FAMOUS SINGER IN FILM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 184, 5 August 1936, Page 12

FAMOUS SINGER IN FILM.

GIGLI'S "FORGET ME NOT." Motion picture lovers in Auckland will have tile opportunity of seeing and hearing Beniamino Gigli, generally considered to be the world's foremost operatic tenor, at the Embassy Theatre to-morrow. He is claimed to wear the mantle of the great Enrico Caruso. This event causes us to reflect upon the vast potentialities of the cinema and the revolution that has taken place in the entertainment world. Lily Pons, Lawrence Tibbett, Richard Tauber and Gladys Swarthout are some of the operatic stars seen recently. Gigli, acclaimed as the greatest of them all, will be seen and heard in the picture "Forget Me Not." This is his first appearance in pictures. His concert and opera engagements do not permit him to do much fihto work. For this film he could only spate fifteen days of his time at the Lomlon studios. The film was shown privately in Wellington recently, and aroused the enthusiasm of the few who were privileged to be present. He fits naturally into the unusual, but very human story told in tlje picture. It is not an artificial vehicle written merely to exploit his wonderful voice. He plays the role of Enzo Curti, a tenor of international fame, who falls in love and marries a lovely girl whom he sees one night in his audience at the opera. Touring the world, singiijg the great operas, they are happy together until a chance meeting with a former acquaintance of his wife threatens to his career and their happilyplanned lives. GigSi, who boasts the rank of Commendatoie, was born at Kenanati, Italy, 46 years ago. In "Forget Me Not" he sings excerpts from Lalo's "Le Roi d'Ys," "Tosya," "Traviata," "Romeo and Juliet/' "Ron/dine," "La Boheme" and the ballads "Say You Will Not Forget," "Lullaby," "Venetian Serenade," "Coma Back To Me/' and "O Sole Mio." I