Documentary News Letter (1944-1945)

30 DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER TWO FILMS FOR THE THEATRES Town Meeting of the World. Crown for M.O.I. monthly release. Producer: Basil Wright. Director: Graham Wallace. Distribution: C.F.L. 12 mins. After a commentary introduction the sound track of this film is simply Clement Attlee's opening address at the United Nations General Assembly in London. But after scenes of the actual meeting with Attlee speaking in his unimpassioned but straightforward and reasoning style, the cameras of the world are made to give us pictures of the human content of the ideas he conjures up. The misery in the faces of refugees, the heroism of D-Day commandos, the coldly displayed horror of the Belsen corpses, the demonstrations of liberated towns show what he means by "great sacrifices", "the common good" and "our great task". Scenes of the tilling of the soil in Europe and Asia, the harvesting of familiar wheat and unfamiliar cane, point the content of his oration when it speaks of world nutrition; we see our slums and "foreign" slums, when he speaks of standards of living. Town Meeting of the World foreshadows an interesting new approach to film. It is natural that it should come from documentary, and particularly from Crown, which of all the documentary units, has shown most often that it has a lively and sensitive "film ear". Perhaps because this film seems something in the nature of an exercise in a new variation of technique — with a social and political orientation — it seems to have had a cool reception from the critics. It has disciplined its scope and pattern to Attlee's speech — that is the "script" — and sketches in the human tones, making of that speech a permanent, instead of transient, creative work enriched with emotional quality, making it something even greater than it was. The critics do not seem to have seen it as more than just another film. The dramatic significance of what Attlee said, in the main, was felt only by people who could invest his words with a meaning personal to themselves. Many people are not able to do that kind of thing at all easily — as the psychologists say, only a minority of the population is capable of conceptional thought. Town Meeting of the World is important because it shows one way to help people to see themselves as involved in the tasks which humanity has before it. Cyprus is an Island. Greenpark for M.O.I. Director: Ralph Keene. Photography: George Still. Script: Laurie Lee. 34 mins. In three reels, this film successfully gives an overall impression of the little-publicised Mediterranean Island which has a history dating back into antiquity. The main thing lacking is the political fact that the inhabitants feel more closely allied to Greece than to Britain, and that successive British Governments, determined to maintain Cyprus as a Crown Colony, have indulged in numerous and not very pleasant repressions of the islanders' legitimate aspirations. Considered filmically, this is a beautiful job of work — as good as any we have had in Ralph Keene's style, and he has been more than competently served by his cameraman and script writer. Every shot is a joy to watch and the film flows in a smooth, effortless manner. Economic and agricultural problems such as afforestation, soil erosion and drought are presented with clarity and freshness, revealing the fundamentals and defining the solutions in terms of human effort and modern ideas, overcoming ageold prejudices and, sometimes, sabotage. The old goat-herd, for instance, who can only think of revenge against a whole community when his goats are no longer permitted to eat the young trees, is an almost lovable and intensely human character acting his part with a vigour that would put most professional actors to shame. Altogether, an interesting film, beautifully shot, but evading some of the important political issues which have concerned the Cypriots in recent years. Halas & Batchelor MEMBERS OF THE FEDERATION OF DOCUMENTARY FILM UNITS CARTOONS, DIAGRAMS, MODELS Produced over 42 animated films in the last 4 years for the M.O.I, WAR OFFICE and ADMIRALTY Production and key artists: John Halas, Joy Batchelor. Artists: R. W. Crook, V. Linnecar, E. Williams, S. Harvey, C. Jollow, W. Beaven, P. Sizer, E. Hampton, R. Rogora, R. Horn, W. Long, S. Jackson. Sound: Dr. E. H. Meyer, Matyas Seiber. 10a SOHO SQUARE W.l. GER 7681-2 THE TECHNIQUE OF ANAESTHESIA (Continued from page 31) film might well be supplemented by a second part dealing with simple methods of resuscitation (e.g. Leonard Hill's method of inversion), suitable for out-patient departments or domiciliary surgery. Operational Shock is a concise presentation of the factors which contribute to the development of shock during the course of a surgical operation. The part played by anaesthesia, especially when inefficiently managed, is clearly indicated. Handling and Care of the Patient presents an aspect of operating theatre work which is sometimes neglected because of divided responsibility. This film, which is well planned and executed, provides lessons for all members of the theatre staff — nurses, anaesthetist and surgeon. This series of films is a notably successful effort to provide fundamental instruction in the administration of anaesthetics by means of welldirected photography accompanied by adequate, clearly enunciated commentary. Anaesthetics, taught didactically, too often produces merely somnolence in the listener. The subject is so essentially practical that its pictorial presentation, as seen in this series, is much more effective than hours of lecturing. In the overcrowded medical curriculum of today, in which the time allotted to the subject of anaesthetics is so little, this series of films, covering the main practical points of instruction, must be welcome to teacher and student alike. For the latter, the preliminary knowledge gained will enable him to proceed with greater intelligence and confidence to actual clinical practice. Much credit is due to Drs. Magill and Organe and their colleagues on the anaesthetics staff of the Westminster Hospital, who, under first-class professional production, have made the films.