ENTERTAINMENTS

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20499, 16 May 1938, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

CURRENT PROGRAMMES

ROXY THEATRE “Sabotage,” featuring Sylvia Sidney and Oscar Homolka, is an excellent thriller, dealing with modern sabotage and the human drama behind it. It has suspense, first-class acting and the distinctive touches Hitchcock always gives to his productions. Tragedy overtakes the Verloc family when the husband, proprietor of a small cinema, joins a gang of saboteurs so that he can more money. “The Girl from Scotland Yard" presents Karen Morley in the title role as an agent who uses her beauty and wit to trap the inventor of a death ray who threatens to destroy England's air force with his invention. Romance and excitement are aroused by the story, and there is plenty of humour to lighten the tension. REGENT THEATRE The Buccaneer” is a thrilling picture of the struggle between England and America during the war of 1812. It is a mighty panorama of a crucial period in history, showing the burning of Washington and the defence of New Orleans by General Jackson. Fredric March is seen as a pirate who turns out to b<j a hero when he realises that his adopted country, the United States, is in danger of destruction. Ilis sweetheart (Margot Grahame), a New Orleans belle, stimulates his patriotism by insisting that he become respectable before their marriage. He loses both his respectability and his sweetheart when the secret gets out that his men destroyed the American merchant ship Corinthion. He goes into exile on his flagship Raven. Franciska Gaal, the only survivor of the Corinthian, goes with him, and he realises that she is the girl he really loves. CIVIC THEATRE Loretta Young and Tyrone Power appear in “Second Honeymoon." In the first scenes they are seen as a married couple, Raoul and Vicky McLeish. Raoul is a charming idler who owns yachts, aeroplanes and a wardrobe which is the envy of his friends. The life does not appeal to Vicky, however, and she divorces him at Reno. In spite of their shattered romance, Vicky and Raoul remain friends, and a new interest enters the picture when her new husband, Robert Benton, objects strenuously to rumours which he had heard concerning his wife and her ex-husband. Vicky is indignant, other irritating factors including her husband's hard-hearted-ness when he leaves her in order to settle a strike in his factory. The climax of the film arrives when Raoul, who has become friendly by this time with Bob Benton, invites him on a fishing excursion, where the latest husband showed himself to be unworthy of a woman’s regard. Stuart Erwin makes an amusing figure of a valet.

THEATRE ROYAL In “The Black Doll” thrilling mystery is blended with comedy and romance. The film tells the" story of Nelson Rood (G. Henry Gordon), unscrupulous mine owner, who has murdered one of his partners. When a black doll, a crude child’s toy, appears on his library desk he knows it is the symbol of approaching doom, and lays his plans accordingly. Before he can carry them out, however, he is killed while talking to his daughter, Marian (Nan Grey). She summons her fiance, Nick Halstead (Donald Woods), an amateur detective, who finds he has six suspects whs had motives for slaying Rood. Edgar Kennedy appears as Sheriff Renick, who adds the required touch of comedy to relieve the tenseness of the mystery. The thrills of circus life are featured in “The Shadow.” Charles Quigley and Rita Hayworth head the cast. A series of mysterious events result in two murders, an attempted assassination, and a thrilling ending. STATE THEATRE “The Sky’s the Limit,” with the popular comedian .Tack Buchanan in the principal part, is an entertaining film. As Dave Harber, a designer for the Becklev Aircraft Company, Jack Buchanan invents a new type of aeroplane in which the Air Ministry is greatly interested. Beamish, the nephew of Lord Beckley. is trying to take the, credit for the invention, which Dave’s friend Teddy Carson (ably played by David Hutcheson) opposes. Dave himself does not particularly mind, however, as long as he retains his position and has the use of the big plant. Lord Beckley has made arrangements to present Madame Isobella (Mara Losseff), a famous opera singer, to the Baltavian Ambassador one night, hut is suddenly called to Paris, so Harber volunteers to take one of his friend's songs to the singer, with exciting results, coming to a climax with thrills in the air.

“Danger, Love at Work," is an unusual kind of comedy, with Hie popular comedian Edward Everett Horton in the lead.