AMUSEMENTS.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 335, 16 January 1937, Page 8

AMUSEMENTS.

Plaza Theatre. “The King Steps Out.” No backstage story, no climb to the Metropolitan, but a charming tale of a royal romance in Austria brings the golden-voiced Grace Moore to the screen again, singing melodies composed by Fritz Kreisler in “The King Steps Out,” which shows at the Plaza Theatre tonight and on Monday and Tuesday When a love story is involved, there must be a lover, and in that enviable role is Franchot Tone as a reckless, merry monarch, Emperor Francis Josef. Briefly, the story concerns Princess Elizabeth, daughter of bluff, beer-loving Duke Max, whose sister-in-law is th© mother of the Emperor. The Duke’s wife arranges a marriage between the young Emperor and their daughter Helena, without the latter’s knowledge or consent; the girl is in love with a count attached to the Emperor’s personal staff. Elizabeth, or Cissy, as she is called, and her father the Duke, follow incognito to the Emperor’s court, where the ruler meets the saucy and pert Cissy. He finds her, in her role of a dressmaker, more charming than her sister, to whom he is engaged. Cissy leads him on . and, against a gay and picturesqu 6 background, the story mounts to its happy finish.

King’s Theatre.

“The Blackmailer.” Wealthy Mr. Rankin’s home is in the grip of terror. In the dining-room of his home a man lies sprawled across the table, dead. One hand is twisted to his back in an attempt to get at the knife which caused his death. Eight persons might have committed tlie murder. All had sufficient reason to kill the man. All eight now stare in fright and horror at the body. Suddenly, one of the guests asks that the scene be re-enacted. The lights aro turned out again. Without warning, the murderer strikes again. Another ijian gasps his last in the darkness. Only a long wicked knife plunged to the hilt in his back tells how he came to his death. This is the suspense-filled situation of Columbia’s "Blackmailed,” which opens for a two-day run at the King’s Theatre to-day. William Gargan, Florence Rice and H. B. Warner are featured in this exciting mystery drama.

0n the same programme Buck Jones delights hiis audience in a hairraising drama of the West, "Mantrailer.”