ENTERTAINMENTS

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20502, 19 May 1938, Page 13

ENTERTAINMENTS

‘MAD ABOUT MUSIC” THE REFRESHING DEANNA DURBIN AT THE REGENT THEATRE Deanna Durbin, as delightfully refreshing an actress as she is a singer, will win many more friends by her appealing performance in “Mad About Music.” Pho has the role of a girl at a fashionable Swiss school; she has no father, and her mother, as a screen actress typifying the modern “glamour girl,” is unable to admit to the world that, she has a 15-year-old daughter. The girl is led info telling her schoolmates that her fattier is a great explorer. but difficulty is piled on difficulty when she caps her falsehoods by declaring that he is coming to visit her—and then has to grab the most suitable looking man off the train from Paris and persuade him to support her hoax. Happily he is agreeable, and so the grand deception goes successfully on, carrying in its train a flow of the most hilarious situations. Herbert Marshall Is ideally cast as the bachelor who allows himself to be ensnared into a bogus parenthood, and there is a delightful sketch of outraged rectitude by Arthur Treacher in the role of his valet.

Deanna sings the gaily infectious “I Love to Whistle,” and leads the Viennese Boys’ Choir through the loveliness of Gounod's “Ave Maria.” “Chapel Beils” is another number in which she distinguishes herself. Views at Hie Chateau Tongariro are included In the supporting programme. ROXY THEATRE Singing hilarious new songs and performing new pranks, Jane Withers scores a great triumph in “Can This Be Dixie?” The songs include “Pick, Pick, Pickaninny,” “Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a Cabaret Now,” “Does You Wanna Go to Heaven?” and “It’s Julep Time in Dixieland.” Surrounded by an exceptional cast, including Slim Summerville, Helen Wood. Thomas Beck, Sara Haden, Claude Gilllngwater and Donald Cook, Jane goes through a series of amusing adventures as she saves the old homestead, unites a pair of lovers and brings happiness to everyone. The air sequences In “Crimson Romance” are among the most thrilling and spectacular ever filmed. Dozens of machines are seen in deathly combat. Ben Lyon and Sari Marifza have the romantic leads, and the strong ca*t also includes Herman Bing, Hardie Albright and Erich von Stroheim. CIVIC THEATRE “Heidi” brings to the screen the beauty of the Swiss Alps and the colourful folk dwelling up just under the stars. An embittered mountaintop exile Is reclaimed from his fierce hate of the world by the little heroine, who brings him a new zest for life, and a girl Is given strength and the will to walk again. Popular little Shirley Temple is an appealing Heidi. “One Mile from Heaven” presents the question of who has the greater right —the one who brought a child into the world, but thought her dead in a fateful car crash, and who, after several years, found her hopes renewed, or the one who nursed the child back to health, nurtured and guarded her, and came to love her as her own. “PARADISE FOR TWO” One of the most brilliant musical comedies produced by United Artists is I ' open a season to-morrow. Entitled “Paradise for Two,” it lias as ils leading players Hie popular English actor •Tack Jlulberl. with bis inimitable humour, dancing and singing, and Hie beautiful Hollywood actress Patricia Ellis. The selling of the picture is Paris. STATE THEATRE “Seven Sinners," featuring Constance Cummings and Edmund Lowe, deals with the efforts of a criminal investigator to discover the reason for a French train accident in which he is involved. His clues carry him into an amazing series of adventures, and he finally rounds up a gang of gunrunners, almost at the loss of his own life. "The Strange Conspiracy” is a sensational story, visualising the kidnapping of the Ruler of America, and what would happen if such an event occurred. Romance, adventure and comedy are combined very entertainingly. Paul Byron’s name heads a cast of favourites, including Janet Beecher, Paul Kelly, Peggy Conklin, Charley Grapewin, Robert McWade, Andy Devine arid Irene Franklin. “45 FATHERS” “45 Fathers,” to lie screened tomorrow. is a very amusing comedy with Jit lie Jane Withers at her funniest. She is supported by a strong cast. THEATRE ROYAL Films will not be screened at the Theatre Royal to-night owing to the theatre being otherwise engaged. To-morrow night “The Spy Bing,” an exciting story* of international espionage, and “Council for Crime,” another sensational drama, will be screened, .lane Wyman and William Hall will have the leading roles in the former film, and Jacqueline Wells and Otto Kruger in the latter. j j j j j , \ ' ■ • (