AMUSEMENTS.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 336, 18 January 1937, Page 8

AMUSEMENTS.

Plaza Theatre. “The King Steps Out.” No backstage story, no climb to th e 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 to-morrow; When a love story is involved, thero 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 the 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.

“When Ladies Meet.”

Frank Morgan has the role of Woodruff, the romantic publisher, in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s "When Ladies Meet,” which is showing at the Plaza Theatre on Wednesday next, with Ann Harding and Robert Montgomery as- co-stars. Placed under contract tyy M-G'-M following completion of his part in “Reunion in Vienna,” Morgan was assigned a featured role in the Lee Tracy picture, titled “The Nuisance,” and stepped from that into the important characterisation in “When Ladies Meet.” In the new film, Morgan is seen as Miss Harding’s husband, who constantly strays from the marital path but always returns. Myrna Loy is he young lady whose interest occupies his divided attention.

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 the 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 are turned out again. Without warning, the murderer strikes again. Another man gasps his last in the darkness. Only a long wicked knife plugged to the hilt in his back tells how he came to his death. This is the suspense-filled situation of Columbia's "Blackmailed,” which shows at the King’s today. William Gargan, Florence Rice and H. B. Warner are featured in this exciting mystery drama.

On the same programme Buck Jones delights Ms audience in a hairraising drama of the West, “Mantrailer.”

“Air Hawks.”

Dealing with a death-ray which can cause destruction from almost any distance, “Air Hawks,” a Columbia picture featuring Ralph Bellamy, Wiley Post, Tala Birell, Douglass Dumbrille, and Billie Seward, comes to the King’s Theatre on Tuesday and Wednesday next. The story concerns two rival airlines, one headed by Ralph Bellamy, competing for lucrative air-mail contracts. Bellamy's rival employs a mad scientist who has perfected an infamous machine which can prdject the electric beam into the skies to I bring down, flaming, the ’planes cf I Bellamy’s company. The source of j the subsequent disasters is unknown ’ to Bellamy, but when the courage of I the girl he loves and his own. reckless daring merge to battle the hidden enemy, the executioner of the skies goes down before the onslaught in a novel climax. Tala Birell is seen as the girl who helps Ralph Bellamy avenge the death of his flying buddies. Wiley Post, famous round-the-world flier, is seen in person in “Ail* Hawks” as himself. His recent attempt at a new American trans-continental speed record is featured in the film, where , special scenes were needed for a i stratosphere flight. Post portrays one [of the pilots in Bellamy’s air-line.