“THE DOCTOR’S SECRET

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 702, 29 June 1929, Page 16

“THE DOCTOR’S SECRET

AT STRAND NEXT FRIDAY “The Doctor’s Secret,” a Paramount all-talking picture, based on Sir James Barrie’s play, which, comes to the Strand Theatre next Friday, is a revelation of the dramatic power that can be obtained through a combination of stage and screen technique. The dramatic expression of the stage is made possible by the degree of perfection in which the human voice is recorded in the production, and the breadth of setting that the motion picture accords has been exploited to the greatest possible degree. The camera follows the players as they move about the room and talk. It flashes from one scene to another with amazing smoothness that makes no break in the continuity of the story. We are shown almost at the same moment, different happenings vital to the story which are occurring simultaneously. In all there are over 70 changes of scene during the picture. Such changes would be an impossibility in the case of a stage production. All the other devices of the motion picture art are in “The Doctor’s Secret,” and in a perfectly recorded dialogue. All of the players are well known on the stage and screen. Ruth Chatterton, who plays the leading feminine role, is a prominent Broadway stage artist and has also appeared in motion pictures. H. B. Warner, another leading player in “The Doctor’s Secret,” is well known on stage and screen as also are Robert Edeson. Ethel Wales, John Loder and Wilfred Noy, who have other featured parts.