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and staff into a big car and set off into the country, Surrey or Sussex, Devon or Cornwall, wherever there was prospect of beautiful scenery within the environment of the film to be produced.
I do want to stress this point for it was not only true for me and my time but it is, I believe, always true for all time. We in England cannot make the films of foreign countries as they should be made, not for lack of skill or opportunity or material but for lack of inner understanding; of the sense and the feeling of their idiom. And they cannot make ours as well as they might be made, because they have not and cannot have the inner perception of our spiritual atmosphere.
Still, perhaps I ought to drop the gentle reminder — against myself — that these are, after all, only my own ideas, that I have always had 'funny' notions. I would never use electric light if I could get daylight, would never allow the use of make-up of any description, made the stock-company players do small parts when necessary, however 'big' the parts they had just been taking; and so on.
My earlier memories of the Walton studios, before they began to get entangled with visions of what are later called 'feature films, ' are mixed up with all sorts of strangely different personages from Cabinet Ministers and great actors to barrow boys and costers. One very famous comedian came to have a film made of his ever-popular music-hall act — I won't quote his name because he may have some posterity who might not like to hear it mentioned in this way. When we got him on the stage we could not do anything with him at all — his alleged comedy was just a sobbing misery of sheer boredom. Over and over again we tried but he only got worse. Then someone who knew him whispered to me to send out for some brandy; plenty of it, for his friend, he said, was never much good unless he was thoroughly drunk. Much against my will I did so. The gentleman duly got drunk, very unpleasantly drunk, but as he progressed in inebriety his act became increasingly comic until he reached a stage when both his condition and his comedy became too outrageous to be borne.
Another comedian I remember was a complete contrast for though he was certainly not of the upper classes, he was a shy and friendly and very decent chap. He came with his equally nice little wife and it was delightful to see how kind and helpful she
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