STATE THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 October 1938, Page 2

STATE THEATRE

“KIDNAPPED.” “Kidnapped,” the story which Robert Louis Stevenson is said to have considered his best, comes to Masterton tonight, being spectacularly ■ produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, with a cast of 5,000. Unlike several other Stevenson stories, “Kidnapped” never before has appeared in either silent or sound films—-something of a record. In its debut however, the stars, director and supporting cast appear to have been assembled with a lavish hand for the patrons of the State Theatre tonight at 8 o’clock. Every person conversant with so much as high school English has thrilled to the adventure in ‘“Kidnapped,” so the picture is destined to meet a host of familiar’ friends. It will be these friends who will remember that the story had little or no “feminine interest” —being chiefly the tale of the escapades of Alan Breck and David Balfour (portrayed on the screen by Warner Baxter and Freddie Bartholomew respectively). Purists may try, therefore, to quarrel with Hollywood’s introduction into the story of a Jean MacDonald, Highland lass who becomes enamoured of Alan Breck. The role is portrayed by an astonishingly vivacious and beautiful screen discovery, Arleen Whelan. The stellar cast of “Kidnapped” includes C. Aubrey Smith, Reginald Owen, John Carradine, Nigel Bruce, Miles Mander, Ralph Forbes and H. B. Warner. A. strong supporting cast includes “The March of Time,” “Brain Trust Island,” and “Arms and the League.”