ENTERTAINMENTS

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21197, 21 August 1940, Page 5

ENTERTAINMENTS

TONIGHT’S PROGRAMMES

REGENT THEATRE “Talking Feet” is a sparkling production, telling the simple yet veryappealing story of a little girl and her friends raising money to save their local hospital from closing down. It introduces several new stars, including Hazel Ascot, known as “The Little Sunbeam,” who is also England’s champion dancer. The story makes a marked contrast to many of the more serious films which have been shown recently. Wit, humour, Cockney comedy there in plenty, and musical celebrities are also included. For instance, Mark Hambourg, the famous pianist, well known by his New Zealand recitals, together with 14 of his specially selected pupils, play 14 pianos simultaneously and introduce a number of popular themes. In addition William Heughan, the Scottish baritone, who has appeared in person at Hamilton on more than one occasion and is very pleasantly remembered, sings a number of popular melodies. Associated with him are the Seaforth Highlander pipers who portray the thrilling gathering of the cl&'ns. The final scene portraying the decks of a battleship with big guns firing, is stirring and thrilling, the spectacle being led by little Hazel, assisted by the band of the Royal Marines. The Three Comedians keep the audience in merry mood, and the Dagenham Girl Pipers help in the general success. ROXY THEATRE When Bob Hope (starred appropriately enough as a wise-cracking comedian) becomes involved in tracking down a fearsome murder-bent creature called “The Cat,” the result is a modern picture that provides not only thrills but much comedy. The picture is “The Cat and the Canary,” with charming lovely Paulette Goddard co-starred with Bob. The chills and fun get under way—as they did in the great stage play on which the picture is based—when seven people come to a mansion in the Louisiana marshes to hear the will of the deceased owner, and what follows holds the tense interest of the audience. “Call a Messenger,” unites Billy Halop and Huntz Hall, the leaders of "the Dead End Kids with the Little Tough Guys. The story deals with the adventures of a band of street kids, who go to work as messengers to save one of their members from going to a reform school. The supporting cast includes Robert Armstrong, Victor Jory, Mary Carlisle, Larry Crabbe, and El Brendel. CIVIC THEATRE “Intermezzo,” featuring Leslie Howard and Ingrid Bergman, tells a very appealing story of a great love that made a man forget wife and child and seize happiness with a girl who had bewitched him. But it is not the usual “triangle” type of story, for the girl realises that the romance must end and her method of seeking a solution brings the story to a very dramatic climax. It is the story of a great artist enmeshed in human forces which engulf him. Special interest attaches to the film because of the outstanding cast—lngrid Bergman, a Swedish actress, is very lovely, acts with distinction, and makes the part of the girl very appealing. Leslie Howard, whose work is always distinctive, is the artist, and gives one of the finest characterisations of his career. Edna Best completes the triangle, and, as usual, is very sincere. John Halliday and Cecil Kellaway are two other players who are prominent in the cast. An interesting March of . Time deals with America’s youth, showing the problems confronting them in the present world conditions. THEATRE ROYAL Bulldog Drummond is one of the most popular figures of fiction, stage and screen, and can always be depended upon to provide thrilling entertainment. The mysterious murder of one of his servants and the subsequent kidnapping of an English scientist, who has just discovered a formula for the manufacture of diamonds, sets John Howard off on another exciting adventure in “Bulldog Drummond’s Peril.” Playing the role of the amateur detective once again, John Howard leaves his bride in order to track down leaders of the world’s most powerful diamond syndicate, who are resorting to desperate measures to protect their fortunes. Harold Lloyd, the bespectacled comedian, leads the funmaking in the amusing comedy, “Professor, Beware,” in which he plays the part of an absent-minded professor whose ability to get into trouble provides the chief comedy. With its funny dialogue and situations the film keeps the audience chuckling. STATE THEATRE “Panamint’s Bad Man” is a colourful Western film, in which Smith Ballew, hard-riding, straight-shoot-ing, sweet-singing man of the range, plays the leading role. Unusual in many respects, not the least being that the story is credible, the roles well-played and the whole splendid entertainment, this new film dispenses with the threadbare pay-the-mortgage-and-save-the-girl plot and introduces a brain-trust technique that is a welcome change in favour of thrilling open-air excitement. The efforts of a fortune-hunting society mother to wed her unwilling daughter to an ineffectual young millionaire when the girl is determined to marry a milkman, is amusingly depicted in the new romantic comedy, “Maid’s Night Out,” in which Joan Fontaine and. Allan Lane have the leading roles. It is an unusual comedy, with excitement, ro- | mance and laughter.