LIBERTY NOW SHOWING FINE MYSTERY TALKIE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18985, 3 February 1930, Page 7

LIBERTY NOW SHOWING FINE MYSTERY TALKIE.

There are three things necessary for a successful talking picture: there must be a plot, and a very sound one at that; the players must have very real acting ability (something that was not always necessary in the days of silents), and the actors must be capable of clear and precise diction. In “Behind that Curtain,” the talking picture to be presented at the Liberty Theatre this week, these three essentials are always very much to the fore, with the result that there is a picture that at first sight must be written down as one of the best talkies seen to date. The picture is adapted from Earl E»err Bigger’s book, “Bruce of Scotland Yard,” and the readers of the book will rejoice to hear that the Very colourful and dramatic story has been expertly handled by the director and his cast. The story is in the mystery class, but may not be summarily dismissed as a “mystery drama”; certainly the picture opens most promisingly with a surreptitious pair of hands putting Chinese slippers on dead feet, but quite early the murderer takes some of the characters into his confidence, and there is none of that conventional and stiff mystery that one often sees in talkies. “Behind that Curtain” is original, virile stuff, ranging from London, to Jndia, to San Francisco, a diverting, colourful story against an ever-changing background. Allied closely to the mysterv part of the drama is a two-sided love affair, and this is every whit as important to the plot as the other half. Warner Baxter, Lois Moran, Phillip Strange and Gilbert Emery are the principal players, and patrons will note with pleasure the re-appearance of Baxter on the talking screen, for he is one of the best audible actors in Holly- i wood. The other artists are eminently 1 satisfactory in their roles. Among the supporting numbers are an all-talking comedy, “The Interview,” with Clark and M’Cullough, a musical number, “Old Tunes for New," with Dr Sigmund Spaeth at the piano, showing the evolution of popular songs from the classics, and the Fox News, which includes a speech from the new Australian Prime Minister, Mr Scullin. The box plans are at The Bristol Piano Company, where seats may be reserved.