Documentary News Letter (1941)

DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER JANUARY 1941 were all immediately snapped up by other companies, where each one has made his mark. The shorts production staflf were offered support as a separate entity by Isidore Ostrer, and so Gaumont British Instructional came into being. The title Secrets of Nature, being the copyright of British Instructional Films, the nature films of the new company were entitled Secrets of Life, but this latter and correct name seems rarely used. Gaumont British Instructional was formed primarily to produce instructional films, and theatrical productions such as the "Secrets" were a deviation from the Company's general rule. There now developed a new and scientific series of nature films known as the G.B.I, biology series which are often confused with the "Secrets'". These biology films are highly scientific instructional films produced under the direction of Professor Salisbury, Dr. Julian Huxley, Mr. Hewer and other masters of their subject. Though photographed by the same photographers as the "Secrets", they have been edited by J. V. Durden, and very little material is interchanged between the two series. Yet the two kinds of film are badly mixed in people's minds since both are loosely called G.B.I, nature films; and this leads to much unfounded criticism such as that Fasciola has no entertainment value or that The Tough 'Un is too frivolous for instruction. Higham and Gilbert gave up nature cinematography. Charles Head died in 1938. The gaps they left were substituted by GoodliflFe and Durden, each with a definite contribution to make. Hodgson continued to supervise the music of the "Secrets", most of which has recently been composed by Jack Beaver. Various commentators were tried after Victor Peers was no longer with the unit, but no one was used exclusively. In 1937 Gaumont British suggested their news-commentator Emmett might be tried as commentator. His first efforts, he himself readily agrees, were completely foreign to the pictures, but gradually, as he was drawn into the production group, his style of commentating the "Secrets" changed, until now only a prejudiced listener can deny that his commentaries to such films as Shadow in the Stream, Babes in the Wood, and The Tough ^Un are brilliant examples of commentaries that are an integral part of the picture. Disbelievers should see the slight divergences between the commentary as written for "E.V.H." and the commentary as he records it. The "Secrets" always have been popular entertainment, conforming closely to theatrical demands, shortening when Silly Symphonies set the length of "shorts" at about five hundred feet, lengthening to a full thousand when longer films were needed, quickening the tempo as feature films quickened, talking when talking films were demanded, and in 1 939 bursting into Dufaycolor when there seemed to be a demand for coloured films. As colour is expensive and earns no more than black and white, the "Secrets" very practically are reverting to black and white. Six new films are now in preparation, photographed by Smith, Pike and Durden, as Goodliffe is too busy to participate this year. War or no war, film crisis or no film crisis the "Secrets" go on. Now why? Partly because, supervised by Bruce Woolfe, they are always good, well-made jobs, with nothing skimped, nothing done carelessly. Partly because their production is amazingly elastic, new personalities and new ideas being welcomed, so that the films are seldom repetitive or reminiscent of past work, either in subject, design or technique. Partly because, except for three years, 1934-1937, they have always been produced in the midst of active theatrical film production and conform closely to current theatrical requirements, which conformity again prevents rigidity of form. Partly because, although correct in detail, they are not made by experts or scientists, but by ordinary people for ordinary people and are therefore not dull, opinionated, high-brow or condescending. The "Secrets" always pre-suppose an unwilling audience that has to be coaxed and lured into opening its eyes to what is going on in the world apart from the cinema, the works, the shops, the home. They are made with enjoyment for people to enjoy unquestioningly, as Bruce Woolfe once enjoyed Selborne. That enjoyment, that is to be shared by producers and audience, appears to be the secret of the "Secrets". SECRETS OF LIFE A List of the films produced in this Series since the publication of Secrets of Nature, by Mary Field and Percy Smith (Faber and Faber, 1934.) t Titles in italics indicate non-theatrical versions. '" The 1939 series are in colour. 1934 Thistledown Thistle^ Lupins Life Cycle of a Plant Queer Diet How Plants Feed Baby on the Rocks Buzzard Home from the South Warblers We are Seven Great Tits Living Lies Looper Caterpillars Wake Up and Feed Feeding Time at the Zoo Mixed Bathing Washing Time at the Zoo Hedgerows Life in the Hedgerows He Would a Wooing Go The Frog Butterflies and Nettles Tortoiseshell Butterfly