the screen. Because she is squandering her legacy in an ill-advised attempt to turn her ranch into a dairy farm,- the trust company guarding Judith Allen’s inheri.ancc sends Paul Kelly, its special trouble-shooter, to dissuade her. Posing as a milk expert, he gets a job on her ranch, as does his partner, Johnny Arthur. Aware that the ranch contains rich silver deposits, Judith’s foreman, Lercy Mason, is trying to wrest control from her without her knowledge. When a ranch hand learns his secret of the presence of the ore, Mason murders him. At this critical juncture ho also succeeds in turning Judith away from Paul, and she dismisses him from the ranch. Before leaving Paul accidentally learns of Mason's evil motives, and in a hair-raising, thrill-packed punching climax succeeds in foiling his efforts, jailing his band, and winning Judith. “YOU CAN’T BUY LUCK.” “You Can’t Buy Luck,” a race track drama climaxing in a murder mystery, 1 commenced at the State Theatre to-mor-rcw. Onslow Stevens, stage and screen 1 star, portrays a superstitious racehorse owner who believes that the more lie helps * others financially, the more luck will his horses have on the track. Helen Mack has the leading feminine role. Even defeat of his favourite horse in a big derby fails to convince him that his theory is superficial, and it finally takes a tragedy that places his life in jeopardy to awaken him to the narrowness of his vision and [ to the realisation that he should be charitable for the actual good it does rather than for his own selfish purposes. With a background of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakncss, the story deal.-, with the 'power which superstition sometimes wields over otherwise rational men and women. A mysterious murder resulting in the arrest and conviction of an innocent man illustrates how easy it is to find a person guilty of a heinous crime on nothing but circumstantial evidence, BOBBY BREEN CONTEST. In connection with the forthcoming season of Bobby Breen in “Make a Wish,” to commence at the State Theatre on January 21, entrants arc invited to discover Palmerston. North’s Bobby Breen. Boys to 14 J years of age are eligible. Selected entrants are to sing from the stage cf the State Theatre at each 8 p.m. session. The winner will be selected by the audience. Tile first prize is £5 ss, the second £2 2s, and there are numerous consolation prizes.