Canadian Film Weekly (Sep 1, 1943)

THE PICK OF THE PICTURES REVIEWS | INFORMATION RATINGS | Vol. 8, No. 36 COAST-ITO-COAST COVERAGE September 1, 1943 Staling’d’ Epic. -Courage’ OK ‘How Do You Get | Around This One? (Continued from Page 1) your ear, etc.” And so on. The letter, signed by “A Citizen,” stated that it expressed the opinion of many. To which Manager MacNeill replies: “Letters such as this, which might appear once in several years, should not be taken too seriously. A patron who has any cause for complaint should come to the usher or ask for the manager at the time the disturbance is happening and point out those who are making the noise. It would soon be eliminated. ‘This noise might not be loud enough for the usher or doorman at the back of the theatre to hear. “Disturbances in a theatre are mostly caused by teen-aged girls and boys and you will find this more prevalent in town theatres than in city theatres. The letter . . . does not represent conditions in our theatre. Lady patrons with small children generally come in the afternoon but if their children start to cry and continue to be an annoyance they are requested to bring the child out. These patrons must be handled diplomatically. When there is a large audience of children at matinees there is bound to be a certain amount of annoyance in spite of everything a manager can do. “Adults and children are constantly getting up from their seats all over the theatre to go to the candy machine in the lobby and the traffic up and down the aisle continually is disturbing to the rest of the audience. This condition will prevail as long as there is a candy machine there, s0 ‘How Do You Get Around This?’” NFB-IATSE Confab For \Ottawa The question of unionization of the National Film Board’s 16 mm. projectionists by the IATSE will get a real going-over at a meeting in Ottawa next month. W. P. Covert will act for the projectionists. The IATSE is asking jurisdiction over the NFB men, who operate in the rural, factory and trade union circuits. The City That Stopped Hitler —Heroic Stalingrad EMPIRE-UNIVERSAL (Running Time: 606 Mins.) The long-awaited film record of the defeat of the Germans at Stalingrad, a high-light in military history considered by many to have been the turning point in this war, is ready for release. Though the public has seen quite a few films of the Russians at war, this one leaves even those awesome film files far behind in showing the batfle in the lines and behind. It is packed with scene after scene of heroism in battle, courage in production, the humiliation of the defeated Nazi officers and the despair of their soldiers. The version to be distributed In Canada, called ‘The City That Stopped Hitler — Heroic Stalingrad,” was edited by Paramount and is being sold by that company in the USA. Brian Donlevy does the narration. The commentary is by Albert Maltz. It was made by 15 Soviet cameramen. Many of the scenes, used to provide continuity and meaning, are from captured German films. The German films are used cleverly. One scene shows the spirited goosestepping of the German army on parade in Berlin. The next, a Russian shot, shows the weary and hopeless trudging of the captured Nazis—contrast which is uplifting and humorous. The scenes that thrill the audience are those of the Russian cavalry charging, the famed Katusha rocket guns in action, the workers ending the long day in the factories by marching off to the front lines for a night of fighting, the surrender of Field Marshal von Paulus and his chagrined staff, the Germans being ferreted out of their holes in the ground and from cellars, the vast scenes of captured equipment abandoned by the defeated 330,000, the Soviet soldiers wild with joy and embracing thelr comrades when they have fought their way across to each other, and many more. The picture is tremendously valuable from a standpoint of morale. The Germans are treated with obvious contempt by the Russians as men without FIRST COMES COURAGE COLUMBIA (Running Time: 8 Mins.) Though the subject of this film is a familiar one, that of the Norwegian underground, it has a couple of star names that should bring good business. Merle Oberon, who hasn’t been seen often of late, shares the lead spot with Brian Aherne, growing in popularity lately. There are quite a few exciting’ sequences in it. There’s a Commando raid and a wild chase between the stars and pursuing Nazis. The chase is against time, running through oil fields mined by the Commandos. The stars make it and the Nazis don’t. Oberon is the Underground worker who fawns on the Nazis and is engaged to one of their officers. The town people are not aware of her real work and she has drawn their hatred. Aherne is the British officer dropped by parachute to make arrangements for the Commando raid. He is betrayed by the cousin of a companion. The last is killed by pursuing Nazis and Aherne, though wounded, escapes. Oberon, an old sweetheart, hides him in her home because she has a certain immunity. Suspense grows out of the growing suspicions of the Nazis about her real intentions. She marries the Nazi officer, Carl Esmond, to divert suspicion. Though he is killed in the Commando raid, she refuses to leave with the Commandos and Aherne, slipping away to continue her work. The film is excellently pr«duced, with many well-mounted interiors and frequent changes of scenery. Direction by Dorothy Arsner is good. Others in the cast are Fritz Leiber, Erville Alderson, Erik Rolf and Isobel Elsom. spirit unless they have superior arms and equipment. The conception of their near-invincibility is plainly dissipated by the beaten, cowardly creatures who had been sent to their doom doped with delusions of grandeur. As the film fades off the screen and the scenes of Nazi defeat vanish the commentator says: “And this is not the end.” Peerless Films Will Offer 25 (Continued from Page 1) wood, the most popular of all fiction writers on that theme. Bach one features Kermit Maynard. One of them, “Song of Trail,” has Maynard, Evelyn Brent, Fuzzy Knight and George Hayes. Two are to be announced. The other five are “Wild Horse Roundup,” “Fighting Texan,” “Galloping Dynamite,” “Valley of Terror” and “Whistling Bullets.” Some feature Hobart Bosworth. * Among the reissues are: “Yellow Cargo,” with Conrad Nagel, Jack LaRue and Vince Barnett. “King of the Sierras,” with Rex and Sheik. % “Love Takes Flight,” with Bruce Cabot and Beatrice Roberts. “Cipher Bureau,” with Joan Woodbury and Leon Ames. “Exile Express,” with Anna Sten and Alan Marshal. Miss Sten is now making a comeback in pictures, having been seen last in “Ffitler’s Children.” “Panama Patrol,” with Leon Ames, Charlotte Wynters and Adrienne Ames. “Shadows Over Shanghai,” with James Dunn, Robert Barrat and Ralph Morgan. “The Long Shot,” with Marsha Hunt and Gordon Jones. “Frontier Scout,” with Al St. John and George Houston. Several others will be selected by Roher. Cohen Brothers Stop Thieves Joseph Cohen, manager of the Crown Theatre, Toronto, and his brother Simon, who manages the Broadview, foiled a three-man robbery attempt last week when they refused to submit to thieves who stopped their car as they were leaving the Crown Theatre. Ordered to get into the back seat when the car was stopped, Joseph Cohen leaped out and began shouting for help. When threatened with a revolver he did not stop shouting and the men | fled,