GRAND THEATRE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 409, 19 December 1932, Page 3

GRAND THEATRE

TO-NIGHT. A multitude of thrills, along with an unusual romance and an abundance of comedy, are neatly wrapped in one screen paekage, "Cheaters at Play," opening to-night at the Grand Theatre. The efforts of various international crooks to obtain an invaluable emerald necklace foi'm the basis of the exciting plot, much of which occurs aooard a transatlantic liner, en route to New York. The jewels helong to a millionaire's wife, who is trying to smuggle them into the country to avoid the husbandly wrath she knows would follow her declaration of them and the eonsequent payment of duty. The emeralds are stolen on three differ'ent occasions and eaeh' time an old friend, himself a former masterthief, recovers them for her, but runs into plenty of adventures in the process, while a love- affair between one of the youthful crooks and the millionaire's niece further complic^ates matters. A desperate fight on the ship's upper deck at midnight, the ex-cook's discovery of the young thief's identity, a thrilling flight to shore aboard the vessel's mail-plane, a novel kidnapping in an armoured car, and the perilous rescue of the two young lovers at the last moment, all furnish many breathless moments for the spectators, while the eccentric antics of Charlotte Greenwood as the millionaire's wife supply much of the film's hilarity. Thomas Meighan as th& suave excrook shares the leading honours with Miss Greenwood, and Barhara Weeks and William Bakewell bnvo ""^antic roles. Linda Watkins, Kalph Morgan, James Kirkwood and other celebrites are in the cast.