ENTERTAINMENTS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 250, 19 September 1940, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

" METEOR THEATRE. “RETURN TO YESTERDAY.” In “Return to Yesterday,” which was directed by Robert Stevenson and is now showing at the Meteor Theatre, Clive Brook is supported by Anna Dee, this being her third Ealing production this year. Other artists include well-known players, such as Dame May Whitty, Milton Resmer and Garry Marsh. A great deal of the action of the story takes place in a small repertory theatre on a seaside pier. Clive Brook and Anna Lee have both had their share of repertory and touring before they became famous in films and both have declared feelingly that the Ealing studio’s art department has recaptured with great accuracy all the discomforts an,d the romance of- this type of theatre —the flashy curtains garnished with badly designed royal crowns, tho rickety chairs, the musty ill-fitting scenery, tho backstage notices to artists, the telephone that is always half coming away from its moorings on the wall and the faded pennants hung in the auditorium to distract attention from the peeling plaster of the walls. Robert Stevenson confesses that their most difficult problem in getting this set ready was to prevent the natural good taste of the art department front creeping in!

STATE THEATRE. “THEY CAME BY NIGHT.” Thrills, mystery, comedy and romance are deftly blended into grand entertainment. iri “They Came By Night,” _ the exciting new mystery hit, starring Will Fyfle which shows at the State Theatre to-day. And the great Scoteli star scores again in this 20th Century-Fox release. Things begin happening fast when Fyde, as a canny Scot., gets mixed , up witli an amazing crime ring, steals from the crooks whorl they make a haul and joins the gang when they plan their biggest job! Fyfle, who recently scored in “To the Victor” and “Rulers of tho Sea,” gives bis grandest performance to date in this amazing story. He’ll keep you gasping between chuckles and he’ll keep you baffled too, 'wondering whether lie’s a thief, using his canny Scotch brain to steal from super-crooks or whether lie’s a dupe caught in the clutches of the most amazing crime ring any human ever got tangled up with. “Sword of Honour,” showing at the State Theatre to-day is the most ambitious military picture ever turned out of a British studio. It was produced with the entire co operation of the War Office and the military authorities. Jts authentic and thrilling entertainment is ensured by story and artistes. Geoffrey Toono, Sally Gray and Dorothy Dickson arc starred and supported by featured players such as Donald Cray and Wally Patch. Tho loration is the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, and every phase of the training and commissioning of the, officers is faithfully and accurately shown.

KOSY THEATRE. “PANAMINT’S BAD MAN.” Generally speakihg, the only lions a Western action star must have is the ability to ride a horse' and shoot his gun from tho hip. But Smith Bullew, star of “Pana-mint’s Bad Man,” a £olh Cen-tury-Fox release which shows to-day at the Kosy Theatre, lias added talents .which' make him tho most accomplished screen cowboy in films. In “Panalnirit's Bad Man,” which Hollywood critics consider the best of Ballcw’s series of pictures;'/this long and rangy Texan is cast as a Deputy United States Marshal assigned to break up a series of stage hold-ups. To accomplish his job more efficiently, lie assumes the guise of a celebrated bad man and in this way works himself into the group. This results in suspicion being directed against him when the real bad man shows up, but Ballew fights his way out ol trouble and arrests the entire gang after a sensational, shooting spree t which high-lights this vigorous Western feature. The sauciest escapade in the history of love, -as gay as a Mardi Gras, with three delightful stars and merry with Gordon and Revel tunes, brings Don Ainecho, Simone Simon and Robert Young to the Kosy Theatre to-day in 20th CenturyFox’s comedy hit, “Josette.” Bert Lain; and Joan Davis head tho featured cast supporting Don Amecho, more romantic than ever on screen or radio; Simone Simon, the tantalising little French coquette (she’s not zis 1 And she’s got zat !); and Robert Young, the ardent yoling swain who won’t take “No” for an answer, not oven in French.