MAJESTIC THEATRE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20129, 26 December 1939, Page 3

MAJESTIC THEATRE

DELIGHTFUL COMEDY - CLASSIC—“EAST SIDE OF HEAVEN.” Down to earth humanness combined with music so catchy that you just naturally hum it as you leave the theatre is a movie formula guaranteed to please. And it more than pleases In Universal’s new picture, "East Side of Heaven,” which delighted a large Chirstmas night audience and established Baby Dandy as a sure favourite with Gisborne audiences. Bing Crosby is a cruising troubadour, or to put it more plainly a singing taxi driver. Joan Blondell, his sweetheart, is a hotel telephone operator. Mischa Auer is Bing’s unemployed roommate who has learned from reading the stars that he should not even look for work until 1942. There is your background for the story. And all three players do a successful job of making you like them because you know them so well. You have known them for years—the girl down the block, the boy in that cheap fourth-floor room, and that other likeable fellow who will go to no end of trouble to keep away from work. This trio would be sufficient in any picture, but in "East Side of Heaven” they are aided, and very materially, by “Sandy,” an attractive infant. "Sandy” is “deposited” with Crosby by Irene liervey, who takes this means of keeping her baby from her wealthy and hard-fisted father-in-law, portrayed by C. Aubrey Smith. That is when the fun really starts. Then there is the music, four new lilting tunes of the kind you want to sing, whistle or hum. They are “East Side of Heaven,” “Sing a Song of Sunbeams,” “That Sly Old Gentleman from Featherbed Lane," and “Hang Your Heart on a Hickory Limb.” A specially selected array of featurettes includes “Here and There,” “Little Tough Mice,” "Stranger Than Fiction.” the thrilling serial, “Lone Ranger,” and the latest news-reels. Thursday: Rochester arrives in “Mail About Town”— “Man About Town.” another A.A. Grade picture coming to the Majestic Theatre on Thursday, is a comedy with strong musical leanings. It is rather apart from the usual run of musicals, and the comedy element is definitely on a higher plane. Jack Benny, who made his name on the radio, appears in the title role as a theatrical producer and actor who suffers from the grave drawback of being both staid and respectable. This handicaps him terribly in his pursuit of the glamorous leading lady, Dorothy Lamour, who is as easy to look at and to listen to as ever. An entanglement with a titled English lady (Binnie Barnes) and a French noblewoman only serve to complicate matters still further. Rochester, cast in the first place in the minor role of a butler, makes no mistake about stealing the show. He is a negro with an. irrepressible gift of humour, and is also an accomplished dancer. The associate feature will be a thrilling sea story in Technicolour. “Captain Calamity.”