Amateur Cine World (February 1935)

FILMS fo SEE /¢4zs MONTH of thoughts, which only in themselves are pictorially suggested. What may be the outcome of this discovery of a new method of We can notice how some of the backcloth scenery in ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’ (reviewed here) does not bear close inspection. Alfred Hitchcock (extreme right) ts directing Peter Lorre (wearing overcoat). telling a film story it is practically impossible to foresee, but there is little doubt that Hecht and MacArthur at least will thrash out its further possibilities. It is certainly one of the most revolutionary developments in picture making history, for it adds not a new asset like sound or colour to a film, but hits at the very fundamentals of screen form. A Gripping British Film The Man Who Knew Too Much, alone, marks the return of Alfred Hitchcock to film production. It is the fastest, slickest and most gripping British film I have seen. Technically, we can notice how some of the backcloth scenery does not bear close inspection and how the seemingly muddled introduction develops into a clear and lucid story. The excellence of the Albert Hall episode has rarely been surpassed in any film. The tension is genuinely built up by the spectator and not by any false suggestion from the screen. The charm of Peter Lorre’s ringing watch; the humour, (part of, and not foreign to the story) in the Tabernacle of the Sun; the remarks of the policeman just prior to being shot; and the episode in the dentist’s room are all small parts that have gone to make up the splendid whole. To have two such films as Crime Without Passion and The Man Who Knew Too Much released in one month is really a remarkable occurrence and no amateur cinematographer should allow himself to miss either. But there are still other pictures of considerable merit. The simplicity and beauty of British scenery is as The Last Gentleman is George Arliss’s nicest film. Arliss, you know, has a habit of rehearsing his films completely before starting production. This is a_ practice much available to the amateur as to Director Monte Banks who directed this charming sequence in a Thames backwater for the film “Falling in Love’ (February release). 502 (Continued from previous page) amateurs might adopt with considerable advantage. It makes for perfect timing and ease of action and gives each player an idea of the continuity of their own parts. The final film within a film idea is very pleasing and pictorial and could be effectively introduced in a number of stories. It is worth re-using. Full-blooded action makes The Count of Monte Cristo another picture of considerable merit. I did not think the picture a technical achievement, apart from Robert Donat’s most excellent make-up, but the story is so thematically powerful and Donat carries the lead so well, that we hail this film as a fine example of the return of screen action. England in California In its efforts to rebuild England in sunny California Hollywood has not forgotten Scotland, which is carefully exploited in What Every Woman Knows, Sir James Barrie’s story. While the Scots accent and custom may be the target of native criticism, I feel Hollywood has done extremely well with the difficult material. Notice how few sets were actually used in the picture. Hans Fallada’s Little Man, What Now? had long been waited as a film. Though I could criticise the socialogical message of the story, this is not the place for the dissemination of such thought. Technically, we must praise the reconstruction of modern Germany ; the spaciousness of the open air settings and the length of the streets. Clever construction and editing gives a fine panorama of the German town. One must similarly praise the settings of Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch and Old Fashioned Way, two: totally different, yet uncannily similar films. Costumes. and sets limit the amateur possibilities in period films. If you are studying screen comedy it is worth seeing these two films just to notice how all the W. C. Fields. fun is done completely without the aid of cinematic technique. Other comedies of the month include: Falling in (Continued on page 528)