STATE THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 July 1940, Page 2

STATE THEATRE

DUNKIRK EVACUATION AND MARCH OF TIME. The large number of picture patrons who attended the State Theatre last night had presented to them one of the finest programmes even seen in Masterton. A strong note of excellence permented the whole programme, especially outstanding being the new series of Dunkirk evacuation pictures which vividly show many stirring scenes. The audience repeatedly loudly applauded the picture. A dark pall of smoke rising from Dunkirk, the setting out of auxiliary craft from Britain under the protection of the Navy, startling scenes of fighting in the air, in which a Messerschmitt is seen to crash in flames, bombs sending up huge spouts of water around the boats and the taking off of soldiers from the beach are all shown in the film, which also includes scenes on the arrival of men in England. Tired but resolute the men are seen landing on their native soil and receiving refreshments from willing helpers. Many French troops are also seen disembarking. The March of Time of entitled “Crisis in the Pacific,” and deals in a graphic fashion with Japan’s policy of expansion and with the causes and development of the present strained situation. This feature is of vital interest to every New Zealander. Darryl F. Zanuck's production of “Drums Along the Mohawk” depicts in technicolour the days when torch and tomahawk spread their terror in New York’s beautiful Mohawk Valley. The screen play gives Claudette Colbert and Henry Fonda the roles of pioneer lovers who with the other colonists in the valley have to face the fierce onslaught of the savage Iroquois. While a heartwarming romance is thus assured, the most outstanding feature of "Drums Along the Mohawk” is its action. The screen has proved itself time and again as the best medium for portraying scenes like these, but never has it shown them more powerfully. The cast is all uniformly excellent. Featured in it are Edna May Oliver, Errie Collins, John Caradine, Dorris Bowdon, Jessie Ralph, Arthur Shields, Robert Lowery and Roger Imhof. The story takes place in those days of romance and adventure when America was young. Claudette Colbert, an aristocratic, citybred girl, marries Henry Fonda, a far-mer-colonist of the Mohawk Valley, as the film opens. Fonda takes his bride to the rough frontier where her spirit is almost broken by the crude life and ' surroundings. | Patrons are advised to book early for 'this outstanding programme as there •is likely to be a packed house tonight.