ENTERTAINMENTS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 245, 29 July 1936, Page 2

ENTERTAINMENTS.

ST. JAMES THEATRE. The material for Walter Wanger’s Paramount romantic drama, “Mary Burns, Fugitive,” showing finally tonight at the St. James Theatre, and starring Sylvia Sidney, was gathered from current newspaper files dealing with accounts of young girls who get caught, innocent or otherwise, in the toils of the law. It is an intensely dramatic production. The outstanding impression left by “My Heart is Galling,” starring Jan Kiepura, which will be screened at _the St. James Theatre to-morrow night and at two sessions on Friday, is one of beauty. Beauty of music, vocal and instrumental; beauty of personality and graceful self-expression ; beauty of scene. The fine voice of Jan Kiepura was never used to better advantage in a popular number than in the theme song “My Heart Is Calling You,” while his rendition of “You, Me and Love” has assuredly' established, world-wide popularity for an attractive song. For many these numbers will be the musical highlights of the picture, while for others the real musical treat will lie in the star’s delightful treatment of excerpts from operas, particularly from “Tosca,” disclosing so 1 sensitive an appreciation of the composer’s motifs that every passage is sung with exactly the shade of emphasis and restraint that marks the singer whose interpretation comes from the heart and not merely from the score. It would appear that no Jan Kiepura picture could be completely satisfactory without that vigorous laughter-maker, Sonnie Hale. On his capable shoulders rests the lion’s share of the comedy and the acfion practically turns upon the rapid succession of eruptive brainwaves possessing the soul of the irrepressible llosee in his struggles to keep his professional head above water.

MAJESTIC THEATRE. “Public Nuisance No. 1” will bo shown finally 7 at the Majestic Theatre to-night. It reaches heights in entertainment value seldom before realised. Its two world-famous co-stars, Arthur Riscoc and Frances Day 7, surprise you —almost stagger you—with their never-ending string of humorous utterances. There is nothing mysterious about the grip of “Way.’Down East” and other American melodramas on the imagination of the theatre-going public. So declares Russell Simpson, noted character actor, who enacts one of the principal roles in Fox Film’s ‘‘Way Down East,” which will be shown at the Majestic Theatre to-morrow and at two sessions on, Friday. “The old play r s,” says Simpson, “were meaty with romance and humanity. They 7 reflected real life and that is what the theatre-going nublic wishes to see and hear in the theatre. “ ‘Way Down East,’ for example, is a simple tale of simple people. But its heroine is a symbol, a woman betrayed, punished and struggling for her right to be happy and love again. “Of course, there are cycles in theatre tastes. Froth and sophistication' may have their day, but they must ultimately give way to the' play's which deal with the fundamental problems of life.” “Way 7 Down East” stars Rochelle Hudson and Henry Fonda in the romantic leads.

AERO CLUB BALI. Wot weather conspired against a large attendance at the Aero Club ball'held in the Riadiant Hall last night, but these who braved the elements spent a very enjoyable evening. The floor was in first-class order and there were appropriate decorations, including a number of model aeroplanes suspended from the roof. Music was supplied by JD abounds orchestra. Mr N. Chambers was M.C.