11 MAY 1929, Page 13

THE SUCCESS OF THE T ▪ ALKIE • S Recent achievements of

the talking motion picture and its varied possibilities have aroused the enthusiasm alike of dramatic critics, producers, theatregoers, scientists and educators. The talking picture version of Bulldog Drummond — or more particularly, the performance in the title part of the British actor, Ronald Colman — has won unqualified praise from critics and public. Here is an undoubted recognition of British elements in a production which, everyone agrees, marks a decisive advance in the development of the talking picture as an artistic medium. The American Chemical Society has acclaimed the value of " talkie " in recording lectures and experiments by famous scientists. The National Association of Teachers has devel- oped plans to employ it in improving our speech. Movietone colour pictures are being used in teaching surgical technique at the New York Medical School. At a meeting of the National Academy of Sciences it was predicted that radio service using television and sound-moving pictures would some day provide a " Super-University," bringing higher education into every home, improving standards in the schools and at the same time materially reducing education budgets. Meanwhile the University of Southern California has instituted research work and courses of instruction, with the object of improving and developing the new medium.