THEATRE ROYAL.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19805, 18 December 1929, Page 7

THEATRE ROYAL.

Hollywood, ia its unceasing search for scenarios, has resurrected many past glories of the stage, sometime* with success. In the days of the silent film subjects had to be adaptable, but the advent of the "talkie" has opened fresh fields, and long-forgotten masterpieces are now being revived. "Madame X" was one of the few French plays of twenty years ago which could be designated a masterpiece "Madame X" has now been made into a "talkie," and many people must have looked forward to its first presentation at the Theatre Eoyal last night. They could not have been disappointed The histrionic ability of the players, and save for Lewis Stone they could hardly have been well-known to Christchurch audiences; the striking arrangement of Lionel Barrymore's production, and the power of the narrative, combined to make the picture almost unique. Ruth Chatterton, as the Madame, had evidently submerged her whole being in her part, and her make-up. in the concluding scenes, was amazing. The story is the primeval one. with a twist of dramatic irony. A righteous man has cast his erring wife from his house, has divorced her, and has denied her even the satisfaction of visiting her infant son when he is ill. It is • great picture, although the very tragedy of it frequently tempts one to laugh, and it is safe to predict that it will run for a long time. A final summing-up is quite definite—it Is the best "talkie" that has so far been seen in Christcnurch.