Film of Titanic

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 874, 18 January 1930, Page 25

Film of Titanic

impressive SCENES in “ATLANTIC” —STORY OF LINER’S TRAGEDY SHOWING IN EUROPE With the recent arrival in Berlin of “Atlantic,” a German-language dialogue picture directed by E. A. Dupont and produced by the British International Pictures, the public and critics of the German capital hau their first chance to see a foreignmade sound effort since the bail was placed, at least temporarily, upon the importation of American productions by the Tobis Company’s court victory in its war upon the Western Electric Company. Approval Not Complete As was noted in a London report recently, the Dupont play, based upon the sinking of the Titanic ill April, 1912, as the result of crashing into an iceberg, was well received, but examination of the criticism in the German Press shows that the approval was not 100 per cent. The critic of the Frankfurter “Zeitung” is particularly severe in liis strictures upon the scenario, averring that even Frizt Kortner, who plays the central part as a crippled writer unable to move from his chair in the main first-class saloon, is hardly able j to overcome the handicap placed upon hint by the author. He points out, for instance, that while the records of the disaster than cost more than 1,500 lives show that there were both brave men and cowards aboard the Titanic, on the “Atlantic” there are only heroes. Bravery and Cowardice Furthermore, the first-class passengers are the only ones considered in the film, despite the fact that scenes in the second class and the steerage probably would have added greatly to the picture's realism. From a technical standpoint “Atlantic” is pronounced excellent. “Atlantic” was seen recently in Loudon by Mrs. C. N. Smith, wife of the manager of Auckland’s Majestic who, in writing to her husband, describes the film as an outstanding one, ranking among the best talkies yet made.