Cinema: The New Pictures: Dec. 3, 1934

The Battle (Léon Garganoff) tells the story of a Japanese naval commander's burning devotion to his country. Adapted from Claude Farrère's novel La Bataitte, the tale involves a "neutral" British observer who has the run of a Japanese flagship, the Japanese commander's unhesitating use of his dutiful wife to get naval secrets his country needs, his final expiation of this dishonor. Aside from the extravagances of the plot, the pictorial treatment of The Battle is nearly perfect.

Far more important than the commander's personal tragedy are the remarkable battle sequences in the last...