CIVIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 971, 14 May 1930, Page 15

CIVIC

“ATLANTIC” An all—talking film production that is at once a gratification to the British film industry, a splendid piece of screen entertainment, and a tribute to the lionhearted courage of the British race, is •‘Atlantic," the all-talking picture now at the Civic Theatre. Adapted from Ernest Raymond’s play, "The Berg," which in turn was based on the tragic loss of the Titanic in April, 1912, the picture has colossal entertainment value, opportunities for displaying the versatility of the sound camera, and is in plot, as it were, dramas within a drama. The entire action takes place on board the ill-starred vessel, and the petty dramas, romances, and tragedies of the passengers are used by the I dramatist in the early acts to show the audience what trivial things occupy j man’s mind and absorb his attentions j when the ominous forces of nature are j mobilising to overthrow him. j But with the first report that there i is a sharp drop in temperature, till ; the liner lurches drunkenly into the ; depths of the Atlantic, there is paraded \ that famed heroism of the race. PerI haps the finest scenes in this tremendous drama are enacted when the dis- | ciplinary machinery of the vessel is j set in motion, from the captain’s bridge i down to the lowest depths where the water is pouring in. The reproduction of the ship for the screen, and its realistic destruction, are masterpieces of screen craft, and the last scene, when the vessel keels over, drowning the strains of “Nearer,' My God, to Thee," and the souls on board, is one of the most moving in modern drama. Excellent supports and a musical programme by Ted Henkel’s fine orchestra, and by Fred Scholl at the organ, complete the entertainment. A charming Irish song is sung by the i boy soprano, Desmond Casey.