Entertainments

Manawatu Times, Volume 65, Issue 4, 5 January 1940, Page 9

Entertainments

REGENT THEATRE TO-DAY “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” will screen finally REGENT THEATRE—TO-MORROW "TARZAN FINDS A SON!" “Tarzan Finds a Son!” fourth of the famous Tarzan jungle adventures, reuniting Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O’Sullivan, brings a new character, Tarzan : Junior, and introducing in the role five-year-old Johnny Sheffield, America’s most amazing child athlete. The boy plays the foster son of the jungle couple, swings through the air on vines with Weissmuller, engages with him in thrills of underwater swimming, is rescued from a rhin- ' oeeros, and figures in other thrills. 'Tarzan Finds a Son!” deals with the finding , of a baby in a plane wrecked in the jungle, j Tarzan and Jane adopt and rear it. A , safari penetrates the jungle in search of | traces of the plane to clear up a legacy and the child becomes the object of a plot by heirs who do not wish the youngster s , existence known. Tarzan refuses to give up the bov, but Jane believes he should be returned for his birthright and tricks her mate. When the party is captured by savages and brought to a torture c hamber Jane helps the boy to escape to summon Tarzan who arrives with his . chimpanzee and elephant cavalry. Thrills | include the routing of the native torture orgy and amazing rescues from wild animals. When Weissmuller rides his elephant Queenie, Johnny rides Baby Bee, smallest baby elephant in captivity. Players include lan Hunter, Henry Stephenson, Frieda Inescort, Henry Wileoxon, Larane Day and Morton Dowry. METEOR THEATRE—TO-DAY •ZAZA” "Zaza,” the play that scandalised Paris, London and Broadway at the turn of the century, has been made into a motion picture by Paramount with Claudette Colbert in the title role, is now showing at the Meteor Theatre. The story of a music hall charmer whose romance with a man of the upper classes proves the tragedy of her life, "Zaza” stars Miss Colbert in one of the most unusual parts of her brilliant career She now heads an all-star cast, including suave Herbert Marshall, who plays her lover; Helen Westley, who is cast as her eccentric foster-mother; Bert Lahr, Constance Collier, Genevieve Tobin and Walter Catlett. The picture was directed for Paramount by George Cukor, who enjoys the unique distinction of having directed sue hepoch-making productions as "Little Women,” "David Copperfield,” "Camille” and, most recently, "Holiday.” MAYFAIR THEATRE—TO-DAY “CONFESSIONS OF A NAZI SPY” This is the much-awaited film which has been a subject of wide interest ever since Warner Bros, started the production of it, the first really important motion picture document of Nazi espionage activities in America. Anatole Litvak directed the film, which stars Edward G. Robinson and a brilliant supporting cast, including Paul Lukas, Francis Lederer, Lya Lys—famous European film beauty, making her American debut—and many others. Although the particular characters and events are fictional, the espionage methods revealed in the film are based on the facts brought out in the recent trials in America. Leon G. Turrou, former G-Man, who acted as technical adviser on the Warner Bros, photoplay, smashed one of the Nazi spy rings, and his intimate knowledge of the manner in which the spies operate has given reality and authenticity to the production. "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" is a sensational picture in the true sense of the word, because it is a vivid depiction of the menacing under cover activities fostered in a friendly country by the Nazi regime in Germany. In making the picture, Warner Bros, have used ail the facilities at their command to bring the danger of these activities out into the open, and although the story of the film is 'fictional, there can be no doubt that the dangers are very real, Edward G. Robinson portray the G-.YLan who breaks the spy. ring and brings four of the members to trial and conviction. Paul Lukas plays the doctor who heads the spy ring, and Lederer portrays a bungling Nazi informer. (Lya Lys, whose exquisite blonde beauty and dramatic ability make her one of the top European stars, makes lier American film debut in "Confessions of a Nazi Spy.”

STATE THEATRE—TO-DAY DRAMATIC LOVE STORY Ingrid Bergman, the beautiful young continental actress, is introduced to audiences for the first time in the new David O Selznick production, "Intermezzo, a Love Story,” in which she is co-starred with Leslie Howard and Edna Best. This new picture, a dramatic love story set in modern-day Europe, screens to-day at the State Theatre. Miss Bergman plays the role of the other woman in "Intermezzo, a Love Story.” The story, briefly told, concerns a world-famous violinist who returns home to Stockholm to rejoin his wife and two children after a two years’ absence during which he became . the sensation of continental Europe. Hoping to settle down to a quiet existence and to renew acquaintance with his famjily, he finds himself restless and anxious I for a life of youth and gaiety. He urges his wife to accompany him on a second 'honeymoon to the romantic places which he visited on tour, but she explains that her roots arc In her homo and that her children need her love and guidance. When he meets the lovely young pianist who teaches his daughter, he is strangely attracted to her. He cannot resist her charms, and ho goes off on another tour with her, leaving his family behind. How i their affair finally winds up provides the I film with an exciting and unexpected 'climax. Mr. Selznick assembled a cast of important names to surround the trio of stars who play the leading roles in "lu--1 termezzo, a Love Story.” Featured in the supporting roles are John Halliday, Cecil Kellaway, Enid Bennett and Eleanor Wesselhoeft. Also screening latest "March of Time” giving a cavalcade of the motion picture industry. Forty years of progress—yes terday, to-day and to morrow. KOSY THEATRE—TO-DAY , "TWO BRIGHT BOYS” 1 Jackie Cooper and Freddie Bartholo- : mew share co-starring honours in their ; new Universal film, "Two Bright Boys,” : the attraction now at the Rosy Theatre. ' Jackie is the penniless youth who defies ’ 'an unscrupulous oil baron while trying 1 : desperately to drill a wildcat well on a ‘ j rundown Texas farm. The natural charm 'and talent which have endeared him to • millions are given full opportunity for ' (expression. Bartholomew’s portrayal of ’ the English stranger and the unwilling 5 obstacle to Jackie’s plans, is more varied • |and finely done than any role he has 5 .played since "David Copperfield.” By ‘ turns he is a scoundrel, hero, traitor and [ then, in the climax, a brave friend Who is willing to risk everything to prove his loyalty to a pal. Matching Cooper’s skill at every point in the narrative he scores a personal hit. Alan Dinehart leads grim realism as the scheming oil baron who tries to steal Jackie’s land. Melville Cooper is especially effective as the impoverished Englishman who has been re--1 duced to gambling and cheating at cards « to support his son, Freddie. Dorothy . Peterson as Jackie's mother, and J. M. . i Kerrigan in the role of a fire-eating old 2 oil driller, contribute to the general ext'cellenee of this splendid film. "A Romance in Flanders.” Lots of the rousing old wartime songs ' are sung with all the enthusiasm of the ’ j Tommies on the march in "A Romance In ) j Flanders,” the second feature, the excit- . ing drama of the twists of life shown up . 120 years after tho World War. Although 3 | the* story of the film is laid In the present . 'day the incidents which cause all the suspense originated during the last war. ! Two friends, both sergeant-majors, were 'in love with the same woman. One won j her heart and the other, jealous to the j point of madness, engineered the death, , as he supposed, of his friend. The girl then married him. Twenty years after I the marriage the old adage, "A murderer . always visits the scene of his crime, came true and the couple, with their little , daughter came to Flanders. There they 1 meet the old friend, very much alive and L . acting as a guide to pilgrims to the graves [. of Flanders. For the purpose of the story , the action shifts back to the war, and it [ is here that the old wartime songs come . into their own. "Mademoiselle from Arr mentieres,” with its countless thousands 3 of verses has a charm all of its own. I "It’s a Long Way to Tipperary,” "Pack . \'v Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag,” j "There’s a Little Grey Home in the West,” , "Roses of Picardy,” "Take Me Back to Blighty,” "Colonel Bogey,” "The Old ! Grey Mare,” and all those other famous j tunes take a new lease of life when a j specially composed choir of men’s voices take up the familiar old refrains, swinging along a road In Flanders. Chapter 4 of the new serial, "The Lone Ranger Rides Again,” completes the bill.