STATE THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 April 1940, Page 2

STATE THEATRE

“CITY IN DARKNESS" OPENS TONIGHT. All the and suspense of : Paris blackout await patrons at thi Stale Theatre in "Charlie Chan in City in Darkness,” the exciting new 20ti Century-Fox melodrama which wil' I commence tonight on a splendid dou-ble-bill. Caught, like so many others in the tense city during those unforgettable days of crisis when the oncegay capita] lived in dread of air raids and inaugurated the protective blackout, Chan, in the person of Sidney Toler, is commandeered in the great human emergency. For, although, Paris is plunged into darkness, the authorities quickly learn that there is no blackout- for crime, and the great detective is set to work fighting the dangers that lurk under cover of the inky blackness. Chan is attending a reunion of a handful of Intelligence officers of the first World War. The celebration is interrupted by an air raid siren and the subsequent blackout. The Paris Chief of Police is completely occupied with the task of guarding the darkened city against crime and sabotage, so his would-be detective son “takes over” and works wih Chan on an intensely baffling mystery whose roots are tangled deep in the general crisis. Lynn Bari, Richard Clarke, Harold Huber, Pedro de Cordoba, Dorothy Tree, C. Henry Gordon. Douglas Dumbrille and Noel Madison are featured in this thriller.

The supporting feature is an out standing comedy, “The Honeymoon' Over,” starring Stuart Erwin and Marjorie Weaver. It is full of incidents experiences and adventures that mighi happen to anyone. Told in a fast-pacec modern manner, this true-to-life talc presents the Todds as a misguided young couple who live beyond their means and provides plenty of fun. As a struggling young advertising man who gets further into trouble by trying to extricate his wife from her innocent financial jams, Stuart Erwin has one of the most humanly funny roles of his career. Marjorie Weaver gives an outstanding performance.