STATE THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 March 1939, Page 2

STATE THEATRE

“MYSTERIOUS MR MOTO.” Murder in a Limehouse bar; the gray, sinister silence of a shrouded London night; a League of Assassins; a melody of death; Scotland Yard baffled; Mr Moto himself marked for murder—these elements build up to a thrilling mystery in 20th CenturyFox’s “Mysterious Mr Moto,” starring Peter Lorre, which will be shown at the State Theatre this evening. Attractive Mary Maguire, a talented actress from Australia, makes her filnp. debut in a romantic role opposite Henry Wilcoxon. Wilcoxon, in the role of a Czechoslovakian steel king who has a secret formula, for a new and revolutionary alloy, is the target of an international League of Assassins. This naturally brings Mr Moto, of the International Police, into the case. The League begins operations against Wilcoxon in London and in a short while Scotland Yard is forced to admit its helplessness. ' Mr Moto, who all this time has been working under-cover as a houseboy to a member of the League, here takes over the case and thrill follows thrill in his startling clue hunt. Extraordinary highlights of the original screen play by Philip MacDonald and Norman Foster are the melody cue to murder and the novel device for assassination employed in the final big scene. The excitement reaches a peak new even to the .Moto series when the oriental sleuth escapes a murder trap set for himself and is able to foil the final effort by the merchants of murder to gain possession of the secret formula. ! Arthur Tracy has made another G-B-D attraction, “Follow Your Star,” which is being- produced by Sinclair Hill and Harcourt Templeman, and will be the second attraction on the programme. It is his fourth British picture. The story is based on early chapters of the star’s own life, and will reveal how he came to be known as “The Street' Singer.”