Entertainments

Manawatu Times, Volume 65, Issue 2, 3 January 1940, Page 9

Entertainments

REGENT THEATRE—TO-DAY “GOODBYE MR. CHIPS.” Has the picture been made that would please everybody? Pew, if any, have claimed that distinction. It may be impossible, but if it is, there is at least one film that goes very close to achieving the impossible. It is “Goodbye, Mr. Chips.” If it does not appeal to every moviegoer, then the fault is entirely on the side of the person who fails to enjoy it. Other pictures of public school and university life have passed across the screen, met with approval, and left their impression on the fickle public, but none has succeeded in the manner of “Mr. Chips” in revealing with the skill of a surgeon the very soul of the public school. Even he who despises the “old school tie” and all that sort of thing must admire Mr. Chips, a man ivho loves his fellowmen, even though they be rowdy, inconsiderate schoolboys, better than anything else in the world except, perhaps, his wife who taught him to give expression to this love. Many schools have their “Mr. Chips”—even in New Zealand, a country relatively young in tradition, there are schoolmasters whose association with one school has extended over half a century or longer, men who have played an inestimable part in the moulding of thousands of human lives, men who always think of other men as they were as schoolboys, men who have caned the men who are at the helm of the nation to-day. To such as these “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” is a splendid memorial. We have happy memories of Robert Donat as the struggling voung doctor in “The Citadel, and still like to think of his performance in “The Ghost Goes West, but these, his earlier successes, are outshone by his incomparable acting in Goodbye, Mr. Chips.” In particular, Ins portrayal of a very old but very energetic retired schoolmaster is peerless. An important part in WeT “Cathie/- ti is h the tr e e inbodiment of all the .“! u oc associates with womanhood. rp ho author of “Goodbye, Mr. Chips,” iSSS Med-a Picture that does for >”■>' » rao ,-. I , , l rU l ncd"r^ud'o e and had a million pounds to spare. METEOR THEATRE —TO-DAY ••ZAZA” “Zaza " the play that scandalised Pails. London and Broadway at the tumottte picture ’ b“ £ar'am™nt with Claudette Colbert In the title role is now showing at the Meteor Theatre. The story ?/ h a man hall charmer whose romance with a man unner classes proves the tragedy o her nlT"Zaz“ stirs Miss Colbert In one of the most unusual parts of her brilliant earccr. She now heads an aJVstar cast including suave Hex belt Marsnaii, who’plays her lover; Helen Westley, who ( , ls t a s her eccentric foster-mothei, Bert Lahr, Constance Coilier, Genevieve Tobin and Walter Catlett. The mature was directed for Paramount by George Cukor, who enjoys the unique distinction of having directed suo hepoch-makmg productions as ''Little Women,” "David Copperfleld,” "Camille' and, most recently, “Holiday.” ————===

STATE THEATRE TO-DAY. 4 T KILLED THE COUNT” Everybody knows the popular radio personality who asks listeners every week. I “What would you do, chums?—Send me a postcard, Syd Walker’s the name.” Syd .Walker co-stars with Ben Lyon in the G-B-D release, “J: Killed the Count,” which show’s at the State Theatre to-mor-row. The picture is based on the very successful London stage play by Alec Cop--1 pel, and tells one of the most ingeniously .'contrived mystery stories the screen has seen—and tells it to the accompaniment of constant chuckles of laughter—by reason of the discomforture of the somewhat bumptious detective inspector in charge of the case. As so much or the interest in the film must rest on the element of surprise being retained until the moment the author wishes to divulge the next fact, this is not the time to tell the story. Sufficient to say that a man is murdered and the audience is as much in the dark as the detective sent to solve the mystery. We watch, him move methodically step by step towards what he feels sure is the solution, only to find him involved in one of the most humorous yet logical complications a hard working detective comes up against. Syd Walker plays the part of Detective Davidson of Scotland Yard, and gets every bit of drama and every bit of comedy out of the role—it is chock full of both. Ben Lyon, who co-stars with Syd walker, is one of the suspects; Athole Stewart as Lord Torrington and Ronald Shiner as the Cockney liftman, are others suspected of killing the loathsome Count Mat ton i—played by Leslie Perrins. Terence do Marney is the young detective straight from the Hendon Police College who is going to have a lesson in detection from the old hand—Davidson; Barbara Blair and Dave Burns are also prominent in important j-oles, the latter particularly making his a perfect acting cameo. This G-B-D release can be justifiably recommended for practically any type of cinemagoer. “Charlie Chan at Treasure Island.” You’ll never know how exciting a movie can be until you visit the State Theatre and see “Charlie Chan at Treasure Island.” the latest—and greatest—of the 20tli Century-Fox mystery thrillers, wit-li Sidney Toler again proving himself the ideal choice for tho role of the beloved Ear I Derr Riggers detective! This time Chan goes to the San Francisco World’s Fair to solve the most amazing crime riddle of his career and to track down a master of the occult who deals death insidiously and mysteriously via a psychic arrow. The audience follows Chan with breathless interest as he speeds from thrilling situation to thrilling situation, defying the supernatural bp expose the elusive murderer, in this latest adventure, the famous sleuth enlists the aid of Rhadini, the great magician, played by Cesar Romero. And, of course, Chan’s No. 2 son, in the person of Sen Yung, is never far away from the scene of danger. Pauline Moore has an unusual role as the mind-reader in Rhadini’s act at the Temple of Magic on Treasure Island, and others prominently featured in the topnotch cast are Douglas Fowley, June Gale, Douglas Dumbrllle, Sally Plane, Billie Seward, Waly Vernon and Donald MacBride. All turn in grand performances, under the expert direction of Norman Foster, who, incidentally, is Miss Blane's husband. John Larkin contributed the thrill-packed and highly entertaining original story and screen play, and Edward Kaufman was associate producer. KOSY THEATRE—TO-DAY “THE BLACK LEGION” The first actual story of the Black Legion’s reign of terror, a picture that rips the black shirts from the backs of the hooded hoodlums, is “he Black Legion,” tho attraction now at the Kosy Theatre. The story concerns a young automobile mechanic, played by Humphrey Bogart, who joins the Black Legion—purportedly a patriotic order—in a fit of bitterness over losing the foremanship of his shop to a foreign-born fellow worker. The Legion, of course, is portrayed as a racket, enriching its promoters. The young mechanic takes part in house-burnings, floggings, tortures—all vividly shown and finally kills his best pal, Dick Foran. He loses his wife and child—Erin O’BrienMoore and Dickie Jones—and has to stand trial for murder. In a stirring courtroom scene, the deluded youth makes what reparation he can, and justice closes in upon the leaders of the fahatical Legion, who have been stirring up racial and religious hatred. Bogart, well remembered as the bandit in “Petrified Forest,” excels in “Black Legion” even that remarkable performance. This is the best thing he has done on stage or screen. Incidentally, the same man who directed him before directed him in this—Archie Mayo. •->own tne Stretch.” "jL>own the Stretch,” First National’s thrilling romance of the race tracks, has been booked as the second attraction, with Mickey Rooney, Patricia Ellis and Dennis Moore in the leading roles. Miss Ellis, as owner of famous Kentucky stables, visits night court with her husband (Dennis Moore) when Snapper Sinclair, a boy she recognises as having been a jockey for her father, is about to be sent up for vagrancy. - She has Snapper paroled to her and sends him to her stables. Snapper Sinclair is played by Mickey Rooney. The manager of the stables objects to taking Snapper in because of his father’s bad reputation—but when he rides an unmanagable horse to victory he accepts him. He wins race after race afterwards, until he is framed and suspended. Snapper is broken-hearted but gets a chance to go to England where he is finally chosen to ride the Maharajah’s nag for the gold cup at Ascot, lie discovers that his boss has lost all her horses but one, Faithful, which she has entered for the gold cup. Snapper has the race cinched with Faithful running third when he fouls the second horse to let Faithful go under the wire first. For this he is debarred from the English tracks, but is happy when Miss Ellis visits him at the hospital where he is recuperating. She tells him she is taking him back to the U.S.A. Others in the cast are Virginia Brlssac, Gordan Hart, Gordon Elliott, Josepr Crehen, Mary Treen.