AMUSEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24417, 1 October 1940, Page 5

AMUSEMENTS

THE CURRENT PROGRAMMES REGENT THEATRE Sufficient to Justify interest in Warner Brothers' historical saga, “Juarez,” which is now at the Regent Theatre, is the fact that it co-stars Paul Muni and Bette Davis; generally acknowledged to be. the greatest American dramatic players. In 1863 Napoleon 111 was planning to make Mexico a vassal state of proud France. Striving to evade the clinging bonds, Mexico finds an Inspired liberator in. Benito Pablo Juarez (Paul Muni)-; who is made president. Determined not -to lose his newfound possession. Napoleon plans to set up a ruler whose sympathies would be with France, and to this end Maximilian von Hapsburg (Brian Aherne) and his beautiful wife (Bptte Davis) are sent to Mexico. The stage is set for drama, and subsequent happenings keep interest tuned up to fever pitch until the final fade-out. It is sufficient to say that Muni, as the “Abraham Lincoln of Mexico,” finds one of his most powerful roles, while Bette Davis does much to add to her great reputation for character parts. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. “ THU SECRET OF DR KILDARE " ** The Secret of Dr Kildare,’’: third of the “ Dr Kildare ” series, with Lew Ayres and Lionel Barrymore heading the cast, will be screened at the Regent Theatre on Friday. The scientific detective romance, based on Max Brand’s popular story, deals with a beautiful girl’s strange secret terror, and the detective work of Ayres, as Dr Jimmy Kildare, to trace it down to the plot of a fanatical nurse and a quack doctor. In the dramatic climax, under the guidance.of Barrymore as Dr Gillespie, he cures her blindness by practical mental suggestion. Lionel Atwill heads the supporting cast, with prominent roles also played by Helen Gilbert (playing her first role since her outstanding success as the dramatics teacher in "Andy Hardy Gets Spring'-'Fever Nat Pendleton, Luraine Day;;;‘Sara: :jfaden,, Samuel S. Hinds, Brnnla'i ’-Dunn,-;,Walter Klngsford." Grant Mitchell. 1 Alma“’Kniger. Robert Kent, and Marie Blake; . - .1, ■ • • • •■ THEATRE Darryl F. Zanuck’s- production of “Drums Along the Mohawk ”, is now shelving aththe. State Theatre. Filmed in the latest technicolor, with Claudette Colbert and Henry Fonda in. the' starring roles, this Twentieth Century-Fox picture contains “unsurpassed' action. The story Is based I',, on, ; the !«best-selling novel by Walter DV.Edrrvonds of the stirring days of adventure, and) romance- when America was young.! action is set in New York’s ptiaceful, beautiful Mohawk Valley, and depicts the ‘ colonists under the onslaught of the savage Iroquis. Battle scenes in this film reach a pitch of realism and excitement seldom equalled on: the screen. They were photographed by Bert Glennon, who, under John Ford’s direction. filmed ’’ Stagecoach,” noted principally for its fine camera work. A strong supporting programme is shown. The box plans are at the theatre and at Begg’s " THE STARS LOOK DOWN" A. J. Cronin’s dramatic drama of coalmining life, ” The Stars Look Down,” is scheduled for release at the State Theatre on Friday. The stars of this production are Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood, who made a good Impression as a romantic team in ” The Lady Vanishes." Emlyn Williams is also featured. EMPIRE THEATRE "Charlie McCarthy, Detective,” now Screening at the Empire Theatre, is a genuine detective thriller, laced with a good deal of humour conjured up by Edgar Bergen and shaken by the cheeky little, manikin created out of a block of wood, and. who is now more famous than his creator. Others in an excellent cast are Mortimer Snerd—Charlie's opposite number, as dumb as they made them— Constance Moore, Robert Cummings, Warren Hymer and Harold Huber. Edgar Kennedy, as Police Inspector Dailey, is as amusing as ever. The story is that intricate kind which is spoilt in the telling, but no secrets are given away by explaining that there is a crooked newspaper magnate (Louis Calhern), his honest brother and partner (Samuel S. Hinds), end an equally honest and courageous special writer on the staff (Robert Cummings), who is bent on exposing a gang of • criminals led by Garcia (Harold Huber). The plot revolves around the newspaper magnate’s attempts to cover up his own unsavoury connections with Garcia, and to save himself from the revenge of another man whom he has held .in captivity. The box plans are et the theatre and the D.I.C. “ WAGONS WESTWARD” The plot of Republic's;’’Wagons Westward,” which will make Its local debut «t the Empire Theatre on Friday, is based on a novel thesis which would make the picture a success, even without an outstanding cast. But Republic has gone all the way, and combined an excellent story with actors and actresses whose aibllity is unchallenged, and the result is one of the finest, most * compelling photoplays to come out of Hollywood in many a moon. Chester Morris

adds another feather to his cap by his characterisation of twin brothers, one of them honourable and upright and the other a fanatical, hate-driven enemy of society. STRAND THEATRE s There is good general entertainment at the Strand Theatre this week. The main feature is “ Zanzibar,” an exciting tropical melodrama which has as its basis the quest of a party of explorers for the skull of a native ruler—an object which is regarded with veneration by the natives and the loss of which has provoked tribal rebellions. Jungle dangers culminating in a terrific volcanic explosion make the story a real thriller. The second feature is “ Blondie,” another of the series of the adventures of the Dagwood family. Penny Singleton has the leading role. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C. ST. JAMES THEATRE “ Talking Feet.” which heads the current programme at the St. James Theatre, is a production which provides entertainment of a particularly enjoyable character. Prominent in the cast are several world-famous artists and performers, of whom at least two are well known tn Dunedin; and. In addition, the story is at once appealing and convincing. The theme deals with the efforts of a little girl to raise sufficient money to keep the local hospital from closing down, and the novel and successful methods she adopts give the story a delightful zest. Mark Hambourg. the famous pianist, and William Heughan, the Scottish baritone, are included in the cast. There is a varied and entertaining programme of short subjects. The box plans are at the theatre, the D.1.C., and at Jacobs’s. •< BLACKMAIL” Tense melodrama of the attempt of an Innocent prison victim to lead a new life, and of his resentencing, second escape, and revenge after the real criminal tricks him. “ Blackmail ’’ wUI bring Edward G. Robinson to the St James Theatre on .Friday in a characterisation with an entirely new background/ .. Robinson is seen as John Ingram, a former ship’s mate, who builds up a business as dynamiter of. oil well fires, but who develops a callous brutality when sent back to prison and makes revenge his sole aim' In .life. The role is said to be even more dramatic than Robinson’s v triumphs .in “ Little Caesar.” ’’ Silver Dollar,” and "The Last Gangster;” The associate feature will be " Blockheads.” a Laurel and Hardy comedy. OCTAGON THEATRE “ Rebecca.” the film version of Daphne du Maurier’s novel, continues to attract large audiences to the Octagon Theatre. Laurence Olivier gives a masterly portrayal as Max de Winter, a sombre Cor- . nishman. and Joan Fontaine rises to inspiring heights in her delineation, of the role of do Winter’s second wife The storv is dominated by the influence of de Winter’s first wife. Rebecca, who, though dead, almost succeeds in wrecking the couple’s happiness. Her influence is transmitted through Mrs Danvers, the housekeeper, who was passionately fond of Rebecca and hates the voung wife witli a virulence that easts a blight upon the household There is a good supporting programme in which major place is held by a new March of Time, entitled “ News Fronts of the War—l94o.” The box plans are at the theatre and Beee's. “EVERYTHING HAPPENS AT NIGHT” A completely different type of picture for Sonja Henie is " Everything Happens at Night,” the Octagon Theatre’s next attraction. Darryl F. Zanuck presents the famed skating star in a combined dramatic and comedy role Sonja’s amazingly developed acting ability makes her perfectly at home in the story, and. of coufse, there are sequences in which Sonja disports not only on skates, but on the sheer, shimmering ski slides of the Alps Although Sonja’s role is essentially dramatic, light comedv touches are injected when Ray Milland and Robert Cummings, as two rival newspaper reporters, fall for her and fight for her love as well as for one of the biggest stories of the day GRAND THEATRE British studios have demonstrated in the past that the mystery melodrama is one of the types of film production which they can handle with singular success, and they give another convincing proof of this in " The Spider,” which is now being shown at the Grand Theatre. Based on an Edgar Wallace story. " The Spider " is concerned with the activities of a powerful criminal operating under a mask of respectability. Derrick de Marney and Diana Churchill are the leading players. ” Free, Blonde, and 21,” an engaging romantic comedy of youth, is the associate feature. The box plans are at the theatre and Begg’s. “A WOMAN IS THE JUDGE” The story of a woman judge who resigns from the bench at the peak of her career In order to defend her daughter accused of murder, Columbia’s ‘‘A Woman Is the Judge ” will be the feature at the Grand Theatre to-morrow, with Frieda Inescort, Otto Kruger, and Rochelle Hudson in the major roles. "A Woman is the Judge ” is a stirring emotional drama, which traces in absorbing detail the broadmindedness, courage, and unflinch-

ing honesty of the- feminine jurist against a background of underworld intrigue and the rigid discipline' of legal procedure. Other prominent characters are a successful prosecuting attorney who for many years has been eager to make the judge his wife; a notorious racketeer; two of his women hirelings, one of whom is a beautiful young girl (the judge’s long-lost daughter), and the other, a hardened derelict of the underworld; a young defence attorney Just beginning his legal career, and the judge’s devoted housekeeper. A grim, two-fisted, fast-shooting ranger, who pos s as a badman in bringing a band of outla. s to justice, is played by virile Charles Starrett In Columbia’s tuneful western drama, " Outlaws of the Prairie,” which will be in support. Sam Nelson directed the thrill-packed picture from the screen play by Ed. E. Repp. MAYFAIR THEATRE The film version of P. C. Wren's popular novel of the French Foreign Legion, ” Beau Geste.” is at present being shown at the Mayfair Theatre. The principal parts of the three Geste brothers, who enlist In the Foreign Legion in order to take on their own shoulders the blame for the disappearance of a famous family jewel, are taken by Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, and Robert Preston, who are responsible for excellent performances. The second picture is ” Pride of the West,” another Hopalong Cassidy adventure, with William Boyd. George Hayes, and Russell Hayden in the leading roles. The box plans are at the theatre and the D.I.C.