ENTERTAINMENTS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 57, Issue 250, 3 August 1937, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS.

ST. JAMES THEATRE. Believed killed in a theatre fire at the height of his career as an operatic baritone, Boris Karloff, his memory gone, is an inmate of an insane asylum. Shocked by a newspaper picture of his wife, Margaret Irving, an opera singer, he escapes, strangling a guard in the process. Charlie Chan is called into the case and discovers a connection between the singer and the lunatic, although lie doesn’t know Karloff’s real identity. Chan and his son, Keye Luke, at the opera house, learn that Margaret has received threatening notes. A guard is placed around the theatre on the night “Faust” is to be performed. Karloff, already inside, discloses himself to startled Nedda Harrigan, singer and wife of Gregory Gaye, leading baritone., Nedda is jealous of her husband, who is in love with Margaret. Donning a Mephistopheles costume, Karloff fights with Gaye, who is to play the part, and usurps his role as the opera starts. 7n the final scene Margaret is stabbed and killed at the same time Gaye is discovered murdered. Knowing by this time who Karloff is, Chan orders rlie opera played again. This is the start of the story, “Charlie Clian at the Opera,” at the St. James Theatre tcmight and to-morrow night. MAJESTIC THEATRE. Continuing in the glorified tradition of “It Happened One Night,” “Mr Deeds Goes to Town,” and “Theodora Goes AVikl,” the Columbia Studios present at the Majestic Theatre tonight and on Thursday night, a new comedy-drama entitled “More Than a Secretary,” with Jean Arthur and George Brent in the star roles. In addition to the popular principals, the picture has an exceptionally strong supporting cast, including Lionel Slander, Reginald Denny, Ruth Donnelly, Dorothea Kent, and Geraldine Hall. Now one of the screen’s foremost comediennes. Miss Arthur tries her hand at another comedy role in “More Than a Secretary” with George Brent appearing as a fine foil in the first light role he has had since “Living on Velvet.” The story concerns itself with the submerged emotions of a young prim-spinster proprietress of a secretarial school whose devotion to business has robbed her of romance. It loads on to one of the most likeable films seen for some time. ST. STEPHEN’S FAIR. In novel settings, a fair, conducted by the Ladies’ Guild, will be held in St. Stephen’s Hall to-morrow afternoon. It will take the form of a household fair, and in place of the conventional stalls, goods will be offered in sections undef the names of the Nursery, the Kitchen, the Bathroom and the Lounge, and appropriate fittings will be installed for the occasion to give the right atmosphere. The takings will go toward the Parish Hall funds.