ENTERTAINMENTS

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21188, 10 August 1940, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

TO=NIGHT’S PROGRAMMES “DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK” AT THE CIVIC THEATRE “Drums Along the Mohawk” is a thrilling example of realism, set against a background of colourful, romantic, dramatic adventure, and heightened to vividness by the use of technicolour. Claudette Colbert has a role of unusual power as the delicately reared girl who marries Henry Fonda and whom experience turns into a fearless pioneer woman who fights painted Indians by the side of her young husband. Highlights of the story show the beautiful Mohawk Valley aflame when the marauding Indians fire the farms of the pioneers; dread war-drums warning of fire and massacre; savage hordes scaling the stockade walls; muskets blazing and swinging as the pioneer women fight shoulder to shoulder with their men. Then there are the unforgettable scenes showing the young wife, who is about to become a mother, fleeing from the pursuing Indians in a madly careening cart—fighting and firing instead of fainting—hurling out her furniture to make room for another exhausted fleeing wretch or two along the way—and finally losing her baby as a result of the horrifying experience. There are the battle scenes revealing all the horrors of war at first hand, and following these, the starkly true scenes showing the wounded, staggering home sobbing to have their wounds dressed in the kitchen of a friendly farmhouse.

The Air Mail Fox News shows the New Zealand second echelon arriving in England, sightseeing in London, Maoris giving haka, and troops moving to Palestine.

“THE LIGHT THAT FAILED” AT THE REGENT THEATRE The motion picture treatment of Rudyard Kipling’s great novel, “The Light That Failed,” starring Ronald Colman, and featuring Walter Houston, Ida Lupino, Muriel Angelus, Dudley Digges and others, is very successful. “The Light That Failed” is a powerful romance which takes place in London and the Sudan during the closing years of the last century. The book has been a bestseller for three generations. On the screen there is unfolded a drama that swings from the blazing sands of the Sudan to the charm of London in Spring; from the holocaust of war to drama of love and sacrifice. There is crashing action —as thousands of fuzzy wuzzies hurl themselves on the slender ranks of the British Square, in one of the most thrilling charges ever filmed. There is tenderness as the picture unfolds the story of life-long romance between a man and woman who are rivals for fame. There is fascination—in the drama of a woman who takes her most terrible revenge against a man who scorned her love. And there are stars galore. The supporting programme includes “Judo Experts,” a Grantland Rice Sportlight, the British Air Mail News (with the latest war news), and the Cinesound Review.

“BLONDIE ON A BUDGET” AT THE THEATRE ROYAL “Blondie” Bumstead, that popular young housewife of newspaper comic strip and motion picture fame, returns to the screen in “Blondie on a Budget,” the newest in the hilarious series. She is Penny Singleton, and Arthur Lake again portrays “Dagwood,” her trouble-beset husband Rita Hayworth is also in the cast, as Dagwood’s “old flame,” whose arrival on the screen causes plenty of excitement and laughs for the audience. “Stronger Than Desire” deals with a suspicious wife who has a retaliatory flirtation which involves her in blackmail and a murder mystery. Walter Pidgeon plays the lawyer husband who extricates her from the tangle in a dramatic courtroom climax. Leslie Fenton directed, incidentally directing his wife, Ann Dvorak. The cast also includes Lee Bowman, Ilka Chase, Rita Johnson, Richand Lane, Ann Todd, Paul Stanton and Ferike Boros. A chapter of the thrilling serial, “The Green Hornet,” is also screen-

“ENEMY AGENT.” AT THE STATE THEATRE “Enemy Agent” tells a thrilling story revealing the work of G-Men as they fight to halt spy activity and prevent theft of vital military plane designs from aircraft factories. The story is told in and around the giant aircraft factories of Southern California, and dramatises newspaper stories on spy activities, and is charged with genuine excitement. Richard Cromwell gives one of his most convincing performances as the young plane draftsman who fights to clear himself of spy charges. Helen Vinson is excellent as the pretty secret service operative who lures the spies into a trap set for them by Robert Armstrong, who plays the G-Man assigned to the case. Phillip Dorn, noted HollandDutch actor, reveals exceptional talent as the brilliant spy-ring chief. “Missing Evidence ,” featuring Preston Foster and Irene Hervey, is a vivid picturisation of the counterfeit sweepstakes ticket racket, showing how the swindle is practised and how the Government deals with the perpetrators.

“SHIPYARD SALLY” AT THE ROXY THEATRE The jovial queen of comedy, Gracie Fields, returns to the screen in a film in which she sings and dances as only she can. It is “Shipyard Sally,” in which she is starred with Sydney Howard. The film gives Gracie the background she likes best—the working class of England. Gracie is the unexpected proprietor of a tavern in Clydebank, the shipbuilding centre of Scotland. Unexpected, because until her erratic

father (played by Sydney Howard) invested all her swings in the tavern, he and Gracie had been barnstorming the isles as a music hall team. She soon becomes the fast friend of the shipbuilders, practically the queen of the shipyards, and when Gracie gets up steam it is time for all good sailors to beware. She sings, she dances, and she “cuts up” generally. “In Old Monterey” deals with the efforts of government agents to disposses a group of ranchers from their homesteads. The Government condemn their lands in order to establish an air bombing base on the property. Gene Autry sings “It Happened in Monterey,” “Little Pardner,” “Born in the Saddle,” “My Buddy,” “The Vacant Chair,” and “Tumbling Tumbleweeds.”