ENTERTAINMENTS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 246, 30 July 1936, Page 2

ENTERTAINMENTS.

ST. JAMES THEATRE. The many admirers of Jan Kiepura are in for another vocal treat when, the Gaumont-British picture “My Heart Is Calling” is shown at the St. James Theatre to-night and at two sessions t-o-morrow. Its story gives the famous Polish tenor fullest vocal scope, while diverting comedy provides Sonnie Hale with another role after his own heart. A rich vein of romance in the story offers many opportunities for the piquant acting of Marta Eggerth, a glamorous young Hungarian who has eatirned fame on the Continental screen and stage for her singing no less than her acting. Sonnie Hale, who provides the main comedy-element, is a high-speed talker. An American soundengineer on a visit to the GaumontBritish studios, declared that BonniO could make a speech faster, without mispronouncing or slurring a single syllable, than even Lee Tracy who had, until now, been considered the screen’s fastest talker. “You, Me and Love,” one of the songs sung by Jan Kiepura, has an apt application to-day. He sings the song in the hall of mirrors, where Marta Eggerth dances so charmingly. The two are said to have fallen in love during the production of the film and after a whirlwind courtship and short engagement, were recently married.

MAJESTIC THEATRE. The special plea that “W T ay Down East” makes for tolerance in judgment of others, the dramatic impact of its story and the enduring tenderness of its love passages have gained through the years, as Fox Film’s superb picturisation of the story which has become America’s greatest melodrama, will prove when shown at the Majestio Theatre to-night and at two sessions t„o-morrow. Starring Rochelle Hudson and Henry Fonda, who made his debut in “The Farmer Takes a Wife,” the picture tells again the moving, elemental drama, of one woman’s fight for love against a world of bigotry and scorn. The details of the drama are perhaps familiar to many, but the freshness of its treatment, the poetio charm of the photography and the addition of some excellent new writing and comedy make it an entirely new story, vital, fresh and alive. Briefly, “Way Down East” deals with the individual problems of Rochelle Hudson. She is first seen working happily in the security of Russell Simpson’s household, drawn to Henry Fonda, the son, yet for some reason afraid to admit her love. The plot moves forward against the background of country life and changing seasons, until finally whispered gossip reveals the girl’s past and mistake.