ST. JAMES THEATRE

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 60, 4 December 1937, Page 17

ST. JAMES THEATRE

* “Song Of The City” There are one or two pleasant surprises in “Song of the City,” which began last night at the St. James Theatre. In the first place Margaret Lindsay is revealed as possessing a very pleasant singing voice. In the second place there is maritime photography which is hardly inferior to some of that in “Captains Courageous,” and thirdly there is a new leading man who isn’t exactly new. He was known once on the screen us Dean Jagger, but has now changed his name to the more euphonious Jeffrey Dean. The seascapes are not the only aspect of “Song of the City” reminiscent of “Captains Courageous.” In the latter a rich but obnoxious boy was rescued from the sea and regenerated by simple fisherfolk; in the former it is the hero, a wastrel from the upper social strata, who is fished out of San Franciso harbour and turned into a man by his association with a hardworking Italian family. It is for its cameos of life ashore and afloat among the homely folk of ’Frisco’s “Little Italy” that "Song of the City” is chiefly notable. Had it been content to develop that theme in a straightforward, simple manner the film could have been even better entertainment than it is. There is, however, a tendency to dress up the tale. The introduction of gangster menace into the romance and a melodramatic rescue from a blazing liner may have been intended to keep the story vigorous, but such sequences are out of keeping with the general spirit of the film. Brunette and vivacious, Margaret Lindsay was a good choice for the heroine, an Italian girl who aspires to go to Milan to train as an opera singer. It is a logical aspiration, too, as Miss Lindsay’s singing proves. Hers is the best-known name in the cast, but the performances of J. Carrol] Naish, Charles Judels and Nat Pendleton, ns comical and interesting Italian characters, are those most likely to be remembered.