SOUND FILMS

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 56, 9 March 1929, Page 18

SOUND FILMS

v COKVINCING PROGRAMME

It was practically assured that tho ■first sound iilms in New Zealand, us in Australia and elsewhere, would draw capacity business —as they did at tho Paramount Theatre last overling—for novelty counts, particularly in entertainment, and this is tho novelty of novelties in tho entertainment world. But there- is much more than just novelty about the sound films; they are a great change from silent films, -though," even so, stilt some way from their full development. That is not to sajvthat ; , o tb^ so.ui)d..reproduction .to-, diiw;'iy"pT3Tyr;':nHJs- van7'thiiig but that|= buf now applications to tlio principle Trilf.almost certainly follow.

\Vhethor tho sound film will drive the •iie'iit ii lin from the screen can bo argUpd at as great length as one may choose, but in the end tho public will dcielilo whether the picture plus the talk or;j'nusie is more entertaining, than the plain picture, plus, of course, the

Bius'ic. .(the programme now presented has boon drawn up to give answers to questions on just such points. First thcro is'-m series of short, straight-out talkiuj^nlms. The day-has passed for expressions of ast6sfshnic]it 'that^ASfprds ar£: timed preciseiy*tp:,!/lip,,fl}6\fements,--foK as" the light and;y&shade r^cora!; (ti?ansfonnecl into sound wayesj -by the. pHpio-electric cell coupled up with equipment very similar in principle to radio loud speaker equipment) is made upo)i tho film simultaneously with the photographic record the timing in repr'ou'uction is absolute. This is exeinpliißea in ii "specialty musical turn, as&t might be termed in vaudeville, stu'fly for two pianos. Pianoforte music is most diffloul^of reproduction, and the pianos whffih-playeAStlnougli thtf- equipment wdireujotfttrue"piano's— noliaro most "granibpij^e pianos^,.— but the proof of.;;abso\ut& t^ni.l]g>. Waa given. A brief spijeeh" from-the -presic^nt of the New York Stock Exchange introduced an exchange scene, undoubtedly more interesting than a siloht film from the babel of excited buying and selling. King Alphonso, of; Spain, became an interesting .man, "Vgood sportj" as ho claimed to be. George Bernard Shaw says "good mining" and has a friendly talk ab!biit nothing much in particular, except a dig at Mussolini, to the whole Vfiie world; he sounds like a friendly man. These short films, character portrayals of quite a new sort, carry an interest and present a record impossible- in any other form. At times thcVe is some "throatincss" about the reproduced speech, but each voice is plsn and full of character. #The Star Witness" demonstrates tli jft. sound film principle extended, throughout the picture. It is an Any' eriipan Court comedy in which a garrulous railway man gives cross-examining counsel quite a lot to go on with. It is a simple enough comedy, but without doubt lighter and more laughable than tKe same comedy could be without the dialogue. It suggests tho possibilities ih*the field of serious dramatitj^vork. 'JThere follows, as the star filn§-<*.*lChe Street Angel," from a well-known-and-pleasing atory of Naples, and here is giten a most convincing demonstration of another application of the new principle. There is no talking, only oaco or twice is there singing, but Tight; through there is magnificent mjtfsic, played.by the Roxy Theatre.Orchestra (#sw«yprk), of IJ^eiftJvini er|, unde#a mfister conduCtjtfr. «The reproduction,is''excellent and?the musical, moods effectively emphasising: the emotions of. tie players (ancl the audience) ate-admirably brought,-put. It is difficult'to'-realisa'that there.-is not.an orqliestra;an ;i tji)j?ihe^tre. i) a^Jhat^,|he light and dark"'ljands" bruth"e"souTid-Te-corfl and tho photographic record supplyll the entertainment first and last. Ib.inay be that talking films, as applied to':: true dramatic work, are still some time ahead in full development (development, that is, which takes, and holds, the fancy of the picture-going public), but on the musical side the sound film is already a success.