ENTERTAINMENTS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 247, 31 July 1936, Page 2

ENTERTAINMENTS.

ST. JAMES THEATRE. “My Heart is Calling,” which features Jan Kiepura and his equally talented wife, will be shown finally tonight at the St. James Theatre. A rich vein of romance in the story offers many opportunities for the piquant acting of Marta Eggerth, a glamorous young Hungarian, who has earned fame on the screen and stage. Sonnio Hale, who provides the main comedy element, is a high-speed l talker. Several good short features precede the big film. Featuring Pat O’Brien and James Cagney, “Ceiling Zero” will be shown to-morrow and on Monday night. In a picture dealing with the commercial mail and passenger service of the air, the plot is essentially dynamic drama, but in the every-day events in the lives of the flyers and ground men there is plenty of humour No one could keep the irrepressible Cagney nor O’Brien from injecting laughs in such situations. Cagney, O’Brien and Stuart Erwin have the roles of three flying war buddies who have turned to commercial aviation. Cagney is the devil-may-care, stunting, irresponsible member of the trio, with O’Brien as the superintendent of the flyers, and Erwin as a somewhat steadier pilot than Cagney. Jim is also given to making love to every pretty girl he sees, which lands him in plenty of trouble. He probably has given the best performance of his career in this characterisation. He is not entirely frivolous, however, for he rises on the supreme occasion to an heroic deed by taking the place of his rival in love on a flight he knows will end in death. Jimmy manages to mix his quaint humour with thrilling action in a way that either keeps one laughing or holding the breath.

MAJESTIC THEATRE. “Way Down East,” at the Majestic Theatre finally to-night, is a moving and revealing picture of the elemental drama of a woman’s love. With a setting in bleak New England of the 1890’s, the film unfolds a tale of a young girl who had loved well, but not wisely. When the young girl’s past is uncovered by gossip she finds herself struggling against the self-righteous-ness and prideful society of New England.

Harold Lloyd is up to new tricks in “The Milky Way,” which shows at the Majestic Theatre to-morrow and on Monday night, and it should bring down the house with laughter. The spectacled farceur is as always inimitable. As a timid milkman who is pushed, into fistic fame when lie ducks the blows of the middle-weight champion in a brawl, Lloyd gives everybody a splendid, hilarious time. Two fierce pugilists proceed to try to knock the comedian’s block off. In the assortment of footwork that Lloyd uses to escape, every dance step is introduced, from the tribal, stomp of angered aborigines to the bubble-chasing flutters of Sally Rand. “The Milky Way” is insanely merry. It is guaranteed.*to give every patron an hour of enjoyment. The gags in this Paramount picture are irresistible. Fine work is done by the supporting cast, which is composed, of Adolphe Menjou, Verree Teasdale, Helen Mack, William Gargan, Dorothy Wilson and Lionel Stander.