LEGAL ACTON TAKEN

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 49, 20 November 1937, Page 14

LEGAL ACTON TAKEN

The London Daily Mail states that a •slander action is being commenced against the British Broadcaating Corporation, arising from a radio biography, entitled " Stargazing, ' ' in which it was alleged that Miss Fay Compton, the actress, took part. The plaintifE ia the Golders Green Hippodrome, which alleges that at the time of the broadcast in Februarv it had the exclusive services of Miss Compton in "Call It a Day." The broadcasting announcement, it is declared, caused the public to assume that she' was not appearing, with Ihe result that the receipts dropped. They also allege that the announcement was incorrect, as Miss Fay Compton did not appear in "Stargazing," only her voice being broadcast from a gramophone record. The B.B.C. denies the slander, Miss Compton is at present touring Australia with her own (lompany. Undoubtedly the most ardent "fllm fan" among crowned heads is the King of Italy. He is also an illustration of the attraction exercised by the iilms over the most serious-minded people. The king of Italy, in spite of being a very busy man, is a great reader, particularly of histories, and is also one of the six leading authorities on numisniatice. On top of all this he likes to see every big new fllm as it comes out, At certain tim.es of the year, he averages one fllm a night at the Villa Savoia, his house outside Rome, which he norjnally uses in preference to his official residence, the Quirinal. Barry K. Barnes, who was ih New Zealand in. th© stage play of "The Barretts of Wimpole Street," is in a new Pepys play, "Ninety Sail," in London. The play concentrates on the Pepys who was responsible for the birth of the British Navy and not on the popularly familiar Pepys of the diary. Edward Gwenn, seen often in the films, is Pepys.