Documentary News Letter (1944-1945)

DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER No. 2 1944 23 What Future for Film Societies? (continued) his first sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie (1928), and his first Silly Symphony, Skeleton Dance (1929) — both extracted from Drawings that Walk wd Talk. To help to establish the flavour of the oeriod, a 1931 issue of British Movietonews, with sequences on Amy Johnson's arrival in Japan ind Kay Don's in America, was added. These, with The Blue Angel, regarded at the time as an autstanding example of the imaginative use of [sound for dramatic and not merely realistic purposes, comprised a programme which made it ; possible for the audience to step back some welve years in time and compare critically the achievements of 1931 with that of to-day. To take another example, I should like to see i programme describing "Documentary Since he War", or "From The First Days to Tunisian Victory". So much has been crowded into the ast four and a half years that we tend to forget he astonishing development of documentary luring the period. In August, 1939, we were still ;liscussing the significance of Harry Watt's Worth Sea, with its evidence of a new humanist approach, as we called it. In the intervening period we have seen the documentary accept j hat style as commonplace and go on to experinent wtih a fluid technique, best illustrated in Vorld of Plenty . It would be instructive — and, I hink, fascinating — to have a programme illuminiting that development and including perhaps The First Days, Squadron 992, Britain Can Take t, The Harvest Shall Come, The Silent Village, Yorkers' Week-end, and Tunisian Victory. Given enterprise, and co-operation on the >art of the National and Central Film Libraries nd other sources, there is no limit to the variety >f programmes which may be arranged to further ilm society aims. I hope to discuss some further uggestions in later articles. Documentary Films (continued) "he Grassy Shires. Director: Ralph Keene. mmera: Peter Hennessey. Music: William Vlwyn. Production: Edgar Anstey. Green Park 'reductions, M.O.I. Non-T. 14 mins. 'ubject: Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Rutlandhire, Northamptonshire. Part of the series of lms surveying Britain. yeatment: The counties are grouped together s having a common type of agriculture and .eicestershire is taken as the example. The film '} a straightforward, pictorially good looking, urvey of this section of England with its cattle nd milk markets. Ley farming is shown as eing introduced because of the war but it does 'ot alter the shires' essentially dairy-farming haracteristics. The commentary is carefully 'orded to apply to peace as well as war, and roken up among different speakers. This •eatment loses something in lucidity but srtainly makes for variety of interest and helps love the cows along. , Technical note: Somebody one day has got to jiake up his mind about sound effects on comiientary films. Probably everything should make j noise or all be quiet. There are one or two [indom moos in the film which disturb rather len help. GRYPHON e. . . is variously described and represented, but the shape in which it most frequently appears is that of an animal yenerated between a lion and an eayle, haviny the body and leys of the former, with the beak and winys of the latter. " CHAMBERS'S ENCYCLOPAEDIA 1882 PRODUCER : DIRECTORS : LIGHTING : EDITOR : Donald Taylor •John Eldridge Charles De Lautonr •Mo •fago Charles Marlhorottgh Oswald CONTINUITY : Fanga Fisher WRITERS RESEARCH ASSISTANTS : Dglan Thomas Legh Clowes Colin Brislatid Connie Mason Zaeharg Booth •lean Anderson Teddy Fader Dennis Sltand Telephone : Temple Bar itll.t Iii association with Verity Films Ltd. 2-6 West Street. London. W.C.2