PLAZA

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 833, 29 November 1929, Page 16

PLAZA

SUCCESS OF “ON TRIAL” In no picture yet made has there i been quite such convincing denionI stration of drama in everyday life as in “On Trial/’ the latest big mystery all-talkie offered by Warner Brothers, and now drawing record* crowds to the Plaza Theatre. The dramatic power of the story is i brought out with an effectiveness which has never been approached by previous pictures. Court-room scenes of the great murder trial, around which “On Trial” revolves, present a complete re-creation of the proceedings, which formerly would have been impossible without the intrusion of a long succession of preparatory scenes —so many, in fact, as to completely slow up the action of the story. But with the present play, every motion plays its part in heightening the interest in the scenes, and in presenting the sensational trial with all its amazing turns and twists. One of the most emotional of the scenes is the one in which Robert Strickland catches his wife in a lie, which she constantly elaborates in an effort to make her unusual action seem plausible. So splendidly is the scene played that the audience actually suffers with both husband and wife. The distinguished cast of “On Trial” includes Pauline Frederick, Bert Lytell, Lois Wilson, Holmes Herbert, Jason Robards, Richard Tucker, Johnny Arthur, Vondell Darr, Edmund Breese, Edward Martindel, Fred Kelsey, and Franklin Pangborn. The production was directed by Archie L. Mayo, from the original play by Elmer Rice. The supporting programme includes songs by the two famous singers. John Charles Thomas and Vivienne Sigel; Paramount Sound News, with interesting events; a sound cartoon; and the sketch “A Moonlight Romance/’ by Douglas Stanbury and Marie Gambraelli.