AMUSEMENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 186, 7 August 1936, Page 3

AMUSEMENTS.

"FORGET ME NOT." EMBASSY. Enzo Curti Beniamino Gigli Helen Joiin Gardner Hugh Anderson Ivan Brandt Curti's Manager .... Hugh Wakefield Irene Jeanne Stuart Benvenuto Kichard Gofe London Manager Allan Jeayes New York Manager Hay Petrie Director : Zoltau Korda. London Films. No voice can compare with that of Gigli. Kno\Vn and loved by opera audiences on both sides of the Atlantic, and by music-lovers all over the world, through the gramophone and the radio, this voice is now brought to the screen in the London production, "Forget Me Not," which opened a season last evening at the Embassy Theatre. The spell of Gigli's singing is irresistible, and there is 110 singer on the screen with a more likeable personality. A tenor of almost child-like simplicity, he is completely free from all operatic tricks and mannerisms. More mellow than Caruso, and with apparently equal reserves of power, and perhaps slightly less ringing in .tile top notes, he enjoys to-day the pre-eminence which belonged to the great tenor. Every phrase, every note is a delight, to hear, and when in the climax of the picture he releases his voice in a sudden burst of passion the orchestra is drowned in that magnificent final gesture. Running out of the theatre as he sings, overcome by mingled emotions, he makes an unforgettable impression. A few minutes later he is in the nursery of his little son. It is late at night; the boy is in bed. but not asleep, and asks his father to sing. With a sob in his voice the father says he cannot, but the child prevails. The haunting app « I of that song, as the child is lulled to sleep, will be long remembered by those who hear it. Earlier in the picture the tenor's voice comes over the air, and the audience hears it from the "speaker" of a luxury liner—moonlight, melody and romance. It is an Italian love song, the first number which .Gigli sings, and as it floats on the air the vessel is motionless on a silver scene. Touches like this give distinction to the picture. The grand opera excerpts are heard, appropriately, in a theatrical setting, but why producers should indulge in the tantalising habit of running the camera along row upon row of faces in the stalls while the numbers- are being sung it is'* difficult to understand. There is no pleasure in studying the expressions of an audience while enjoying the thrill of great singing, and this method of creating effects in films of this • class should be dropped. Gigli is as agreeable an actor as he is a singer, and there should be nothing to distract one from the full enjoyment of his performance. Joan Gardner, who has the principal feminine part, is worthy of the role. She is a gifted actress, with many charms. Hugh Wakefield and Ivan Brajidt are seen to advantage in their parts, and the other members of the cast are also well chooen. In the supporting programme a graphic impression is given of the. great cities of the Argentine, particularly from . the air, and humour is supplied in a Walt Disney cartoon. The Embassy Trio contribute selections in the lounge during the interval. . _ \. CITY SHOWS. Current city theatre screenings are as follow:—St. James', "The Unguarded Hour," with Franchot Tone and Loretta Young; Civic, the new.,boy singer Bobbv Green in "Let's Sing Again"; Embassy, the glorious voice- of Beniamino Gigli in "Forget Me Not." with Joan Gardner and Hugh Wakefield; Regent, a second week of the Marlene Dietrich-Gary Cooper romance, "Desire"; Majestic, Zaiie Grey's "Desert Gold," with Lionel Crabbe and Tom Keene, and Jack Oakie, Frances Langford, Joe Penner and Ned Sparks in "The Charm School"; Strand, ' William Powell and Jean Arthur in "The Ex-Mrs Bradford"; National, "Follow the Fleet," with Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire; Plaza, the new screen team, Katharine Hepburn and Fred Mac Murray in Booth Tar king tort's "Alice Adams"; Roxy and Tivoli, Harry Carey and Hoot Gibson in a Western, "The Last Outlaw," and Gene Raymond and Wendy Barrie in "Love On "Star, "One Rainy Afternoon," with Ida Francis Lederer. AMUSEMENTS GUIDE. PICTURE THEATRES. ST. JAMES'—Franchot Tone and Loretta Young- in "The Unguarde! Hour." LONDON—Frances Lederer and EMssa Lanrti in "Man or Two Worlds." MAJESTIC—Buster' Crabbe and Toni Keene in "Desert Go'ci" and Jaclc Oalcle and Frinces Langford in "The Charm School." REGENT—r.ary Cooper and Marlene Dietrich in "Desire." EMBASSY—Beniamino Gigli in "Forget Me Not." AMBASSADOR Obsession." ASTOR—"Broadway Melody of 1936." BRITANNIA—"LittIe Lord Fauntleroy." CAPITOL—"The Guv'nor," GAIETY—"The Last Outpost." GRfeY LYNN—"The Little Colonel." KINGSLAND—"CardinaI Richelieu." MAYFAIR—"The Melody Lingers on." PRINCE EDWARD—"A Night at the Opera". and "Millions in the Air." STAR (Newton) —Frances Lederer and Ida Lupino in "Ore Rainy Afternoon." STATE (Symonds Streat) —"Three Live , Ghosts." STRAND (Onehunga)—"l Give My Heart." TUDOR—-"Hands Across the Table." VICTORIA—"The Big Broadcast of 1936."