Canadian Film Weekly (Jul 21, 1943)

July 21, 1943 ‘Gates of Italy’ Timed Exactly A fortunate piece of timing is the newest release of the National Film Board, “The Gates of Italy,” released in the Dominion by Columbia as part of the Canada Carries On series. The film came just as the news of the Allied invasion, with Canadians as the spearhead, stole every headline in Canada. The film reveals the Italian people in a political and military dilemma. Watching Mussolini’s boasted strongholds vanish beneath Allied bombs, the peoples of the free world are recalling the strange and bitter story which today has brought Italy to its last and desperate hour. “The Gates of Italy,” latest National Film Board release, examines the confused and impoverished rule of Italian dictatorship. When he was still an obscure, radical journalist Mussolini cried, “Down with the State. Italy needs food, but her leaders have given her only a useless army.” Once in power, says “The Gates of Italy,” the Fascists told the Italians, ‘‘He who can make steel will soon have bread.” “Kor three years,” states the commentary, “they have lived on shorter rations than those of most of conquered Europe. Helpless in the hands of one invader they have been watching, waiting for the coming of another.” Several NFB shorts have beaten the headlines in the past, creating something of a sensation here and in the United States. Paper Surveys Show Damage (Continued from Page 6) considerable annoyance. Paper towels are taken or wasted and thrown about. “Anything that isn’t nailed down and a lot of things that are nailed down are taken,” he asserted. “We did have quite a bit of trouble with slashed seat covers but we have that pretty well stopped now. But there seems to be no end to what some one will do next. We had a nice bed of tulips and were quite proud of them, but some one deliberately cut the flowers and then threw about half of them on the ground. We have had children pick a few flowers, but the former case was one of wanton destruction.” All three theatre managers united to lament that vandalism discouraged all attempts to install expensive or even new furnishings. Even many facilities required by law, such as the soap containers, could not be maintained. Canadian FILM WEEKLY Down Dundas street the other Sunday two boys were forcing an unwilling lady goat to accompany them. One was dragging it by a halter made of sash cord while the other beat a consistent tattoo on the goat’s rear to make sure that it didn’t accomplish its desire to sit down. Somehow the protests of the animal were not an expression of its famed stubbornness but cries arising out of a sense of impending doom. , The goat was seedy looking, thin as thin can be, its coat patchy. The boys, dirty and smelly, looked no better. They dragged the goat to a vacant lot in Chinatown and hitched if to a fence, from which, as far as the rope would permit, it dived into some foliage for a fast feast. Several Chinese gathered around, not surprised at the scene and asking questions about the price. One of them bought it for five dollars and led it toward his back door, which opened on the lot, The goat, if it still isn’t fattening in some back yard, has probably been consumed under a screen of chop suey. The last time I shared a midnight snack in Chinatown with Tom Daley and Archie Laurie the beef and greens yielded a piece of alleged beef unlike any I had ever tasted. Probably this goat’s unfortunate cousin. ut m we Juvenile Ranchers I asked the boys, who both looked under eighteen, where they got the goat. ‘We've got thousands of them,” one answered, “on our farm. It’s about 150 miles up Yonge street. We sell plenty of them.” Who buys them? ‘We sell most of them to the stockyards. But we can always pick up a few fast dollars around here. We load a couple on the truck every Saturday and put them in our garage in town. Sunday we bring them down here. The Chinese buy them and the Italians like them too.” How did they get in the goat-raising business? ‘‘We used to have jobs and saved our money. Our cousin put in with us and we bought a farm. Somebody told us it was good for raising sheep, swine or goats. We bought some goats. They breed fast—every two months. Hospitals buy the milk. We do pretty good.” Doesn't the government require them to slaughter at an abattoir and have the meat inspected and stamped? “Don’t know about that. They butcher everything in Chinatown—sheep, chickens, goats. We kill plenty of them ourselves. Nothing to it.” They went away arguing whether to leave for the farm right away or stay over to see the Casino midnight show. I think VI. rent the parking lot on Dundas Square and turn it into a goat ranch. = % & King Cow — For a Day The doings reminded me of the time I stopped off at the Chicago stockyards, a city within a city, where they have a newspaper and a radio station. The first thing you encounter as you approach it is the smell, next the bleating of the sacrificial animals. There are men who occupy themselves all day with slitting the throats of sheep in whose eyes the agony of fear is frozen by death. Others stun cattle by hitting them on the head with sledgehammers. The runways fall away on one side and the cattle are hoisted by their hind legs, after which life pours out of them in showers of blood brought on by unemotional blacks with large knives. The general process is opposite of Ford’s method. Ford assembles; Swift dissembles. Every piece of value is separated. You follow the remains up and down stairs until there is only the oven or the frying pan to satisfy. What you see stays with you a while. It isn't nice but it’s necessary. For a short time you are resolved to become a vegetarian. DISS Sunday Street Scene Page 7 15 Russ Pix For 1943-44 The continued interest in Soviet films has caused Esquire, which distributes them in Canada, to comb the product for the best list possible. The 1943-44 releases here will be headed by “Victory at Stalingrad,” the long-awaited record of the war’s greatest battle. The film is being edited in Hollywood for consumption on this continent and will be released soon. There sare 15 features of all types scheduled for release during the new season: “Actress,” featuring Galina Sergeyeva and Boris Babochkin, star of “Chapayev,” one of the most popular Russian films ever seen here. “Cabby in the Skies,” with Mikhail Zharov and Ludmila Tselikovskaya. “Road to the Stars,” with B. Suskevitch, A. Khyvieya, B. Zaichikov, E. Fedotov. “Two Fighter,” directed by Lukov. “Angel of Steel,” directed by Yurenov. “War Almanac,” comprising the episodes of “Song of the Giant” and “White Rose,” directed by G. Alexandrov. “War Almanac,” comprising the episodes ‘Missing in Action,” “Music Box” and “Three Guardsmen,” directed by Vladimir Braun. “In the Heart of Bokhara,” directed by Protozanov. Two documentaries: “Soviet Arsenal,” revealing the growth and activity of Russia’s war industries behind the Urals, and “Lake Ladoga,” a record of the lifting of the siege of Leningrad and the prosecution of the war on the northern front. “The Life of Lermontov,” directed by Gendelstein. “The Elusive Yan,” a drama of the Czechoslovakian people’s resistance to the Nazi occupation. “Submarine T-9," directed by Ivanov. Another feature will nounced soon. be an Canadians Help Honor Samson Toronto exchange and theatre men were in Buffalo last week to attend a farewell dinner in honor of Sydney Samson, transferred from his post as 20th-Fox head in that area to take charge of the company’s Canadian offices. Samson will replace Jim O'Loghlin, who is away on sick leave.