NEW INVENTION

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 252, 14 January 1928, Page 21

NEW INVENTION

SOUND AND FILMS SUCCESS IN LONDON The chief failing of the kinematograph as an entertainment ha* hitherto been the absence of sound which would accompany the scenes in real life or on the stage. Attempts to synchronise the gramophone with the film had not been at all successful until the invention of a device known as a sound projector, which was demonstrated for the first time in Europe, in London quite recently. The sound is produced by the vibration of a needle over a specially prepared part of the strip of film. The sound and the picture are therefore inseparable. The demonstration was most impressive. First we were shown (and heard) the scene accompanying Lindbergh’s departure for Paris, the cheering of the crowd, and the roar of the engine of It is evident, however, that an accent becomes more pronounced through this medium, and more than ever the American tone jars on English ears. Lord Birkenhead’s speech on Anglo-Ame-rican relations was equally clear, but the effect was marred by the fact that he kept his eyes on the ground. Dramatic songs by Raquel Meller, the famous Spanish artist, roused the audience to a high pitch of enthusiasm, as although few could understand the words, the music and acting were superb. That the invention can reproduce orchestral music faithfully was shown by the renderings given by the De Groot Trio, and Ben Bernie and his orchestra, while Misha Levitski played a pianoforte solo in which the audience could follow every note. Nina Tarasova, the Russian soloist, showed how the volume of sound may be increased and decreased to adapt the system to a theatre of any size, and finally Gertrude Lawrence proved that musical comedy can be interpreted with equal skill.