KINEMA’S FUTURE

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 47, 19 November 1929, Page 12

KINEMA’S FUTURE

ROOM FOR TALKIES AND THE LEGITIMATE THEATRE GIANT SCREENS COMING RECENT ENGLISH PICTURES Although the, talkies have come to stay, they will never put the legitimate theatre out of business. Such is the decided opinion of Mr. W. Barrington Miller, of London, who is revisiting his native country, New Zealand, after an absence in Australia and England of seventeen years. Mr. Miller is well-known in New Zealand as the one-time lessee of His Majesty’s Theatre in Gisborne, and of a picture theatre in Dunedin. He became better known about seventeen years ago when he went to Sydney, and became managing-director of the Greater J. D. Williams Picture Company, whose business he put on a sound footing. Mr. Miller settled in London about eleven years ago, and while he has taken a certain part in theatrical productions in England, he is gradually working out of the business, and now takes things more easily, spending his winters in the south of France, Italy and occasionally in Egypt. “I think the talkie has come to stay, declared Mr. Miller, to a “Dominion” reporter yesterday, “but they are not going to put the legitimate theatre out of business. In London this season they hurt the legitimate theatre a good deal, but before the season was over the legitimate theatre had recovered. Where a play did not draw, it was the fault of the play itself. I think every theatre will be wired to take the talkies, and on every programme there will be talkies, but there will always be silent pictures. Such a silent picture, for instance, as ‘The Divine Lady,’ which was produced this year in England, and I believe has now been released in New Zealand, shows what can be done with sound effects. The only vocal effect in the picture is that the leading lady sings three times. The battle effects are also produced by sound, and are most realistic. This picture is the story of Lord Nelson' and Lady Hamilton.” New Field in Motion Pictures. “Giant screens,” proceeded Mr. Miller, “are amongst the latest developments in the theatrical world, and you will see them here next year. This is a new system which m?-' be described as natural vision photography, and is the work of Messrs. George K. Spoor and John J. Berggren, of Chicago. It projects pictures, characters, and scenes of life-like size, detail, and perspective on a vast panoramic screen. Synchronised with sound by R.C.A. Phototone, these films are expected to open up a new field of opportunity in motion picture production. The Spoor-Berggren film is 30ft. high and 52ft. long, and pictures under the system can be projected to a length of 70ft. I saw a magnificent scenic film of Niagara Falls shown by this system in New York about three months ago, and the majestic- spectacle of water rushing down from such a great height to one’s very feet gave one the impression that one could almost feel the spray of the cataract. So perfect is the focus attained by the camera in the new system that details in the picture as far as five miles away from the camera lens stood out as sharply as the figures in the immediate foreground. What Britain is Doing. “Wherever I go these days I am asked what Britain is doing in the way of talkie production,” continued Mr. Miller. “The situation is not as satisfactory as it might be, for up to the present the only really good English picture we have seen is ‘Blackmail.’ The others certainly have not set the Thames on fire. This is more than a matter of film moment. It is a matter of national importance that English voices should be heard on the cinema screens of the Empire. If we do not produce good films, one cannot expect exhibitors in this country and the Dominions to show them, neither is it reasonable to expect the public to patronise them. Some of our production companies show promise of delivering the goods. British International have given us ‘Blackmail.’ Gainsborough are responsible for ‘The Wrecker,’ a synchronised sound film, and in conjunction with Welsh-Pearson are to do ‘Journey’s End as a talkie. “Loves of Bobbie Burns.” “Just before leaving London, I was privileged to see some of the interior shots of a picture now being made in England, the title of which is to be ‘lhe Loves of Bobbie Burns.’ If this picture is not a success, perhaps we had better give up making talkies. ine recording was under the Western-Electric system, and their sound. experts were cooperating with the English company lhe music was supplied by an orchestra of fifty, every member of which was a star at his job. Goossens, for example, was playing the oboe, and Aubrey Brain the horn. That gifted musician Leslie Howard was conducting. In this production I also heard a glorious voice singing ‘Green Grows the Rushes 0 in an old Scotch tavern setting. The singer was Joseph Hislop, one of the world s greatest tenors. Standing in the set I noticed the familiar form of Neil Kenyon, who is to be the chief comedian. lhe exterior scenes of this picture are to be shot in Scotland, and I feel this is going to be a worth-while picture. Recent Stage Successes. “One of the big successes in the legitimate theatre in London this year, continued Mr. Miller, “was ‘The Second Mrs Fraser,’ with Henry Ainley and Marie Tempest in the cast. When I left London this play had been running for four months, and to get a decent stall one had to book at least three weeks ahead. This play was from the pen of St. John Ervine. ‘Bitter Sweet, by Noel Coward, is another phenomenal success The week before I left London 1 attended this play with Mr. Julius Knight and we had to pay 18/6 for stalls eighteen rows back. Other big successes were ‘Cinders,’ ‘The Infinite Shoeblack. ‘Candlelight,’ and Edgar Wallace’s new racing drama ‘The Calendar. The lastnamed is perhaps his best play to date. New Zealand Artists in London. Asked as to how New, Zealand artists were faring in London, Mr. Miller said that Miss Isobel Wilford had been quite successful. The outstanding New Zealander in London at present was Miss Marie Ney, who had appeared under Sir Nigel Playfair’s direction' in several ot his biggest successes at the Lyric Theatre at Hammersmith, where he produced “The Beggars’ Opera,” which ran for three years. The Aucklander, Shayle Gardiner, had perhaps been the most successful young actor in England m Shakespearean plays. Australians in London who were doing well were Miss V era Pearce, Miss Madge Elliott, and Cyril Richards. Will Charlie Chaplin Talk? Mr. Miller will leave by the Makura to-day "for Sydney, and after three weeks in that city will catch the Niagara tor Honolulu, where he will remain for a few weeks before going on to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles Mr. Miller intends to visit Mr. Charles Chaplin, who is a personal friend of his. “There is a great deal of speculation,” said Mr. Miller, as to whether Charlie Chaplin intends to appear in talkies. Just before leaving London I saw Mr. Nathan Bartram, Charlie Chaplin’s lawyer, who told me that Charlie at present is much against the talking films. In my opinion, Mr. Chaplin would be one of the greatest personalities in talking pictures. He has a pleasing voice, sings well, and dances excellently. He has been working on his present picture. ‘City Lights, but it is still far from finished. He may or may not turn it into a talkie. He is the greatest genius in the picture world to-day, and will decide that point for himself.