THE THEATRES

Southland Times, Issue 24241, 26 September 1940, Page 4

THE THEATRES

REGENT

"SWEETHEARTS”

JEANETTE MacDONALD AND NELSON EDDY

Gorgeous from every point of view is Metro’s technicolour feature, production, “Sweethearts,” which will again draw crowded houses to the Regent Theatre where the season ends tomorrow night. With the exquisitely beautiful blending colour in costumes and backgrounds added to the glory of their two voices in a splendid choice of numbers, and the extremely attractive personalities of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, what more could be desired? There is a slight romantic plot and a happy ending woven into a procession of gay, glittering, spectacular sequences. Atmosphere and settings are admirably presented, and the supporting cast injects just the right amount and quality of comedy and interest into the picture. It was adapted from the Victor Herbert stage play and is directed by W. S. Van Dyke with sensitive intuition. Music plays a prominent part in the show. The “Escape” number, the Dutch “Wooden Shoes,” “Pretty as a Picture,” “Summer Serenade,” “On Parade,” “Every Lover Must Meet His Fate,” and the “Sweethearts” finale are among the many numbers which provide a feast for lovers of melody and spectacle. Florence Rice, Herman Bing, Ray Bolger and Reginald Gardiner are among the fine artists in the big supporting cast. Box plans are open at H. and J. Smith’s, Rice’s Regent shop and the theatre. Early booking is advisable. “Virginia” city” NEW ZEALAND PREMIERE ON SATURDAY With Errol Flynn in the type of dashing role that suits him so well, and Miriam Hopkins awarded the important leading role on the strength of her fine performance in “The Old Maid,” Warner Bros.’ “Virginia City,” which is to have its New Zealand premiere at the Regent Theatre on Saturday, promises to be one of the major attractions of the season. The background of the film is a page out of America’s most gripping historical era, the West during the Civil War. The setting is the colourful, lawless "mushroom” mining town, Virginia City, during its rowdiest days. The theme recounts an authentic episode which Robert Buckner adeptly wove into the moving screen play. Michael Curtiz, one of Hollywood’s most skilful directors, filmed the production.

As a Union Intelligence officer, Kerry Bradford, portrayed by Errol Flynn, is sent to the new Virginia City to track down a gold shipment intended for the Confederacy, sent by Southern sympathizers in Nevada. His romance with the Queen of Nevada’s dance halls, Julia Haynes, Miss Hopkins’s role, is short lived when the girl has him kidnapped and he learns she is a Confederate spy. Bradford is taken prisoner on the Southern gold caravan, led by Vance Irby, played by Randolph Scott. When attacked by bandits, led by a notorious guerilla, portrayed by Humphrey Bogart, it is Bradford who outwits the band and saves the caravan. He refuses to surrender the gold, claiming it belongs to the men who mined it. Held for court martial, it is news of the war’s end that exonerates him in the eyes of the North, the South and Miss Julia Haynes. The impressive supporting cast includes such seasoned players as Alan Hale, Frank McHugh, Guinn “Big Boy” Williams and John Litel.

CIVIC

TWO FEATURES TONIGHT “Nurse From Brooklyn,” the first attraction on the Civic’s 6d and 9d programme finally at 7.45 tonight, drives home the emphatic lesson that crime does not pay. It reveals many of the hitherto hidden methods used by a police department in tracking down a hidden killer in a great city. Sally Eilers and Paul Kelly are starred in this thrilling G-Man adventure.

“Love And Hisses,” the second attraction on the Civic’s half-price programme, is a riotous comedy, packed with laughs, melody and dancing and stars Walter Winchell, Simone Simon, Ben Bernie, Joan Davis and Bert Lahr. Civic prices finally tonight are 6d and 9d.

“REBECCA” : Poweifully enacted and superbly produced, “Rebecca,” the screen version of the famous novel by Daphne du Maurier, will begin its Invercargill season tomorrow. So outstanding is this special production that it is too big for just one theatre, so will be screened at both the State and the Civic Theatres on Friday, Saturday and Monday. State sessions tomorrow are at 2.0 and 8.0 and Civic session at 7.45. Primarily for mature types of filmgoers, it is one of the most remarkable films of the year to date, and will be talked of for a long time to come. The screenplay differs only slightly from the original book, in its essentials, and it loses nothing in the retelling. The story is developed in impressive fashion, for which high credit is due to the director, Alfred Hitchcock, who has few peers in his department in the motion picture world. Outstanding in the strong cast are Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine, the latter in her first big role. Olivier portrays a wealthy English squire, whose first wife, a faithless wanton, dies under suspicious circumstances. The woman he marries the second time, played by Miss Fontaine, is a sensitive, nervous girl, who feels the presence of the first wife as a real and tangible horror. She becomes more and more introverted, and the film works up to a powerful climax before happiness comes to the newly-married couple. Judith Anderson and George Sanders are also in the cast. Box plans for the State’s 2.3 and 8.0 sessions and the Civic’s 7.45 session tomorrow are at Begg’s or the State Theatre.

STATE

“PINOCCHIO” SEASON ENDS TODAY

The genius of Walt Disney is reflected in all the artistically created scenes of “Pinocchio,” which screen finally at 2.0 and 8.0 today at the State Theatre. Seven new tunes are introduced in this delightful fantasy.

“REBECCA” FAMOUS NOVEL ON THE SCREEN “Rebecca,” which has broken all records in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch and which is creating a sensation at the present time in Dunedin, is such an outstanding production that special arrangements have been made to screen this picture tomorrow at both the State and Civic Theatres simultaneously. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, master of mystery thrillers, “Rebecca” was filmed with Laurence

Olivier and Joan Fontaine in the top starring roles, while the. featured supporting cast includes Judith Anderson, George Sanders, Nigel Bruce, C. Aubrey Smith, Reginald Denny and Florence Bates. The story concerns a young and unsophisticated girl who becomes the bride of the wealthy and socially prominent Maxim de Winter. When they return to live on his vast Tudor estate, Manderley, the second wife learns, to her horror, that her life is being dominated by the past of Rebecca, Maxim’s first wife, a very beautiful woman who fascinated all who knew her. Furthermore, the memory of Rebecca is kept alive by Mrs Danvers, de Winter’s housekeeper, played by Judith Anderson. Mrs Danvers resents the second Mrs de Winter and does everything in her power to harrow her. After an elaborate ball given at Manderley, the story moves swiftly to a smashing climax, stunning in its surprise, and terrifying in its impact. This scene takes place in an abandoned boat house during the entire sequence, with Olivier and Miss Fontaine entirely alone. Because of the emotional intensity required for this scene, the producer and the director ordered that the stars be given complete privacy while it was filmed. The scene lasts about eight minutes on the screen, but because of the care exercised during its filming, it required three days to complete. “Rebecca” screens at 2.0 -.and 8.0 tomorrow at the State and at 7.45 at the Civic. Box plans for either theatre are at Begg’s or the State.

MAJESTIC

George Houston, the popular baritone, is the star of “Captain Calamity,” Action Pictures’ rollicking tale of adventures in the South Seas which will conclude at the Majestic Theatre today. This picture is produced in natural colours, which give full advantage to the island surroundings. The associate feature, “Inside Information,” has Dick Foran, Harry Carey, June Lane and Mary Carlisle cast in a crime story which compares new scientific detective methods with the old strong-arm police routine.

Clarence E. Mulford’s colourful western figure, Hopalong Cassidy, will again be seen at the Majestic Theatre tomorrow, this time as the star of “Sante Fe Marshal.” William Boyd is again cast as “Hopalong” and Russell Hayden as Lucky. Marjorie Rambeau and Britt Wood are also in the cast. In order to clean up a gang of bandits who are robbing the output of a Sante Fe silver mine, Hopalong Cassidy poses as a bandit himself while in reality he is the Sante Fe marshal. Lucky assists in the scheme by posing as the marshal instead of Hopalong. The bandits are so sucessfully duped that Hopalong succeeds in getting them all to the mine together and after a series of gun fights and hair-raising escapades brings them to justice. Taken from one of the episodes in J. Edgar Hoover’s, “Persons in Hiding,” “Parole Fixer” is the associate feature on tomorrow’s programme at the Majestic Theatre, so that the story in reality is fact, not fiction. “Parole Fixer” is a straightforward film offering an insight into the workings of America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation. ' - - -