FILMS AND THE STUDIOS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 660, 11 May 1929, Page 27

FILMS AND THE STUDIOS

three WEEKS— Although talkies are only beginning to emerge from the cradle of experiment, no fewer than 82 registered, sound and speech devices are on the market. This augers well for ihc future, because competition is the life of technical progress. With so many interests at stake, science cannot afford to slacken her efforts. . Auckland cinema lovers may congratulate themselves in the fact that the cream of talkie releases have been made available from the outset. ■ The Bellamy Trial,” ‘‘Street Angel,” -•The Singing Fool” ‘‘ln Old Arizona” and "White Shadows of the South seas” are all exceptional films quite apart from their sound and speech accompaniments. It is not difficult to foresee that talkies will gradually form, themselves into three distinct divisions. There will be the all or part-talking feature pictures, the purely soundsynchronised pictures, and the talkie short subjects. The first group represents the most ambitious and revolutionary changes and are practically synthetic plays. At present their scope is limited photographically, but their technique is improving by leaps anel bounds. The second group is the compromise between talkies and the silent screen —a mixture which is appealing

greatly to those who have not yet adjusted themselves to the unfamiliar feature of the all-talkie. The future of group three is already assured. Even if the impossible happended and talkie features were abandoned, the short subjects—vaudeville acts and sound-synchronised newsreels —would remain. Their success is already outstanding, for they bring the sounds and sights of the world to the screen in admirable fashion.