DRAMATIC TALKIE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 521, 2 August 1932, Page 3

DRAMATIC TALKIE.

“ Trial of Vivienne Ware ” Provides Thrills. All the adjectives which mean “ dramatic ” might be used, to describe “The Trial of Vivienne Ware” and still leave a lot unsaid. The screen play began a season at the Majestic Theatre last evening and for nearly an hour and a half a large audience was thrilled by a succession of climaxes, leading up to the sensational finish. It is a picture well conceived, directed and acted. Incidentally, once again, it throws a very vivid light on the American system of justice. “ Were they all ladies? ” queried the prosecuting attorney of Herbert Mundin, appearing as a witness. “ Like you . with your witnesses, I regards them all as guilty until they proves themselves innocent.” That was one of the laughs, but it was a joke the truth of which was shown more clearly with each succeeding moment of the film. The whole trail .was a gigantic question mark, hurled so. repeatedly at the audience. It is a picture for a thrill-seeking public and it achieved its end by the exercise of all the artistry Hollywood has at its command; careful scientific direction, so that not for one moment does the action drag or one point of the story fail to find response in the spectator; careful selection of characters so that each is a perfect type, in whom no fault can be found; and then photography and recording so that the completed action may find an equally perfect reproduction on the screen. In other trial films directors have used thundering presses and frantic' reporters to indicate the

stress of the drama. “ Vivienne Ware ” goes one better. The audience is brought thrilling to every climax by the voice of an announcer broadcasting to the American public each new sensation of the story, with an effect which can only be appreciated when experienced. America knows how to dramatise even the commonplaces and with the various “trials” which the screen has shown, a New Zealand audience can understand how a big trial in that country can draw a much bigger “ house ” than the biggest production of the stage. “ The Trial of Vivienne Ware ” has all the drama and action the screen is capable of producing. A very good short programme accompanies the main film, the principal item being a British comedy of exceptional merit.