Cinema: The New Pictures May 19, 1930

Song of the Flame (First National). Technicolor, elaborate staging, good Gershwin tunes and 5,000 voices have been assembled in this reproduction of a Broadway operetta. Bernice Claire is supposed to be a sort of Russian Joan of Arc; you are led to believe that the theme song she sings brings about the Revolution. It is extravagantly unreal, entirely out of the tradition of naturalistic cinema. Audiences who like operetta and audiences in the country who have never had much chance to decide whether they like it or not may find Song of the Flame to their taste. Others may prefer to wait until the songs get on the radio. Best shot: Noah Beery singing "One Little Drink" in a basso billed as "two notes lower than any ever recorded."