ENTERTAINMENTS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 237, 20 July 1936, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS.

ST. JAMES THEATRE. Heading a powerful cast of players in “The Ghost Goes West,” the highly entertaining film which will have its final screening at the St. James Thoatra to-night, is Robert Donat, one of the outstandiing and most popular screen stars of to-day. This film provides a wealth of merriment. It deals with the happenings that follow the removal of a haunted house from Scotland to America. The ghost goes with the house, and there are some merry mix-ups before the close of the tale. The supporting films make up an excellent programme. Beneath the glittering colour, the haunting tunes, comedy and gay dance routines which adorn “King of Burlesque,” the Fox picture which will be the chief offering at the St. James Theatre to-morrow and Wednesday nights, Is a fascinating love drama which will elicit an enthusiastic response from' patrons. Presenting Warner Baxter, Alice Faye and Mona Barrie in the leading dramatic roles, this happiest of the new musical shows boasts an all-star cast of talented performers. The story of “King of Burlesque” delves back-stage into ffie life and loves of the people of the theatre. Warner Baxter is the leading personality, an impressario who has brought the technique of the 14th Street burlesque to an enraptured Broadway. At the height of his success, he deserts his two old friends, Jack Gakie and Alice Faye, to marry the aristocratic but impoverished Mona Barrie. Through whirling, kaleidoscopic backgrounds, and a series of adventures, the picture traces the gradual descent of this rajah of entertainment under the influence of his wife.

MAJESTIC THEATRE. Dealing with the handling of crime from the newspaper side, “Exclusive Story,” showing at the Majestic Theatre to-night finally, also gives the audience some idea of tho workings of the American underworld. It is a true to life presentation of what goes on when gangsters break into tho rackets that pollute the country. Franclior Tone, Stuart Erwin, and Madge Evans aro the featured players in this striking expose of gangland activities. The story tells how a newspaper sets out to break up a gang and of the reaction of the mobsters to the exposure of their practices. There is a very interesting supporting programme. Amid molten steel and the roar of huge blast furnaces, Columbia has made a thrilling, actionful picture called “Dangerous Intrigue,” which will come to the Majestic Theatre to-mor-row and "Wednesday, with Ralph Bellamy, Gloria Shea and Joan Perry in the featured roles. Having for its locale a great Pennsylvania steel mills, the story gives itself plenty of opportunity for exciting sequences, of which it takes full advantage. There is something aweinspiring about a steel mill, anyway. Add to it a story with a novel twist and several good performances, and you have something. Ralph Bellamy continues his fine film work with his portrayal of Anthony Halliday, brilliant young New York doctor, who, through no fault of his own, suddenly has his entire life swept from under him. He is forced to resign as chief of staff of a prominent hospital, and his financee shows him the door. Suffering from amnesia brought on by the succession of shocks, Bellamy wanders to the Pennsylvania mill town and get a job as a labourer, until through his dulled mind comes the; realisation that lie must save his hands. His memory returns when he finds himself bandaging some workmen after an accident.