Documentary News Letter (1947-1949)

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DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER 75 have been and that too little of the vitality of a strong sense of community finds its wav on to the screen. Perhaps this is because the director tried a little too hard to capture the emotional content of the struggle for the Centre and found himself instead with a slight feeling of melodrama. But these are small criticisms beside the essential value of the film and the important role it will be able to play in the work of extending community enterprise. North-East Corner. Production: Greenpark for C.O.I. Producer: Ralph Keene in association with Film Centre. Director: John Eldridge. Photography: Martin Curtis. Music: Kenneth Pakeman. Distribution: C.F.L. 22 mins. Seeing a film b> Greenpark is rather like sitting in a bath slightly too hot; one gets lulled into a state of happy relaxation in which only the senses count. North-East Coiner (in the Pattern of Britain series) is very much in this tradition. Its beautv is irresistible, and rests upon a subtle blending of visuals and commentary. Some of the shots are memorable in their exploitation of the photogenic qualities of Scottish landscape and coastline. It is a pity, though, that the sound is not up to the standard of the cameca work. However, the main limitation of the film is that it lacks people. The central character, an old fisherman, exists as a character only through the commentary. Visually he is an unexplored person. Throughout, it is natural or inanimate things which hold the attention, and one's intellect is untouched by the urgent posing of social problems. Of course, North-East Corner does deal with the farming, woollen, and distilling industries of the area, but the approach is so lyrical that it is difficult to come away with anything more than a vague impression about these enterprises. Other aspects of the social organization of northeast Scotland are ignored completely. Oddly enough, this preoccupation with natural things comes out most sharply when the film deals with Aberdeen, the main town in the area. Apart from a lovely shot from the sea. the camera fails to do justice to the stern and individual beauty of the town or to the Aberdonians themselves. One feels that Eldridge quails before the dourness of the place and is anxious to get back to the lovely coast line and pastures. North-East Corner will be successful because of its beauty and restfulness, and it deserves wide theatrical distribution. But however necessary it may be to maintain the lyrical side of documentary film making which this and other films in the Pattern of Britain series do so admirably, one misses the sense of social importance. Turn It Out. Production: Greenpark for CO 1. Producer and Director: Ken Annakin. Photography: Charlie Marlborough. Distribution: C.F.L. 10 mins. This film sets out to deal with the problem of exports from the point of view of the industrial worker, and is intended primarily for theatrical distribution. It aims to show that an increase in the availability of consumer goods depends upon increased production of export commodities. Annakin's main intention has obviously been to introduce humour and humanity into a subject which is rapidly becoming hackneyed to the point of boredom. He has used the method of personal reporting, and the audience is treated to shots of Annakin at the factory, at the docks, in the queues, interviewing housewives and shop (continued on page 78) The Overlanders. Ealing Studios. Producer: Michael Balcon. Written and directed In Harry Watt. Photography: Osmond Borradaile. Music: John Ireland. Distribution: Eagle-Lion. 89 mins. When Cedric Bel f rage was the film critic on the Sunday Express he could tell after seeing the first, lew minutes of a film the rest of the story in detail. There are most likely a few critics who could do the same today, for of the thousands of films that are made few vary but superficially from the standard four-finger exercises. Don't blame the technicians, the writers and directors — blame rather the renters who would about as soon fill in their income-tax returns correctly as risk anything that was new — anything without a precedent. The renters of course ultimately control which films are made and which are not. It is rumoured that the renters of The Overlanders were very glum after they had first seen their charge. Not only did they think the film was poor, but they were quite sure that audiences would agree with them and stay away in numbers. A big-shot renter makes anything up to twenty or thirty thousand a year and is paid this large lump of dough because he knows what kind of films people want to see. You can draw your own conclusions, but The Overlanders will be one of the first ten British money-makers of 1946. It deserves to be, because everything about the film is fresh and new, it is a good story and it is told humorously, excitingly and convincingly. This is the first time you have seen people or heard people like Chips Rafferty and Corky, the girl and her father and mother. They are not the usual old studio clothes-horses playing yet Apology. R. E. Tritton, Director of the Films Division of the Central Office of Information, points out that two films reviewed in the last issue of D N.L., Old Wives' Tales and Your Children and You, should have been credited to COT. as sponsor as well as distributor. We apologise. another part, in yet another costume. The overlanders are individuals with recognizable human qualities. They are not just good or bad. Sometimes they are low in spirit and are willing to give up their project out of sheer despondency. Sometimes they are full of spirit and the obstacles seem easy. Sometimes they hate each other. Sometimes they love each other. Two characters in particular deserve special mention, Jackie and Nipper. Usually coloured people are treated in films as either comic, stupid or wicked. In this one they are in many ways the brains behind the journey. When difficulties are met they are always consulted and it is usually their advice that is taken. Between them and Chips RafTerty there is understanding, and. when other members of the team are uncertain, the coloured men back Chfps's confidence with good sense. With one or two very minor exceptions the film is a winner, but after seeing it you will wonder at the terrific amount of hard grind that must have gone into it by the director and everyone else concerned. Every sequence is covered so completely that, although the editing must have been a pleasure — the shooting, what with cows and horses and heat must have been a major labour. Despite all the handicaps the film is as polished and smooth as any studio production; with special mention for photography. Perhaps the most important thing though that The Overlanders has done is to open up an entirely new type of film-making. Everywhere there are similar stories waiting to be made, but made in the same way that The Overlanders was made, not dolled up with artificial story and stars, but made with real people on the spot. EAST AFRICAN SOUND STUDIOS LTD. BUCKLEYS RD., NAIROBI, KENYA HAVE THE FOLLOWING FACILITIES AVAILABLE ■ SOUND-ON-DISC RECORDING M.S.S. Studio and Portable Equipment ■ CINEMATOGRAPHY 35 mm: B & H "Eyemo" Cameras synchronous — 400 ft., magazines 16 mm: Cine-Kodak "Special" ■ STUDIO ACCOMMODATION