“THE DOCTOR’S SECRET”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 708, 6 July 1929, Page 16

“THE DOCTOR’S SECRET”

IDEAL TALKIE DRAMA STRAND’S GOOD PROGRAMME "The Doctor’s Secret," a talking - ! photoplay by J. M. Barrie, was presented by Paramount at the Strand Theatre last evening. liere is a talkie that is a real play —a motion picture that demonstrates to a greater extent than ever before in Auckland, the power of the screen as a serious rival of the legitimate stage. For that reason alone, “The Doctor’s Secret" should not be missed, but there are other points, still more interesting and compelling. One is that “The Doctor’s Secret" is the most superbly cast and acted talkie yet presented in Auckland. For sheer dramatic value and entertainment worth, it must take first place. Such productions as this are quite new to the cinema, simply because they depend entirely upon the voices. Perhaps the film could have been Ruth Chatterton made for the silent screen, but no doubt it would have been dull and lifeless —a picture with little appeal. Yet the talkie is not only feasible, but remarkably successful. Last evening it gripped the audience as no ordinary picture could do, the un- ! dimmed power of good, sane drama standing out in the neatly-simple mounting. There is no need to detail the story of Barrie’s “Half an Hour,” the adaptation of which, now screening at the Strand, is changed only in title. The Puck-like author in a serious moment devised a situation of stark, poignant tragedy, round which he wove a fabric that is as simple as any dramatic creation could be. The result is that “Half an Hour,” alias “The Doctor’s Secret," stands brilliantly or falls sickeningly on the quality of. its acting. . Here must enter the names of Ruth Chatterton, H. B. 'Warner, and Robert Edeson. Miss Chatterton is by far the most polished and satisfying actress yet seen and heard on an Auckland screen. Her work as Lady Lillian, whose elopement is shattered so tragically, is magnificent. The scenes in which she carries through a masquerade before her husband, who suspects, and the doctor, who knows, embrace acting of a most admirable and exceptional character. Only a trifle less successful is H. B. Warner, whose study of the meansouled, cantankerous husband is masterly. Robert Edeson, too, gives a performance of outstanding merit. The voices in “The Doctor's Secret” are, for the most part, clear and realistic. There is distortion in the opening sequence, a fact -which appeared to amuse hugely a small section of last evening’s audience, but the following scenes are all that could be desired. It is most gratifying to realise that the true Barrie touch has been captured by Paramount, and that the requisite social atmosphere of this essentially English play has been transmitted to the screen. Because of this, “The Doctor’s Secret" deserves to be the Strand’s greatest talkie success to date.

Supporting it is a British and American sound and talking picture programme of exceptional merit. “The Squire Octette” opens •with musical selections and a budget of Fox Movietone items follows. These include a thrilling horse race with full sound, and a university football match of cheering thousands. Eddie Peabody and his band play syncopated numbers with delightful rhythm; then Britain is represented by “Nap,” a really funny wartime comedy study, cleverly presented and still more cleverly acted. “The British Fleet” is a sound film comparable only to the recently-shown Armistice Day service in London. It j has an irresistible appeal to all lovers of the sea and the mighty ships of | war in England’s present fleet.